Alignment through Adoration

“Delight yourself and He will give you the desires of your heart.” 

Pslam 37:4

If you’re like me, when it comes to praying you’re probably quick to jump into taking your requests before God. That’s not a bad thing….God tells us throughout Scripture to bring our petitions before Him, no matter how big or small they are!

But is that all that prayer should be?

In Matthew 6 Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray. What might surprise us is how He begins the prayer…famous words you have probably heard before, but perhaps have not thought about…. “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name.”

Jesus doesn’t jump right into his list of petitions, but rather begins with praise! Why is this so important?

Psalm 37:4 tells us that when we delight ourselves in God, He will align our heart with His. And when you think about it, isn’t that what we all want anyways? To have the same heart as God…thinking about the things He thinks about and asking for the things He wants to give us.

When we take time to praise God for who He is something special happens. Not only do we grow in our faith and trust in Him (Romans 4:20-21), but through our praise He actually aligns our heart with His. Over time, we begin asking for the very things that are on God’s heart rather than our own. Better yet, His desires become our desires!

And what do you think happens when we want the same things God wants? That’s right…He gives them to us (1 John 5:14-15)!

So as you seek to grow in your love for God I encourage you to not stop at seeking to understand His word, but rather to press on to understand His heart through praising and adoring Him!

Kyle and Maggie Hooper live in Blacksburg, Virginia where they serve with The Navigators U.S. Military Ministry at Virginia Tech. In addition to their ministry to the Corps of Cadets, Kyle serves as an F-22 Aircraft Maintenance Officer in the Virginia Air National Guard. Kyle & Maggie have two children, Jack (3) and Luke (2) and are passionate about raising up Godly leaders across our nation’s military.