desires not of my own

"delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." psalm 37:4

a marriage filled with devotion, friendship, grace, and uninterrupted kissing sessions. waffle ice cream cones with a hearty side of organic peanut butter. become a spiritual director. a few new tattoos. travel across the globe with my nikon and a journal. these are but a few of the endless desires that decorate my heart. i have often wondered what this verse in scripture means. i realize that on the surface this does not seem like a very challenging sentence to comprehend. but when we look at it bare-boned, it gives the perception that all that is required is a slapped on smile, maybe a joyful leap here and there, a quick rub of the magical ark of the lord and voila! wishes granted!  not quite. i believe there is much more underneath these words or promise. and only recently has my blurred vision been focused just a little bit more clearly and as a result, this passage takes on an entirely different hue.

the lord laid it on my heart to pray for a friend that will soon embark upon a wild adventure. often times god places specific ways to be in prayer for others and it is always interesting what sort of concoction he brews together. this particular call to prayer is fashioned together in a time frame that equates to the season my friend will be away, and tied together by a leather journal filled with each day's prayers sketched onto the pages. i love doing stuff like this! so far it has been 3 1/2 weeks and through the days i have seen outstanding thematic whispers from god and these quiet promptings have manifested into a beautiful enhancing process in my heart. 

over 3 1/2 weeks my heart has grown in yearnings that i didn't even know existed. is it because, until now, they had yet to take their first breath of life? or were these longings simply in deep hibernation, waiting for the perfect season to awake and crawl out from their long winter slumber? whatever the essence of these blossoming cravings, i am grateful for them; for they are both the effects of prayer and the promptings to pray. god has taken his creative idea of a several month season of intercession and set fire to the wick of desire. i am finding that because of the great delight that bleeds from spending time in communion with christ, he grants unto me the desires of my heart. the direction the spirit blows while in prayer and petition leads me straight into the fountainhead of longing, which is of and for the will of god.