Aligning Our Will to God’s

Praise to the Lord Who over all things
   So wondrously reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings
  Yea so gently sustaineth
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
By: Joachim Neander 1680, trans. Catherine Winkworth 1863

Listen to this modern version of this majestic hymn as you prepare to ponder the lyrics.  Please make certain to enjoy the podcast below.

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Everyone enjoy this podcast and transcript below!  It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures and reflections shared.

Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.

As we continue our journey through this hymn ask the Holy Spirit to help you receive and then issue this call to worship. Be sure to find your place in the praise. Let’s think about this.

Can You See It?

What are you looking for? We are inclined to longer the things we desire most, which we think we give us the greatest delight, or grant us the greatest deliverance. Unfortunately, we generally look to the wrong things to usher in those seemingly elusive pursuits.

So what are you looking for? A relationship to grant you companionship? Or a career to give you a sense of purpose? Maybe a home to provide a haven of security? Possibly something you can shop for or travel to see, or potentially something as simple as a tribe to call your own.

All of these things are wonderful, but also give us only a limited sense of what our souls truly long for, God. When we look to him to be our companion, purpose and security, the lesser expressions of them become a sign of His benevolent care. The things we own or the places we go, as well as the people we are them with become so much richer when they are demonstrations of His love for us.

Seeing all these things as His provision points us to Him, the One who is the true Satisfaction of every desire.

Developing Your Perspective

Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been [Granted]

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 1 John 5:14 ESV

Here we find a rhetorical question. It is asked to make the point that God answers us when we ask in accordance with His will. The trouble we have is that we often ask God for things, we desire things that are not in His will. How do we experience this confidence? Learn His will.         

Have you seen God grant your every desire? No? What do you imagine the issue might be? Is God stingy? Maybe He is incapable of providing for some of our desires. Sounds ridiculous if He truly is Ruler over all things, right? So maybe He isn’t. Or maybe the issue is my desires.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

RESONATE!
Take a few moments to ask God to reveal to you the true longing of your soul. Ask Him to show you where you may be longing for counterfeits. Determine to bring you desires in lie with His. Start by making this your simple prayer.”Spirit, help me desire the things You want for me.” 

His Ordained Will

When we see His will clearly, we can bring our labors in line with fulfilling it. We are capable of bringing all our efforts to bear to this pursuit, rather than trying to simply get what we want. It is the best way to use all those abilities fo the purpose for which they were designed, helping us know God better and share Him with others.

What are you laboring toward? Your dreams, goals, aspirations? Or God’s? It is easy for us to sanctify our desires and ask God to bless them. We would be better served surrendering our will in pursuit of His. That pursuit will bring us a deeper fulfillment than anything we could ever achieve outside of it.

Aligning Our Will to His

[Granted] in what He ordaineth

And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 1 John 5:15 ESV

As an expression of His care for us, God will not give us things that will not help us to know, love and trust Him more. That is His will for us. When we ask for those things, we can have confidence that we already have them, even if they have not been delivered just yet.

If aligning our desires with God’s is really the issue, and it is, then how do we even begin to make the necessary adjustment? Can we even desire different things or are we just broken? Yes we can and yes we are, but God’s will is to help us desire better by finding rest in His provision.

RESONATE!

Most of our desires are pursuits of things outside of ourselves. Our most significant challenge to taking the drive for the external things and address the internal craving. It requires a change of heart. Make this your prayer today, “Jesus, change my desires by changing me.”

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Image Attributions
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been –  https://pixabay.com/illustrations/social-media-manager-online-woman-1966025/
Granted in what He ordaineth – https://pixabay.com/photos/skills-professional-development-3371153/