This website, youwillwantto.com is named after Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” So, how do I delight myself in the Lord?

Practical Steps

In a nutshell, do the following three things until all of your thoughts of the Lord are delightful!!!

1. Read, study, and meditate on the Bible.
2. Seek godly counsel/discipleship training from mature believers.
3. Pray, pray, pray including asking!

Read, Study, and Meditate

Starting with the New Testament letters to the churches, you can begin to delight yourself in the Lord by consuming His Word.

Philemon 1:6 tells us to make our faith effective by acknowledging every good thing that is already in us. To understand more clearly what this is saying, we have to know that, just like our Creator, we are three-part beings. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 tells us that we are made up of a spirit, a soul, and a body. This is how we can be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15) but still have to renew our minds (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23) daily, and our bodies are dying but can be submitted to God’s good plan and purpose (Romans 8:11, Romans 12:1). We get to “put on” the new man (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10) by renewing our minds and acknowledging the good work God has already done in us (1 Corinthians 1:4-6, 2 Corinthians 4:5-7, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Ephesians 1:17-23 goes hand in hand with Revelation 12 (Revelation 12:7-12, 13-17).

God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Colossians 3:24). He loves us all unconditionally. When we sin, we are submitting ourselves to sin and death not being punished by God (James 4:7, Romans 6:16).

Repent (1 Samuel 12:20-25)

Repent just means to turn from your thoughts and ways and turn to His thoughts and His ways (Isaiah 55:7-9). It is finished and paid in full (Matthew 9:2, John 19:30)! You can break out in praise and thanksgiving as often as you would like! Why? Because the more you know Him, the more You Will Want To!!!

I am overcoming the devil by the blood of the lamb and the word of my testimony (Revelation 12:11)!

You can too (Jeremiah 29:11-13)!!! Hallelujah!

Seek Godly Counsel (Proverbs 11:14, Proverbs 12:15)

You can tell by their fruit (Galatians 5:22-25): love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, etc., and all of this in abundance (John 10:10)!

Godly Counsel does not try to guilt, manipulate, control, or shame you into doing anything! They are not bitter, depressed, hopeless, whining and complaining, and/or in fear. Disciples don’t deny having problems (John 16:33). We just know how to FIGHT (Ephesians 6:11-15, 16-20).

Godly Counsel is not heavy-laden and trying to get you to be either (Matthew 20:22)!!! They are living for Christ knowing that physical death is gain (Philippians 1:21)!!! That doesn’t mean that they don’t have “problems (Romans 8:34-39).” They just know without a doubt that they are already more than conquerors because Jesus (The Bible) says so (Romans 8:37)! And they believe Him (John 7:38-39)!

Godly Counsel knows what it looks like to fear the Lord (Malachi 3:16). Those who fear the Lord think often on His name and fellowship together. And they encourage you to delight yourself in the Lord with them.

Pray

You can pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17-23)!

Pray in the spirit (1 Corinthians 14:14-15, Ephesians 6:18).

You can pray in your known language (Colossians 1:3, Luke 21:36, 2 Thessalonians 1:11).

Enter His gates with praise and thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4)!

God answered my prayer when I repented from being a lazy glutton. He sent the name and title of a secular book, Diabetes Code by Jason Fung. He specifically told me that being a lazy glutton was NOT my fault and how to overcome it.

After that, I asked God to teach me how to pray (Luke 11:1)!

I found a CD by that very same title, “Lord, teach us how to pray” on the ground in the rain by Duane Sheriff (https://pastorduane.com/series/teachustopray1/). Although the CD was on the ground in the rain, it played perfectly close to a dozen times! My life has never been the same!

Ask!

Matthew 7:7-12 and Luke 11:9-13 tell us to ask and guarantees we will receive. Of all things Jesus could have said that God would give, He named the greatest gift ever, the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13)!

Again, Ask!

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:19 KJV)
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. (Matthew 21:22 KJV)
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13 KJV)
If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it]. (John 14:14 KJV)

Let His Words Abide in You

This goes back to the first practical step of reading, meditating, and studying the Bible. Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17).

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7 KJV)

You Are Chosen! Ask! Delight Yourself in the Lord!

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (John 15:16 KJV)
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (Ephesians 3:20 KJV)

Ask for Wisdom!

God wants you to be wise. Why? So that you can be wise enough to delight yourself in the Lord.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5 KJV)
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. (James 1:6 KJV)
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. (James 4:2 KJV)
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts. (James 4:3 KJV)
And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. (1 John 3:22 KJV)

Why Ask?

Because God wants to give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4)! The greatest motivator is passion. Believe that God is real and wants to reward you (Hebrews 11:6). What I used to see as commandments to begrudgingly obey, I now see as absolute joy and pleasure.

I love John 16:23-28. Jesus tells us to ask in His Name so that our joy may be full! What? Just ask the Father. Why? Because “the Father Himself loves you!”

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you. (John 16:23 KJV)
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24 KJV)
These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. (John 16:25 KJV)
At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: (John 16:26 KJV)
For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. (John 16:27 KJV)
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. (John 16:28 KJV)

What audacity to think that we are capable of loving anyone, even our own children more than our Father loves us and the whole world. Would you give your life to see your loved one well, happy, and successful? You don’t have to because Jesus gave His.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: (1 John 5:14 KJV)
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1 John 5:15 KJV)

You can and should know The Will of God!

Trust, Delight, Commit, and Rest!

Trust in the LORD, and do good; [so] shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. (Psalm 37:3 KJV)
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psalm 37:4 KJV)
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass. (Psalm 37:5 KJV)
And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. (Psalm 37:6 KJV)
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. (Psalm 37:7 KJV)

When we trust, delight, commit, and rest, who is causing you to dwell in the land? Who is doing the feeding, the giving, the bringing to pass, bringing your righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) and your judgment (1 Corinthians 6:1-5)?