By Robert Hitchman
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 NKJV
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7
These are some pretty strong promises. Think about it. If you delight yourself in the Lord, abide in Him and let His Words abide in you, you can have whatever you desire. These promises are too strong for some people. They feel they have to dumb them down, you know, get religious. “It doesn’t really mean you can have whatever you desire. It has to be the will of God. Otherwise, people would be just asking God for sinful things. And you know God’s not going to give you those.” While it’s true, God’s not going to give you something that’s sinful or out of His Will, He meant exactly what He said. But that’s why the Bible tells us in Romans to renew our minds.
BE NOT COMFORMED TO THIS WORLD
There’s something religious people who feel they have to dumb down these promises don’t get. Delighting yourself in the Lord, abiding in Him and letting His Words abide in you; is part of renewing your mind. If you’ve been saved any length of time, and took it seriously, you’ve already experienced this. Possibly without realizing it.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2
I’m sure many of you had some sinful things going on in your life when you got saved. Especially, if you got saved as an adult, like me. But if you seriously got in the Word, established a consistent prayer life, and attended church regularly, a lot of those things fell by the wayside. And not just the obvious or big sins: drugs, alcohol, fornication, profanity, etc. You lost the desire for some things that, of and by themselves, weren’t sins, but were not productive in your walk with the Lord. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” 1 Corinthians 10:23. In other words, just because God’s Grace may allow you to participate in certain secular activities, doesn’t mean you should. While they may not be sinful, they won’t be building you or anyone else up spiritually. In fact, they may be pulling you down.
BE YE TRANSFORMED
That’s why God can make such strong promises. He knows that as you delight yourself in Him, abide in Him, and let His Word abide in you, your desires will change. In other words, you’ll be transformed. When you accepted Jesus, you got a new heart. And as you spent time in the things of God, the luster of things of the world grew dim in your eyes. I know the years before I got saved I was in the clubs every chance I got. That was back in the day when I used to “shake my groove thing” on the dance floor every weekend. Funny thing. When I got saved, for the first three months I didn’t go to the clubs. I pretty much just worked, worked out, read my Bible, prayed, and went to church. This was when I was living in LA. I came home to New York for a vacation. I hadn’t partied in a while, so I just decided to go to some clubs. Well, I felt so out of place. Not guilty, just like, “WHAT AM I DOING HERE!” In a word, I was bored. My desires had changed. Over time I noticed that it wasn’t the only desire that had changed. My taste in music, movies, and TV shows changed. Obviously there were still things I had to avoid because my flesh still wanted to partake in them.
My point is that as I delighted myself in Him, abided in Jesus and let His Word abide in me, my desires changed. That will happen to anyone who spends time with God and His Word. That’s why He can make such an outstanding promise. He knows that when your desires change, what you ask for will change. You won’t be asking for something sinful or something that will take you away from His Will for your life. Here’s an analogy I like to use. If you have a bucket of salt water and you keep pouring fresh water in it, what are you going to eventually end up with? Fresh water of course!
HEAR AND OBEY: THE KEY TO YOUR WEALTHY PLACE
So when you get in the Word, hear what His Spirit is saying to you, and obey, that’s when you experience real power. God’s power.
Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and water: but thou hast broughtest us out into a wealthy place. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows. Psalms 66:12,13
And the reason is simple. You’re hearing what He’s saying and obeying. When you do that, God is faithful to His Word. While you may go through some challenges, He will bring you into your wealthy place. And when I say, “your wealthy place”, I’m not just referring to money, although that’s included. You see God has already placed all your Blessings, everything you need: money, favor, family/relationship restoration, healing, etc., on the path He has chosen for you. That’s why it’s important to get in His Will. Your provisions are already provided. You just have to walk it out. In reality, you’re just asking what He wants you to do because He put that desire in your heart. That’s why He can make promises like this. Your desires become His desires, and God is simply fulfilling His Will in your life. Selah.