Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The heavenly Father cares about those "desires of your heart" that are buried deep therein. He put them there. And He never instills such "desires" into "your heart" without planning to "give" them to you as soon as you are ready to realize them without becoming proud (Psalm 37:4). The first step is for you to know Who put them there, and that He is the One who "satisfies" them (145:16).
King David cherished such "desires" from his boyhood. While he tended his sheep he dreamed of castles in the air, fantasies if you please. He hardly dared voice them in actual prayer--his supreme secret dream that he could someday fight the battles of the Lord (be king of Israel?). He couldn't dare to mention them to his family, for his older brothers had an inkling and despised him just as Joseph's ten brothers despised him for his "dreams" (see 1 Sam. 17:28; Gen. 37:8). David, unashamed to bare his soul in his psalms, wrote about those secret "desires of [his] heart."
Have you dared to voice those "desires of your heart" in actual prayer to your heavenly Father? Or are you ashamed to admit that you have them? Or do you think they are too trivial to bring to His attention? The Savior is sympathetic; you can voice "desires" to Him that you can't admit to anyone else. He says, "Ask, and it will be given to you" (Matt. 7:7). That's why He insists that true prayer must be a secret thing between you and your heavenly Father (6:6). Such a secret with God can begin in your childhood; tell Him those hidden "desires," without shame. He won't despise you if you voice them in actual words of prayer!
David, your prototype, had to wait and wait and wait "patiently" for the Lord to give him those "desires" (Psalm 40:1)--years and decades, in fact. He offered his "secret" prayers, and finally the "Father who sees in secret [rewarded him] openly." Finish reading that psalm! It will link you to the secret heart of Jesus Himself.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 23, 2001.
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