My 9 year old son lay in bed under his worn from lots of love "Cars" themed comforter. I knelt beside his bed, as I do just about every night, and asked him if he wanted to pray about anything. Immediately the tears formed.
I inquired lovingly, "Why are you crying? Is something wrong?"
Through sniffles, he said, "I want to pray about something but I don't think I should. I don't think it will happen. And you and God won't think it is important."
I patiently insisted that nothing is too small to pray about in God's eyes and He wants us to pray about everything. He still was sure his request was not worthy of God's time. He was even embarrassed to tell me.
Finally, he relinquished and with a deep breath, said, "I REALLY want that Lego set. You know, the one that is $300. But, I know it is a lot of money and I don't think it will happen. I don't want to pray about it and it not happen."
Now, one might think he was acting in manipulation with the tears and pleas for the Lego set. However, I know my son and this was no act. Besides all that doesn't work with me and he knows it. $300 is still $300.
I understood my son's hesitancy. How many times have I thought the same...What if I pray about it and it doesn't happen? I don't want to pray about it and it not happen. Isn't it better if I just don't pray about it then?
Guilty.
I shared Psalm 37:4 with my son..."Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."
However, this verse, requires an explanation, which I also willingly expounded.
The beautiful part about this verse is that when we are truly delighting ourselves in the Lord, the desires of our heart will line up with the Lord's desires. Our will becomes His will as we are in His Word and delighting ourselves in Him.
When we are not delighting ourselves in the Lord, often our desires are very self centered and can become idols. When our desires are bordering on idols, we can be certain the Lord will not grant that request. His answer will be a loving "no" every time. A baby might want to play with a rattle snake awfully bad, however, a loving mother won't give it to him! She knows it will hurt him!
As our hearts change and line up with His, then the Lord does give us the desires of our hearts. He can because as our hearts line up, our desires also will line up. We may find the desires we once had have faded away and been replaced with new.
As I was writing Psalm 37:4, the word "also" caught my eye and I was curious about what the first part said.
I found the answer in the verse above. Together, they read like this...
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalms 37:3-4 [emphasis added]
Trust in the Lord.
When we are trusting in the Lord, we are confident that He has our best interests at heart. Even when we don't see the answer right away.
Even in the struggle, will you delight yourself in Him? Even in the struggle, will you trust in the Lord? Will you trust that He is faithful? Will you continue to "do good" and love others even in the midst of being Lego-less?
His answer is coming. He is never late. He is always faithful.
When we don't pray because we are afraid it won't happen, we are really saying, "God, I don't trust you." A better stance is to pray with the posture...God, I really want this, but You Lord know what is best and I trust you.
When you are trusting in the Lord and your heart is in line with the Lord's, you can be certain that your requests are heard and will come to pass if it is best. God always wants His best for His children, just as we want what is best for ours.
From something as small as Legos to as big as matters of life, God hears your every cry. He is faithful. Trust in Him. Delight yourself in Him. He will give you the desires of your heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I heart your comments!