okay, so my friend had a question...

Val the Bunny · 07-04-2003, 02:58 PM

it went something like this...

Cassie: "God says He'll grant us the desires of our hearts right?"
Me: "If we ask humbly and with the right intentions, yes."
Cassie: "Okay, so what if you want something really bad and you have the right intentions... but it's not part of God's will?"
Me: "Well... if something isn't part of God's will, it simply isn't. He's got something better planned out for you. It may not seem like it now, but He's the only one who sees the bigger picture."
Cassie: "So then... whatever happened to giving us the desires of our hearts if we ask humbly and with good motives?"

It's kinda contradicting. And I didn't really know how to answer her. What do you guys think?

-Val

Katholish · 07-04-2003, 03:27 PM

God answers those requests that are to our benefits (rightly called desires of our hearts). Heart in this instance obviously not referring to the bodily organ, but more closely referring to our soul.

I thought this quote was key:

Quote:

...so what if you want something really bad and you have the right intentions...

The point being that you cannot truely have right intentions to do something bad. It has to do with the proper formation of the conscience. Can our conscience allow us to do something bad? Yes of course, but we are still culpable because that could only occur with an ill-formed conscience. My point being that while your intentions may seem right to you, they are not neccesarily right because your intentions may be ill-formed. Truely right intentions can only long for that which is beneficial for the soul.

Luke · 07-04-2003, 03:44 PM

I think the phrase "want something really bad" was a grammatcally-incorrect way of attempting to express degree of desire ("want something really badly"), not stating that the thing desired was sinful.

Grace & Peace
Luke

Luke · 07-04-2003, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Val the Bunny

it went something like this...

Cassie: "God says He'll grant us the desires of our hearts right?"
Me: "If we ask humbly and with the right intentions, yes."
Cassie: "Okay, so what if you want something really bad and you have the right intentions... but it's not part of God's will?"
Me: "Well... if something isn't part of God's will, it simply isn't. He's got something better planned out for you. It may not seem like it now, but He's the only one who sees the bigger picture."
Cassie: "So then... whatever happened to giving us the desires of our hearts if we ask humbly and with good motives?"

It's kinda contradicting. And I didn't really know how to answer her. What do you guys think?

-Val

The reason why you're unable to answer the question is that you aren't looking at the entirety of Psalm 37:4. What it says is that if you make your delight God, He will grant you the desires of your heart (e.g. Him, and His will for you).

Grace & Peace
Luke

**Ted Logan** · 07-04-2003, 03:47 PM

Luke's right.

Ps 37:1-7
1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
(NIV)

Delight in the Lord, or make the Lord the thing which your heart desires, and it will be granted. There's no passage that says anything about "good motives" or "right intentions" being the key to getting what your heart desires. No matter what your intentions are, they don't fulfill the requirements of the passage if you're not delighting in the Lord.

Luke · 07-04-2003, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted Logan

Luke's right.

I love hearing that.

Sorry, couldn't resist...

Grace & Peace
Luke

Katholish · 07-04-2003, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke

I think the phrase "want something really bad" was a grammatcally-incorrect way of attempting to express degree of desire ("want something really badly"), not stating that the thing desired was sinful.

HaHa, I think you are right, but for some reason that didn't even occur to me.

Nate · 07-04-2003, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Val the Bunny

it went something like this...

Cassie: "God says He'll grant us the desires of our hearts right?"
Me: "If we ask humbly and with the right intentions, yes."

Her question stemmed from this passage:

Psalm 37:4 (NASB)
"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Notice that it doesn't say "If we ask humbly and with the right intentions, He will give us the desires of our hearts". You have, like your friend, misinterpreted this passage by failing to understand the CONTEXT.

There is a condition that God puts on His promise to "give us the desires of our hearts"; that condition is what is found in the first half of Psalm 37:4. If we delight ourselves in the Lord, THEN and ONLY THEN will He give us the desires of our heart.

I think you will find that when we delight ourselves in the Lord, ALL of our desires are (by default) "part of God's will".

Quote:

Cassie: "Okay, so what if you want something really bad and you have the right intentions... but it's not part of God's will?"

I'm assuming that "want something really bad" does not mean that you want something that is, of itself, a "really bad" thing... but that your desire itself is "really bad" - describing it's intensity.

In this case, you have only two options:

1) You are delighting yourself in the Lord, in which case what you "want really bad" will always be "part of God's will".

-or-

2) You are NOT delighting yourself in the Lord, in which case what you "want really bad" may or may not be "part of God's will". Whether it is part of His will or not doesn't really matter. If we do not fulfill the condition of the promise (i.e., to delight ourselves in the Lord), then God is under no obligation to fulfill His end of the promise (i.e, to give us the desires of our heart).

Quote:

Cassie: "So then... whatever happened to giving us the desires of our hearts if we ask humbly and with good motives?"

Simple, it never worked like that. As far as I know, God never promised to give us everything we desired as long as we asked humbly and with good motives.

I hope that all made sense.

In His love,
Nate

Val the Bunny · 07-04-2003, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke

I think the phrase "want something really bad" was a grammatcally-incorrect way of attempting to express degree of desire ("want something really badly"), not stating that the thing desired was sinful.

