De-sires n. the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state; v. to want for something strongly, to be expectant

Monday

When I was ‘google-ing’ this word it became quickly apparent to me that the world views ‘desire’ in a very different way than I do. I was bombarded in every way to abandon my conscience and partake of opportunities that I am told my ‘flesh’ desires. I was amused at my own naivety! My mind was totally focused on God and what He desires for me and of me as a loving Father, a gentle Saviour and a persistent Guide. But that is not the ‘desire’ the world sees. 
What do you suspect the needs behind worldly desires are?
What is behind God’s desires for you?
Compare these two lists. Spend some time journaling what you can see.
The Holy Spirit wants to reveal revelation to you so let Him show you the Father’s heart for you. It may come in an image you can sketch, a tune you can hum or a verse form scripture you can dig deeper into. Whatever form it takes, be open with an expectation of something strong being felt by the Father towards you and in turn you will feel something strong for the Father.

Tuesday

But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. . .When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a woman, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:6-13 (NIV)

I was once told that you are unable to love God in any way through your own strength, so God pours out His love over you in such an abundance that you can actually use it to love Him back. It made me smile - only God could give such prevenient grace (ie. He goes before you to provide all you need in order to give some back to Him). Every time I think about it I get this vision in my mind of how God loves me and how He goes before me to provide all I need to love Him back. In my vision I am standing beneath a waterfall. The water is pouring over me, around me, beyond me. It’s hitting my head, my body, the rocks I’m standing on and even the banks on either side of the river it’s flowing into.  Hopefully you get the idea that there is an abundance of water happening here! God, the Father, is sitting on the bank watching me, laughing, enjoying and calling to me. And in that moment, I look at the beautiful waterfall of love God has blessed me with and I longed to share that with Him - a gift back from me. So I grab a handful of water and splash Him with it. Not a great offering compared to the cascades falling on me. . . but I filled my two hands to capacity. I used what I had to the very fullest extent, and that’s desire. I didn’t look at my small offering and decide not to bother. I just decided that continual splashing could eventually get somewhere, and that’s desire. And, in my vision, God loves it! He is delighted with the little compared to His much. Do you know why? Because my hands were full to overflowing and I threw it on Him with everything I had in me! He sees your heart, not the amount you give, but the heart in which you give it. You can’t match God’s desire, but you can reflect it, imitate it, infuse it into who you are. I believe God’s desire is infectious! Once you’ve caught it, it will spread to lots of areas in your life that you thought were permanently locked with a “Danger. No Entry” sign. Desire permeates your senses - especially your spiritual ones. Desire brings about love that works against everything your flesh automatically reverts to - instead of being impatient the desire to love brings an enduring tolerance towards others and instead of being easily angered the desire to love brings a joyful calmness. The passage above calls us to desire the greater gifts - faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Desire pursues something strongly beyond what you could normally do yourself. Desire is like the fuel injection that takes a mere car and transforms it into a racing car (sorry about the guy oriented analogy!). I want to be someone that goes from being a mere woman to a powerful woman. Desire is something that fuels us to be better, go further and achieve more than we could have by ourselves. God’s desire to love you moved Him (Jesus) from a place in Heaven to a painful cross on a lonely hill. That action came from a desire to be united with you as His Girl. God’s desire is imbedded in us and love will be the bridge that takes God’s desire to the world. Spend some time thinking today about the love God has for you and what that means as you reflect that same desire to others. What an incredible opportunity!

Wednesday

Elkanah. . . had two wives. The first was Hannah; the second was Peninnah. Peninnah had children; Hannah did not. . . When Elkanah sacrificed, he passed helpings from the sacrificial meal around to his wife Peninnah and all her children, but he always gave an especially generous helping to Hannah because he loved her so much, and because God had not given her children. . . So Hannah ate. Then she pulled herself together, slipped away quietly, and entered the sanctuary. The priest Eli was on duty at the entrance to God’s Temple in the customary seat. Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably. Then she made a vow:
    Oh, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   If you’ll take a good, hard look at my pain,
   If you’ll quit neglecting me and go into action for me
   By giving me a son,
   I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you.
   I’ll set him apart for a life of holy discipline.
 . . . Eli (the priest) answered her, “Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him.” “Think well of me—and pray for me!” she said, and went her way. Then she ate heartily, her face radiant. Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked. 1 Samuel 1:1-19 (MSG)

