Chapter Four- Delighting in God

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Chapter Four

Delighting in God

(Becoming A Woman Of Prayer, © Cynthia Heald, June 2005.  Used by permission of NavPress, all rights reserved.  www.navpress.com)

Delight yourself in the LORD;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

-PSALM 37:4

There are only a few things I could name that I could say brought me true delight. That's not to say that I wallow in sadness, in fact I try to, more often than not, find the good or more specifically the God in it. As far as what brings me delight, the truest, easiest and most obvious answer is my children. They aren't perfect, in fact I just received a phone call from the principal at their school who shared that my youngest decided to relieve his bladder by the fence out on the school field. Awesome. But, on the whole, when I look at my kids, my heart swells with love and pleasure in them. It's not uncommon for me to hug on them, kiss their cheeks, hold their hands and snuggle with them on a regular basis. 

This chapter is all about delighting in God. It's divided into two sections: Our Delight in God and God's Delight in Our Prayers. (1)

Our Delight in God

In the previous chapters we are given reasons why we WOULD delight in Him. He invites us, He delights in us, He pursues us, He is faithful all the time, He offers His help so that we may know Him more and communicate with Him better. What more can He do to demonstrate His love for us? 

"When your words came, I ate them;  they were my joy and my heart’s delight,

for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty."- Jeremiah 15:16

"Initially, I responded to His call to delight in Him to ensure the fulfillment of His promise to give me the desires of my heart. I had no idea that He would give me a new heart (Jer. 24:7). I didn’t know that He would begin working in me to reproduce His own 

heart. When I turned to Him, I found that He Himself is my very great reward (Gen. 15:1).He is not, as I  had supposed, the means to my end. Instead He is the desire of my heart."-Jennifer Kennedy Dean(2)

God Delights in Our Prayers

The question posed in this chapter is: what does and what doesn't delight our God? Ultimately, it's our will aligned with His, our obedience and submission to Him. As we learned in the last chapter God gives us His spirit to help us know and communicate with Himself. 

Cynthia's words in the authors reflection hit home for me, here's a small excerpt:

"Sometimes I am a little hesitant to pray specifically for certain things I want. I always want to 

be sure that I am praying according to the will of God and not from my own selfish desires...My desires are put into Your hands to be corrected. Strike the pen through every petition that I offer that is not right. And put in whatever I have omitted, even though I might not have desired it had I considered it…. ‘Not as I will, but as Thou wilt."(3)

This weeks challenge:  

Re-examine the last three chapters. Find your delight in who God is, in what He does to have relationship with us through the blood of Christ and what He gives us now so we can grow to know Him more. Again, post this week's verse in a visible spot for you and read it every day.

Questions: Do you struggle with finding delight in God? Why or Why not? 
Is there an attribute of God that you struggle to believe to be true? 
Do you delight more in your own pleasure that God's?

Lord, you are so faithful to us and your love for us is never-ending, never-failing and infinite. Thank you for wanting us and wanting us to know you more. God reveal more of yourself to us so that we may see and know a glimpse of your glory. I love you my Redeemer and my God. This life is yours and I pray that it glorifies you.

(1-3) Becoming A Woman Of Prayer, © Cynthia Heald, June 2005.  Used by permission of NavPress, all rights reserved.  www.navpress.com