(By Kim)
This is post no 3 in our series ‘Seeking the Heart of God For Your Finances’. The purpose of this series is not to figure out how we can grow rich, but more importantly it’s about understanding and seeking the heart of God, which effortlessly leads us into places of prosperity and wealth.
If you have any questions on this topic, please feel free to mail it to us at: [email protected]
Before we become good stewards of our finances, its important that we learn to become good stewards of our desires.
Desire is a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. Here is more about desires:
1. Desire is more than a passing thought. In fact it is something that you set your heart on! That’s why we need to be good stewards of our desires.
2. Our desires can be driven by the flesh or the Spirit.
3. Fleshy desires will always contradict the spirit-led desires (Galatians 5:17).
4. A desire that is birthed in flesh will eventually give birth to sin (James 1:14, 1 Peter 2:11).
5. Our fleshly desires can choke the plan of God for our lives (Mark 4:19).
So next time you desire for that recently launched phone or gadget that your friend has, or the new brand of car, ask yourself this question: Why do I want what I want? Is it just to please my flesh? Is it going to take me closer in my walk with Jesus?
Keep company with God, get in on the best!
Here is what James 4:1-3 says,
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desire that battle within you?you desire, but you don’t have , so you kill. You covet, but you cannot get what you want so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on pleasures.
The God we serve is a good God and mind you, He does want us to enjoy life (1 Timothy 6:17), but if only we choose to delight in Him! And as we do that He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalms 37:4). The MSG version of this scripture says: Keep company with God, get in on the best!
Ask like Solomon
In 2 Chronicles 1, we read about King Solomon. One night God appeared to him and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon asked God for wisdom and knowledge to rule his people and God gave him not only wisdom, but also wealth, possessions and honour, such as no king who was before him ever had and none after him would ever have!!! (2 Chronicles 1:12). Solomon’s desires were as per God’s heart. He was not running after wealth, as we read in 2 Chronicles 1:6, he had offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar for the Lord, following which God had appeared to him.
This is the key: Pursue the desires that are after God’s heart and all else that you need will be yours by default.
Today check yourself, what desires are you asking the Lord to meet for you?
And here’s the biggest secret
…to keep your desires in check – Start thanking God for what He has already blessed you with! When we start taking our blessings for granted, we start craving for more, we start comparing ourselves with others more and somewhere we start getting the feeling that we are entitled to what they have or own!
Decide today.
If you are looking for a financial breakthrough, start by guarding your desires and by having an attitude of gratitude for what you already have!
Stay tuned for the next post in the series…