4 Clues That A Heart’s Desire Is In God’s Will
~ Is our heart’s desire in God’s will? The prayer meeting held in this Psalm gives us 4 beautiful clues we can check to find out. ~
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Today’s printable verse – as well as lettering style – was a “reader request.” Yes, that’s right, I am happy to take requests – as long as you are not in a big hurry! {grin}
After studying this verse, I agreed with my reader that it would make a great card.
But I must admit that I wasn’t totally convinced at first.
I was a little leary of plucking this verse out of context …
Psalm 20:4 (ESV): May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!
So let’s say you want to pray this verse for a friend. But depending on their desire, you may wonder …
How can I be sure her “heart’s desire” is in alignment with God’s will?
Let’s put the verse back in its context, by looking at the whole chapter, to see if we can find answers.
To set the scene, in this chapter we are walking into a prayer meeting where King David’s people are praying for him before he goes off to war.
4 Clues Tucked In Psalm 20 That Can Help Determine If a Heart’s Desire is in God’s Will
1. David spent time with the Lord.
Right at the beginning of the chapter we find …
Psalm 20:1-3 (CSB): May the Lord answer you in a day of trouble; may the name of Jacob’s God protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion. May he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt offering. Selah
*Side note: Selah most likely means “to pause.”
These first three verses in the chapter tell us that David had already been spending time praying and giving offerings, since they state: “May the Lord answer you” and “May he remember all your offerings.”
And we also know from other parts of Scripture that David was a man of frequent prayer and a man after God’s own heart. Here is a wonderful example of one of David’s prayers …
1 Chronicles 29:18 (ESV): Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.
The more time he spent with God, the more He wanted his desires to be loyal to God.
The same can be true for us.
2. David’s desire aligned with Scripture.
What was David’s prayer/desire? Verse one tells us: protection.
When David prayed for protection, he was following many examples he knew from Scripture. For example …
Exodus 14:10 (ESV): When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.
And now, in the New Testament, we have it straight from Jesus’ mouth that we should pray for protection.
Matthew 6:13 (ESV): And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
John 17:15 (ESV): I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
Whatever your desire, ask the Lord to show you if and where it aligns with His Word. This will, of course, require some digging (my favorite thing!).
3. The prayer was more worship than request.
In verses 5-6, we find the people giving all the praise and glory to God – even before an answer had come. Praise inhabited their prayers in a big way. Their prayer meeting wasn’t just a request session. It was all out worship.
Psalm 20:5-6 (CSB): Let us shout for joy at your victory and lift the banner in the name of our God. May the Lord fulfill all your requests. Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories from his right hand.
4. They had a BIG trust in God.
In verse 7, we find a beautiful picture of trust in the Lord alone. They trusted that He was in control and would do what was best.
Psalm 20:7 (ESV): Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
And their big trust makes sense, when you consider they did #1 – #3. It is obvious they were abiding in the Lord through prayer, Scripture, and worship.
Abiding will transform your desires to His desires.
Matthew 6:21 (ESV): For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
It appears that these folks had no doubt whatsoever that they were praying smack in the middle of God’s will.
We can too, when we follow their example.
So who can you pray for right now?
Go ahead. Take a minute.
After you do that, print this card (that includes the whole chapter on the back) and send an encouragement to that person!
*My prayer for you is … that this blog will inspire you to open your Bible every single day to seek God’s face and write His Word on your heart – because HE’S the key to lasting heart change!
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