Journal Guide - Desire - Psalm 37:4
Desire
Psalm 37:4
Week 3/Day 2
Hi all. My name is Daisy. Today I am inviting you to join me as we open our Bibles and spend some quality alone time with God together. So, to follow along, you will need your Bible and a pen, and a designated journal. If you have our Alone With God journal, please use that. And if you don’t have our Alone With God journal, you can order one at wordbymail.com. This Alone With God journal has been worked on so hard by a team of people. And it’s just the perfect way to practice spending alone time in the scripture as you transform your life through the Living Word of God. It is powerful. I just couldn’t get through the day without mine. You can also download a journal page here.
Today we are going to be meditating on Psalm 37:4. I will read the verse a couple of times, then you read the verse on your own.
Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
As you meditate, please be thinking about what God’s Word is saying to you and what are the spiritual principles of this verse. Why does it matter? Write this down in the Meditate section of your journal. Take some time and go ahead and do that.
So, there are two things that were first brought up for me. The first is that when I was little, I used to be so excited if my dad took me to watch a game or to do something that he loved to do because I just loved spending time with my dad when he was excited about something. He loved sports, so I would just get so excited. It felt like we were a team. And I would just take so much delight in the things that delighted him because I loved seeing him happy, and I loved spending time with him. And so, that’s the first thing I thought about is why do I have that relationship with my earthly dad? My earthly father who I just want to see light up. I want to give back to, and who I want to love, and someone that I enjoy delighting over the same things with.
But with God, I want my own way. And I want things to happen the way I want them to happen. And the things that delight him don’t sound as enticing to me. And I’m not ready to surrender the things that I am holding on to just to bond with him. And that’s crazy because he’s God, you know? That’s my Creator. I should want to just abandon everything and go all in with him.
And so, the second thing that it made me think about, which is very humbling. And this verse definitely brought me into some repentance. Because currently, I am in the process of trying to find a new apartment. And I’ve just been feeling so discouraged, and it’s just been one closed door after another. And there is this desperation inside of me and a distress, to be honest, because it’s one of those very important needs that is being threatened. And so, there’s this sense that if this one piece of the puzzle would just finally come together, then my life would be easier, more complete in some way. And so, I just – to be completely transparent – I’ve been fighting God a lot during this process. Unintentionally. It’s just I’ve realized my plan delights me more than what his plan for me is.
And so, I’ve had to keep dropping that, and I’ve had to keep trusting and choosing to trust, and really pulling my focus away from fear, and from doubt, and returning it back to him. Because even in this midst of this desperate longing for a new home and to feel grounded and safe and settled, I know that once I move there, there’s just going to be a new desire to take its place and that God is the one thing that will truly satisfy me. He’s the one thing that I can actually take delight in long-term.
So, I let go of my desire for things to go my way, and I let go of this urgency and this pressure. I have noticed that God is softening me and that he’s changing my desire. And it’s been a roller coaster, but it’s been amazing because he’s become more important to me during this time than my earthly desires have. And they’re just diminishing in value because I’ve taken my focus off what I am lacking, and I’ve been putting it onto how much I’m gaining through Christ. My joy is complete in God, and I know I’ll be taken care of. And so, the details of my desires don’t really matter that much.
Take a minute now, and in the Apply section of your journal, you’re going to write down your own thoughts about what stands out to you about this verse. Take a moment, and start thinking about what are you desiring these days. What are you longing for and why? What do you hope that having that desire is going to fulfill inside of you? Just take some time now, and apply this scripture to your life.
Now, we’re going to take a moment to respond to God. What actions can you be taking this week to bring this verse to life? Are you willing to give your desires over to God and just enjoy him instead? Do you trust him enough to surrender your plans to him? And can you work on that trust? How can you work on consciously turning your focus away from the things that you don’t have and putting it on all the things you do have? Gratitude will change your heart. It’s changed mine so much this week. So take some time and in the Respond section, go ahead and write your response to God.
Finally, we are going to close in prayer. I will pray, and then you take some minutes to write a prayer of your own in the Pray section of your journal to complete your time alone with God today.
God, as we look back over our lives, we can see so many times you fulfilled our desires in unexpected ways. We can see how you gave us something better than what we thought we wanted because you are always watching over us, always taking care of us regardless of how we feel. Regardless of our doubts and our fears, and our hesitancy. Teach us to exchange our fear for peace. Help us learn to be satisfied by you. Remind us of how you’ve answered our prayers in the past and how you continue to take care of us every single day of our lives.
