Thursday, May 11, 2017

What Do You Want?


May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.
May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.
May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests. Psalm 20:1-5 NIV
Have you been reading along with the Daily Bible Reading schedule? Today’s scripture includes Psalm 20 and verse 4 is a favorite of mine… May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
What is the desire of your heart? Many times David was in distress and the Lord answered his prayer—so he is telling us to do the same. What sacrifices are you—or have you made? Of course David lived at a time when animal sacrifices were still being done—but even when David sinned against God in his adultery with Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 11-12) he only admitted his guilt to God through the prophet, Nathan. He didn’t offer a burnt offering sacrifice, but the death of his son was the punishment. David prayed Psalm 51.
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin….
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy presence, and do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners will be converted to Thee….
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou will not despise. Psalm 51:1-2, 10-13, 17.
Is your sacrifice a repentant and contrite heart? 
For you to seek the desire of your heart, you must have a plan, purpose, a desire, something that you want. Do you have a plan? One of my favorite sayings is: You don’t plan to fail…You fail to plan. Plans are essential to accomplish anything in life. As our lives go by increasingly faster each year it is good to know where we are going. What is it you want to do in the next five years, in the next year, in the next month…tomorrow? Is spiritual growth high on your priorities list? What are you going to do to reach that goal?
Prayer ~ Lord, guide our thoughts, hearts, and minds that we would set and intentionally strive for  spiritual goals. We want to live lives pleasing to You—and we recognize that we have to not only have that desire—but be ready to put it into action serving You.
Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles 19; Psalm 20  
© 2017 Text and photo by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.

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