Getting My Desires

   I have heard people talk about how they prayed and prayed and then finally, “God answered” and they got what they were praying for.  I guess the question that needs to be asked is, “Does getting our own way necessarily mean that it was the best way?”  In reading Psalm 81:11,12 God speaks about His rebellious people, how He had promised to provide good things for His people, “But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels.”
   Though the people got what their stubborn heart wanted, implied is the thought that God enabled them to obtain their desires but that these desires were not God’s desires nor were they the best things for the people.  Ps 37:4 tells us to, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
   It is true that the persistent prayers of the righteous produce great results (James 5), that we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5), and that in the area of prayer we are to be like the woman of importunity who continued to ask till she got results. Yet it seems like there are two ways of getting our desires fulfilled.  One way would be to selfishly do whatever we want to do and then God will finally let us get our own way.  The second way is to let our hearts be changed so that our thoughts are more in line with God’s thoughts and values.  In this situation God too will give us the desires of our heart, but the results will be greater and more rewarding, truly bringing life.
   Lord Jesus, I want Your best for my life.  Help me to value what is important to You, that my desires and Your desires would be the same.