Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

When I was in high school, in Wauconda, Illinois, there was a boy named Carl Shook in my class who had some type of debilitating disease that left him crippled. It also effected his ability to speak. Being the mush for brains high schoolers that we were, we loved to tease Carl about his body, his speech, and anything else we could think of. Carl was an easy target. In October, a month before elections would be held for Student Council government, I got the brilliant idea that it would be hilarious if I talked Carl into running for Class President. What a great joke on Carl, and on the Student Council system, if a cripple who had trouble speaking, were to run. Of course he could never win, but at least he’d campaign and the thought of Carl campaigning struck me as funny.

Carl, whose mind was not effected by his disease, and who was actually very intelligent, loved the idea of running for office. So I became his campaign manager and we filled out the proper paper work to get him on the ballot.

As I spent time with Carl I got to know him better and better. And as I got to know him, as I recruited others to help in his campaign, as I designed and created Carl’s campaign posters, something interesting began to happen. Carl’s desire, not just to run, but to win and serve as Class President, became my desire also.

God’s hand was on that election, because, amazingly, Carl won! And after he was in office he took the job seriously. Carl Shook turned out to be one of the best Class Presidents Wauconda High School ever had.

When you spend time in close fellowship with God, when you delight yourself in Him, you begin a cycle of prayer that results in Him giving you the desires of your heart.

Why? Because as you spend time with someone you become more like them, you begin to share the same feelings, the same thoughts, the same desires.

As you spend time in fellowship with God, the desires of your heart become the same as the desires of God’s heart!

You get to the point where there’s nothing you want more than the same things that God wants for you.

Do you want your prayers answered? Spend time with Jesus.

• Go to church
• Read God’s word
• Pray
• Hang out with Christians
• Worship Him, sing praise songs and hymns to Him
• Take communion
• Meditate on His word
• Serve Him
• Invest your life in Him

Hang with Jesus and watch what happens — “He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) For where you invest yourself is where your heart will be found. Jesus tells us:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

Invest yourself in Him.

References

Bible Gateway

Chuck Smith, Living Water, p.84-85, Word for Today, 2007