Thank you, Father. Thank you for allowing us and for diligently tending to our needs. You give us more than we are even worthy of simply because you love us. So, thank you for your love and your constant provision. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Today we are going to be meditating on Psalm 37:4. I will read the verse a couple of times, then you read the verse on your own.
Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
As you meditate, please be thinking about what God’s Word is saying to you and what are the spiritual principles of this verse. Why does it matter? Write this down in the Meditate section of your journal. Take some time and go ahead and do that.
So, there are two things that were first brought up for me. The first is that when I was little, I used to be so excited if my dad took me to watch a game or to do something that he loved to do because I just loved spending time with my dad when he was excited about something. He loved sports, so I would just get so excited. It felt like we were a team. And I would just take so much delight in the things that delighted him because I loved seeing him happy, and I loved spending time with him. And so, that’s the first thing I thought about is why do I have that relationship with my earthly dad? My earthly father who I just want to see light up. I want to give back to, and who I want to love, and someone that I enjoy delighting over the same things with.
But with God, I want my own way. And I want things to happen the way I want them to happen. And the things that delight him don’t sound as enticing to me. And I’m not ready to surrender the things that I am holding on to just to bond with him. And that’s crazy because he’s God, you know? That’s my Creator. I should want to just abandon everything and go all in with him.
And so, the second thing that it made me think about, which is very humbling. And this verse definitely brought me into some repentance. Because currently, I am in the process of trying to find a new apartment. And I’ve just been feeling so discouraged, and it’s just been one closed door after another. And there is this desperation inside of me and a distress, to be honest, because it’s one of those very important needs that is being threatened. And so, there’s this sense that if this one piece of the puzzle would just finally come together, then my life would be easier, more complete in some way. And so, I just – to be completely transparent – I’ve been fighting God a lot during this process. Unintentionally. It’s just I’ve realized my plan delights me more than what his plan for me is.
And so, I’ve had to keep dropping that, and I’ve had to keep trusting and choosing to trust, and really pulling my focus away from fear, and from doubt, and returning it back to him. Because even in this midst of this desperate longing for a new home and to feel grounded and safe and settled, I know that once I move there, there’s just going to be a new desire to take its place and that God is the one thing that will truly satisfy me. He’s the one thing that I can actually take delight in long-term.
So, I let go of my desire for things to go my way, and I let go of this urgency and this pressure. I have noticed that God is softening me and that he’s changing my desire. And it’s been a roller coaster, but it’s been amazing because he’s become more important to me during this time than my earthly desires have. And they’re just diminishing in value because I’ve taken my focus off what I am lacking, and I’ve been putting it onto how much I’m gaining through Christ. My joy is complete in God, and I know I’ll be taken care of. And so, the details of my desires don’t really matter that much.
Take a minute now, and in the Apply section of your journal, you’re going to write down your own thoughts about what stands out to you about this verse. Take a moment, and start thinking about what are you desiring these days. What are you longing for and why? What do you hope that having that desire is going to fulfill inside of you? Just take some time now, and apply this scripture to your life.
Now, we’re going to take a moment to respond to God. What actions can you be taking this week to bring this verse to life? Are you willing to give your desires over to God and just enjoy him instead? Do you trust him enough to surrender your plans to him? And can you work on that trust? How can you work on consciously turning your focus away from the things that you don’t have and putting it on all the things you do have? Gratitude will change your heart. It’s changed mine so much this week. So take some time and in the Respond section, go ahead and write your response to God.
Finally, we are going to close in prayer. I will pray, and then you take some minutes to write a prayer of your own in the Pray section of your journal to complete your time alone with God today.
God, as we look back over our lives, we can see so many times you fulfilled our desires in unexpected ways. We can see how you gave us something better than what we thought we wanted because you are always watching over us, always taking care of us regardless of how we feel. Regardless of our doubts and our fears, and our hesitancy. Teach us to exchange our fear for peace. Help us learn to be satisfied by you. Remind us of how you’ve answered our prayers in the past and how you continue to take care of us every single day of our lives.
Thank you, Father. Thank you for allowing us and for diligently tending to our needs. You give us more than we are even worthy of simply because you love us. So, thank you for your love and your constant provision. In Jesus’ name, amen.