Grace & Peace
Luke

yeah, you're right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted Logan

Delight in the Lord, or make the Lord the thing which your heart desires, and it will be granted. There's no passage that says anything about "good motives" or "right intentions" being the key to getting what your heart desires. No matter what your intentions are, they don't fulfill the requirements of the passage if you're not delighting in the Lord.

i see what you all are saying, but Cassie is a girl of God... she takes her walk with Him very seriously. and I know she has sought out what He thinks about all of this. her walk with God is very strong.

so... what exactly do you mean by "delighting in the Lord"? because, to me, it sounds like she is.

i also want to add that she's not entirely sure that her desire isnt part of God's will... it just hasn't happened yet. everything in God's will happens in His timing which definetely isn't now. so she still has to see how things unfold.

and thanks for your help so far, guys!

-val

**Ted Logan** · 07-04-2003, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Val the Bunny

i see what you all are saying, but Cassie is a girl of God... she takes her walk with Him very seriously. and I know she has sought out what He thinks about all of this. her walk with God is very strong.

C.S. Lewis once said something to the effect of, "The only difference between the strong and the weak is that the weak are honest with themselves." I've never met someone who had a strong walk with God...

Quote:

so... what exactly do you mean by "delighting in the Lord"? because, to me, it sounds like she is.

The verse says that delighting in the Lord is the desire that will be fulfilled. Delighting in the Lord could be considered congruent with desiring to sit at His feet in worship and basking in His love. What your friend is reading into the Scriptures is that if she tries to be a 'good Christian', she'll get what she wants as long as it's either a) not bad or b) within God's will. The verse is saying nothing more than "Desire God, and your desire will be fulfilled."

Quote:

i also want to add that she's not entirely sure that her desire isnt part of God's will...

If the desire is "to find the right college," "to find the right guy," "to know where to spend my money for His kingdom," or even "to do His will," then it's already outside the promise. The promise is only that those who delight in the Lord will have their desire met, and that means only that their desire to delight in the Lord will be met.

Delighting in the Lord simply means to praise Him for His glory.

Chico · 07-05-2003, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted Logan

C.S. Lewis once said something to the effect of, "The only difference between the strong and the weak is that the weak are honest with themselves." I've never met someone who had a strong walk with God...

nice quote. i like that a lot.

Quote:

The verse says that delighting in the Lord is the desire that will be fulfilled. Delighting in the Lord could be considered congruent with desiring to sit at His feet in worship and basking in His love. What your friend is reading into the Scriptures is that if she tries to be a 'good Christian', she'll get what she wants as long as it's either a) not bad or b) within God's will. The verse is saying nothing more than "Desire God, and your desire will be fulfilled."

although i find this explanation interesting, i don't think it is right. Psalm 37:4 tells us to "Delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desireS of your heart." (Emphasis mine on desires) to delight or desire the Lord is one thing, but the verse states that the desire God will give us is plural. this would seem to indicate to me that not only would God grant us Him, if we desire Him, but also other desires of our heart.

now these desires must always line up with God's word or of course they will not be given to us. the prerequisite for these desires to be given to us is to delight in the Lord. i think probably we could do a pretty in depth bible study on what it means to delight in the Lord, but just a quick explanation from me would be to bathe in the blessings God gives us. of course, those blessings have prerequisites also, and the main joy of our lives should be God Himself. like i said, an in-depth bible study would be good for a correct explanation of delighting in God.

as for those things that don't have a clear moral answer, such as what college, or what job, etc.... i don't believe there is any way for us to figure this out except to trust God completely without knowing how, when, where, or why. God will provide, just delight in Him.

clear as mud?

chris

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 07-05-2003, 02:08 PM

This is a thought but he will give you the desires of your heart might not mean he will give you what you desire. But that he will give you the desire itself. Pure desires which he will fulfill...

ApparentlyNothing · 07-05-2003, 02:24 PM

I personally am not too sure which way the verse is meant to be taken. I've always seen it as, "Line your will up with God, and he'll give you what you want." Although it does make sense that it can be taken the other way meantioned. I can tell you right now, I've been there when it comes to questioning whether something is God's will or not. I thought 100% for sure that something was God's will and that it was gonna happen, and then God slammed me in the face over nearly 2 whole years that it aint happening. Just recently, I've finally let it go, although it was the hardest thing ever. I still want to hold on, but I've let go and its too late now. Now, is that to say that God told me it was His will, and then changed His mind? More likely that He tried preparing me for it, and then I failed. Either that or it never was in His will in the first place. I can tell you right now, it is hard to know what God's will is for your life. You have to be so in tune to Him, and completely let go of any of your own selfish desires, and let Him tell you His will. If you go at it with your own preconcieved ideas of whats gonna happen, your gonna end up horribly disapointed like I did. You have to let him mold you into what he wants, and then you will only want what he wants. Your friend may very well be in tune with God, but if she doesnt get what she wants, she cant blame God for it, cause God's will is so much bigger than what you can understand. God has only ever promised that His will be done, and thats what will happen. If what your friend wants to happen doesnt happen, it never was in Gods will, but Gods will is eventually gonna happen and it will 10x better than she could imagine.