I have always been one of those girls (right from very little) that loved babies! I had a natural homing beacon to any baby within a 50 metre radius! And as I grew my desire to be a mother grew stronger and stronger. Finally after only 4 years of marriage I became a mummy. It fulfilled every ounce of desire within me, but then the desire grew strong again, and we had our second baby 18 months later. And this pattern repeated itself 2 more times after that!!! The thing I realized through this is that desire can come on strong, be satisfied, and then come on strong or even stronger again. I think it’s because desire gives you a stirring to act and as you reap the benefits of that action, the desire stirs again. God made us to desire things and for that desire to move us in an active direction. Hannah is moved to act in this passage because of her desire for a child. She is constantly ridiculed by her arch rival Peninnah, however, in her action she doesn’t lash out, but instead she takes her desire and disappointment to the Lord. I love the way Hannah leaves the place of pain (around the meal table where she has to see Peninnah flaunt her ability to mother children) and she goes to a place where she can grieve and pour out her frustration of unfulfilled desire to God. So she slips away and prays, giving her desires to God, who actually put them there to begin with, and finds peace. I don’t think she left there feeling any less desirous for a child, but perhaps more able to channel that desire into an action that gave her the control over it, rather than the other way around. Hannah finds blessing in releasing her feelings to God.  Eli, the priest, does not understand Hannah’s actions at first, being completely unaware of the desire burning within her, and the constant battle she faced with Peninnah. At first, he makes judgment on her, but she is able to convey her deep desire and the anguish accompanying it. So often our desires ache within us and our actions can be misinterpreted because of the deep emotions we are dealing with. This is a great time to surround yourself with loving, non judgmental support. Find people who are going to invest in you as you journey through the fulfillment or denying of desire. You may be like Hannah as she goes before God ’crushed in soul’ or you may be flying on cloud nine as your desires become a reality in your life. Either way, you will need people who can celebrate genuinely or hug you unconditionally! It’s interesting to see that as Hannah changed her heart position regarding her desires, God changed the reality of her physical position regarding her desires. I have learnt that when my heart can be placed in the perfect care of the Father regarding all my hopes and desires, then God moves in my life to change my circumstances. Are you looking at your desires from the right side of heaven? Perhaps God’s perspective is what you need to see those desires of your heart fulfilled - just like Hannah! 

Thursday

God needs to trust us with desire. He created it within us and gives us the drive to pursue it, but He also gives us a free will that can often complicate things dramatically! After all, if you think back to heaven, Lucifer (satan) was desirous of more than he was created for and then he convinced Eve to being like God. There is story after story of desire running rampart and destroying the purity of what God placed within people to move them into action. Why can’t the created, work with the Creator to bring about perfect harmony? Desire must be complimented with control. I don’t mean the kind of control that demands submission, but rather the kind spoken about in the fruits of the Spirit - self control. Desire is a powerhouse for action. When you desire something strongly enough you’ll change your position in order to achieve it. Now, you might think that I’m am actually about to give you this incredibly deep spiritual example, but no, my example revolves around something very dear to my heart. . . something that can move me into a place of concerted effort, strategy and creativity. . . yes, my Friend I am referring to. . . chocolate! When I’ve had a hard day packed with the needs of others demanding my time and attention, I flop onto the couch and vow never to move another muscle again. But, then I remember the chocolate bar ‘hidden’ in the back of the fridge. . . if only I could find the strength to get to it I know it would revive me! Then with the energy of a 7 year old (trust me, there is energy trapped in their bodies that cannot be fathomed!) I go to the fridge and retrieve my prize. Upon licking my fingers, savouring the last morsel of chocolate, I am completely energized. The desire for it has moved me from my semi-comatose couch state into action. Now, I know, that is a completely shallow example (for those that prefer fruit!) but the message is the same. When your desire is strong, you can become a woman that moves into position with conviction and motivation. The key is to remember where the desire comes from, is it in line with your Father’s heart and what glory is it going to bring the Kingdom of God. If you can’t find allegiance in any of these elements, then your desire is probably driven by the flesh and should be handled as such. If you can align your desires with God then great, but you may come up against some barriers. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be pushing on, but actually pushing harder. Desire comes at a price. And sometimes the price is pride, time, energy, patience or even relationships. If you desire to flow with the Holy Spirit and move yourself into positions of action, then you my Friend will have a lovely big target on your back - not only with people that are convicted by your passion, but satan himself, who knows your desire is in line with the heart of the Father, and fears it greatly. But you needn’t fear him, because God has printed His DNA on you and that gives you authority and intimacy with Him beyond anything that can be thrown at you. Be excited about who you are and what you can do when desire is realised and nurtured to become something God planned at the dawn of time.

Friday

How do you define what desires comes from the heart of the Father and what come from the flesh?
I find journaling to be one of the most revolutionary modes of ‘hearing’ from God. It gives me time to think, meditate, relax and listen. I am a person who needs a little unwinding time before I can focus, so journaling helps me there.
List some of the desires you have that come straight to mind. This is a great place to start. It can be anything from personal to career to hopes and dreams to spiritual. Let the list flow and when you run dry go back over it.
Now the fun begins! Let the Holy Spirit show you what desires are important to look at first. Once you have identified them, go back over them prayerfully and ask the Holy Spirit to highlight how they line up with scripture and the nature of God. If they are from Him there will be an essence of Him in them.
Once that is done, you now have some journaling to do as you allow the Holy Spirit to reveal revelation to you about each desire you have marked.
I can’t think of anything more strategic for God to do than place supernatural desires in amazing women and give abundant love, and encouragement to fulfill them! That is a freight train my Friend that I would not want to stand in the way of! So buckle up, because when you start to tap into God’s plans and desires for you then you are going to one unstoppable force!