At our local mall, they go through a great deal of trouble and effort to build an elaborate setting for children to get in line and sit on Santa’s lap, take pictures, etc. The stage has larger than life props, a Santa with a real beard, “a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly” and bright rosy cheeks that don‘t need makeup. That’s not all! They now have a computerized paging system so that you may shop until they page you for your child’s turn with Santa, thus not having to stand in line forever and the children getting cranky, etc. (You know the scenario.) All of this, in keeping with the tradition of asking Santa for everything you want and wish for!
Do I treat prayer like that? How many times have I gone to God, the Creator of the universe, with my “want and wish” list? When He does give me what I want, do I remember to thank Him?
Jesus says in John 14:13, “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
“Sounds too easy,” you say? Prayer is not trying to get God to do something for me. Prayer is aligning my heart with what God is doing and WHAT He is doing is already written in His love letter to us…the Bible. Answering prayer is God’s idea!
Psalm 37:4-5 & 7a says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. (5) Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will do it. (7a) Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;…”
I learned something about “the desires of my heart.” I used to think that meant I could make a wish list, and God would do it. What I have grown to know, is, that when my heart is given completely to God, through His Son, Jesus Christ; abiding in Him day to day, God, Himself, places the desires in my heart that He wants me to have! Those desires are what He knows are best for me and gives me peace and joy beyond anything I could muster up. If I request something that God knows will ultimately bring me pain and suffering, He probably won’t grant that request, unless He knows I will learn from it.
I have a picture of my son and me on the wall at home. This picture is so special, that whenever I walk by it, my heart skips a beat. He was about 3 years old, and his little head is leaned back on my bosom with the most peaceful look on his face. Now, if you knew my son, he never sat still for a second. He was always running circles around me, so you can understand my tenderness to the capturing of that moment. That was a moment of intimacy that we had and still have, now in his adult life.
I especially remember when my son would run out the door to play in the snow with the neighbor kids, on a “snow day.” Every now and then, he would fly through the door and run through the house until he found me, and yell, “Hi Mom!” Then he’d run back out the door and play some more. Sometimes, he would crawl up in my lap and put his little hands on my face and say, “Mommy, I love you!” Do you know that I would do anything for that little guy when he did that?
It’s no different with our heavenly Father. When we stop from our busyness, and crawl up in His lap and tell Him how much we love Him and thank Him for all His many blessings, there’s nothing He wouldn’t do to bless us.
Isaiah 30:18 says, “Therefore, the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. How blessed are all those who long for Him.”
There is nothing God can’t turn into something good, when by faith, we give it over to Him!
Deuteronomy 23:5b says, “…but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.”
This Christmas, let’s all choose to let God be our Father and give us His desires for our heart. God bless you all and give you peace and joy, and a renewed vigor for the new year.
