The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 21:2,
"You have granted him [King David] his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips."
David had a grateful heart when it came to the Lord. Here he acknowledges the Lord's answers to his prayers. I find this instructional for myself - if I follow David's example, I should bring my heart's desires to the Lord in prayer. As the Lord answers those requests I need to be mindful and express to him my own gratefulness for his provision.
The apostle John provided us some direction in our prayer life that undoubtedly was a feature in David's, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:14-15.
There is an important point in John's instruction to us: confidence. In our prayers to the Lord we need to have confidence, to have faith. When asking for wisdom James says, "when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." James 1:6-7.
Faith is not the only thing John mentioned. He made the point that if we ask anything "according to his [God's] will" he will hear us and whatever it was we asked we will have from him. I have to think David's heart's desire must have also been within the realm of God's will, God's agenda, God's desires.
I am reminded that if my prayers seem to go unanswered, it might just be that I am interested in something the Lord is not interested in. Do I care only about my own desires to the neglect of the Lord's? Am I all about only my own agenda and not the Lord's? Perhaps if I synced my own desires with that of the Lord, possibly I may find the Lord responding to my prayers as he did David's. I have always been fascinated with the simple truth of Psalm 37:4, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." If I change what it is that I take delight in, if I delight in the Lord, then I should expect the desires prompted from that delight to be fulfilled.
I just may need to take inventory from time to time to see if I am delighting in the Lord and therefore placing myself in the position of having the Lord answer my prayers. As the second part of the couplet of Proverbs 10:24 says, "...what the righteous desire will be granted." Proverbs 10:24.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..
"You have granted him [King David] his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips."
David had a grateful heart when it came to the Lord. Here he acknowledges the Lord's answers to his prayers. I find this instructional for myself - if I follow David's example, I should bring my heart's desires to the Lord in prayer. As the Lord answers those requests I need to be mindful and express to him my own gratefulness for his provision.
The apostle John provided us some direction in our prayer life that undoubtedly was a feature in David's, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:14-15.
There is an important point in John's instruction to us: confidence. In our prayers to the Lord we need to have confidence, to have faith. When asking for wisdom James says, "when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." James 1:6-7.
Faith is not the only thing John mentioned. He made the point that if we ask anything "according to his [God's] will" he will hear us and whatever it was we asked we will have from him. I have to think David's heart's desire must have also been within the realm of God's will, God's agenda, God's desires.
I am reminded that if my prayers seem to go unanswered, it might just be that I am interested in something the Lord is not interested in. Do I care only about my own desires to the neglect of the Lord's? Am I all about only my own agenda and not the Lord's? Perhaps if I synced my own desires with that of the Lord, possibly I may find the Lord responding to my prayers as he did David's. I have always been fascinated with the simple truth of Psalm 37:4, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." If I change what it is that I take delight in, if I delight in the Lord, then I should expect the desires prompted from that delight to be fulfilled.
I just may need to take inventory from time to time to see if I am delighting in the Lord and therefore placing myself in the position of having the Lord answer my prayers. As the second part of the couplet of Proverbs 10:24 says, "...what the righteous desire will be granted." Proverbs 10:24.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..
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