The Desires of Your Heart
7/18/2008

From:  http://www.namb.net/site/c.9qKILUOzEpH/b.687605/k.6324/Blackaby_Daily_Devotion/apps/nl/newsletter.asp

"Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart."
Psalm 37:4

Your relationship with God ought to bring you more joy, satisfaction, and pleasure than any other relationship, activity, or material possession you have. Scripture exhorts you to delight yourself in the Lord, finding your greatest pleasure in God and the things dear to His heart.

How can you find pleasure in what God enjoys? Only as you spend time with Him will you begin to take delight in the things God loves. As you spend intimate time with God and allow Him to show you your situation from His perspective, you will begin to see things as God sees them. As you adjust yourself to God, your heart will begin to desire the same things God’s heart desires. When you pray, you will find yourself asking for the very things God desires. Matters foremost on God’s heart will be preeminent in yours. Your first request in prayer will not be for yourself, but for God’s name to be exalted and His kingdom to be extended (Matt.6:9-10).

Have you been asking God to give you the desires of your heart without first seeking to understand what is on His heart? God places this important requirement for those who pray: that we seek His priorities and make them our own. This great qualifier prevents us from asking out of selfishness. As we find joy in the Lord, we will see what is truly important, and we will long for these things as the Father does.

Read the words to the below song.  I honestly believe the only way we will ever have the desires of our hearts in alignment with God's is for our hearts to be emptied of ourselves and filled with the same desires that are in God's heart.  This song has been speaking to the over the past few months.

Empty Me
Artist: Chris Sligh
Album: Running Back To You

I've had just enough of the spotlight when it burns bright
To see how it gets in the blood.
And I've tasted my share of the sweet life and the wild ride
And found a little is not quite enough.
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change.

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

I've seen just enough of the quick buys of the best lies
To know how prodigals can be drawn away.
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change.

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you, compared to you.
Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you so why surrender all?

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.
Oh, filled with you.
Empty me.

Praises and Prayer Requests:

1.  The PHM web site is on line!  My earlier note was a bit too early: www.apureheart.com
2.  Pray for each other.  We have several prayer partners that are experiencing personal trials.  Pray for them. 
3.  Pray for Brad's wife Stephanie.  She will be having back surgery the first part of August.  Pray for her surgeons, her recover and the Powell family during this time.
4.  Continue to pray for OWU.  Pray for the faculty and administration.  Pray for the incoming students. 
5.  Pray for the PHM team.  We are in constant need of God's guidance in everything we do.

Bless you all!

Sharing from the Heart:
Steve