Delight Yourself In the Lord!

Speaking of hangry, we got something going on at the Truth Network that's going to help the world not be so hangry. Yeah, he's talking about just needing God's Word. He said, please help the Truth Network send Bibles to Africa.

And we know that they need God's Word. We have until the end of the month, just $5 gets a Bible in the hands of a poor, impoverished believer all over the African continent with the help of the Bible League. Just $5.

Just think about that, Robbie. Just $5. So please give. If you can give more than $5, man, we'd love for you to do it. And the number to call is 1-800-YES-WORD.

1-800-YES-WORD. Hi, I'm Matthew. My co-hosts, Brianna, Michael, Paul, and I have found life beyond Mormonism to be brighter than we were told it would be. Join us for discussions about our journeys from Mormon to Jesus. Encouraging Prayer. God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything. On Encouraging Prayer, Dr. James Banks, author of the bestselling Prayers for Prodigals and many other books on prayer, provides weekly biblical insight to help you learn to love to pray.

And now, here's James. Delight yourself, the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. That's what Psalm 37-4 tells us.

But what does it mean? That's what we're going to talk about today on Encouraging Prayer. So, James, I love this verse because it really is a promise from God. But it's also one that can easily be misinterpreted to mean that God will give you whatever you want. And that's not exactly what he's saying, is it? It isn't, Robbie.

It really means so much more. But sometimes when you hear folks talk about this verse, you feel like you're hearing the fine print that occurs after, you know, a medical ad on TV where they're talking really fast. Oh, you mean like, this product may be known to cause liver damage and absolutely horrible side effects on some adults.

The only reason I'm saying it is the FDA makes us do it. And don't worry about it because I'm reading so fast that you're not supposed to hear it. That's exactly right. And it's almost like someone is saying, I know this is saying God will give you the desire of your heart. But it doesn't really mean that because God isn't Santa Claus and he's not going to give you exactly what you want.

There are certain stipulations that you have to be sure to meet before that is even possible. And while theologically and contextually, that may be all correct, Robbie, I agree. I think it's coming at it from the wrong angle because it makes it really all about us. It puts the emphasis on us. You know, you're right. It really is about God and who he is and what, you know, he will do.

Exactly. And as a matter of fact, the very next verse in Psalm 37 says, commit your way to the Lord and he will do this. He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn. So yes, it's saying live for him, be committed to him, but that's only the beginning. So let's talk about what this looks like as we live it out in our relationship with God. Delighting yourself in him means to enjoy him, to savor him, to be in his word, to be in prayer, to live in love with him.

And if we pursue a lot of things in this world, you know, wealth, status, fame, we may not ever get them. But if we pursue God, he promises to be found by us. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. He tells us in Jeremiah 29 13 and Jesus said, seek his kingdom and his righteousness.

Hebrews 11 6 tells us he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And all of this, you could look at that and you could say, well, you have to do this. You have to do the seeking. But if you place your emphasis there, you'll spend so much time looking at yourself that you won't really be enjoying him. So you miss the very point of it. I see what you mean. It's like dancing while counting the steps.

I mean, you're really not dancing. Exactly. You know, we've got to just look at him, let our hearts be caught up in him. I think of an old story about a man who found out how to make gold from mud, stirring it with a stick. He'd sit outside his cottage every day doing that. And after a while, people saw what was happening. And of course, they started to mimic him. They followed him to the same place to get the same mud.

They used the same kind of clay bowl and took their sticks from the very same tree. But at the end of the day, he had a pot of gold and all they had was mud. Well, we don't understand.

They said, why doesn't it work for us? He thought about it for a moment. And then he said, well, you know, there is one thing. While you're doing it, you must never think about the gold.

I guess he just liked stirring mud with a stick. But the point is that God himself is our first and best reward. If we think about what we will get for pursuing him, we're really missing the joy of it. But because he is good, he also loves to bless us. So again, the question is, where are our hearts in all of this with the blessings or with him? So, James, let's talk about how to sort this out practically. Well, that's where prayer comes in.

I had a feeling you'd say that. This is the Encouraging Prayer broadcast, right? Just think of it this way. If there is something you really desire from God, go to him with it. But as you do, put it before him and say, Father, is this what is best, or do you have something different, something better in mind? And sometimes that's hard to do, you know, because we want something so much. But if we give our desires over to God and let him work in them through his Spirit, then something wonderful happens. So the question becomes, what does God want? And think through that before him, not just in a single setting, you know.

Scripture talks about waiting on the Lord very frequently, so go to him over a period of days, even weeks, sometimes even years. Ask him to change your heart, to direct you in whatever ways he wants, but just abide in him and draw your life from him. And it's amazing how not only do our minds change sometimes when we do this, but also how things may take shape. So the point is, you're putting him first and basically praying, help me want to what you want, God. Yes, but that doesn't mean, again, that you stop wanting.

Your desire may even remain the same. But what I found is that God is never in a hurry. For example, when I was about 14, I had the strong desire to write Christian devotional books, but the books I ended up writing were very different from what I ever thought they would be. You know, first God gives you the desire that he shapes it along the way.

And it wasn't until I was over 40 that things really began to happen with that. But looking back, I can still say, wow, God honestly did give me my heart's desire. First he gave me the desire, and then he fulfilled it. And if it starts with him, you know, then that's how it works. Oh, that is so true. I can see a similar thing in my own heart.

Like at the last boot camp, I went out on a covenant silence thinking I was praying about trying to see an old wound or something along those lines. And like you said, he's not in a hurry. So all of a sudden he just started playing with me. And he started showing me things actually in my mind that were like, wow, where did that come from? And they were colors and beautiful things. And I realized that he was showing me there was so much to the picture that I wasn't seeing.

Yeah. And all of this comes around to the point that we serve a God who loves us and really wants to be our heart's desire most of all. And if you have that, if you have him and enjoy him, you really do have all you need forever and ever. Amen. Well, let's close things today with a prayer that we will. Father, thank you that you know us so much better than we know ourselves. And so we do pray that you would help us to get into those places where you were. We give you the time to begin to show us things and show us the things that are desires we may not be aware of, that you would take us down paths of delight that really are unspeakable.

And we're so excited to go on that journey with you as you guide us into the desires of our heart that we really don't even know. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.