to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hid:
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name
through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
This is a
Prayer of Preparation and is a common feature in Anglican worship.
I have been
reflecting lately on desire – in this prayer we declare that God knows all our
desires.
The first reference
in Scripture to someone having a ‘desire’ is very telling.
We find it
in Genesis 3.6, ‘So when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the
tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.’
Note the sequence,
she had the desire and then she took and consumed.
(Let’s not
get to hung up on it being Eve who is designated here, that’s a discussion for
another time)
We should
also note that the tree was meant to be desired, that in the story is part of
the point.
However, and
a very important however, is that this tree was out of bounds to the human
couple created by God with a special purpose and calling.
Would this
human pair accept God’s wisdom and God’s timing in allowing the human pair to
discover and discern true wisdom. Sadly, we know the answer to that and
continue to live in the consequences.
In the final
analysis I think it would be fair to say that every person in our prisons are
there because of a desire, a desire that according to the law of the land could
only be acquired by ‘legitimate’ means, or that has been deemed an illegitimate
desire.
We see this being played out on a global scale as Putin has a desire to see Ukraine once more under Russian control as just one example amongst many.
Sometimes
our desire leads into conflict, currently we are seeing a rise in a desire not
to have asylum seekers housed in certain hotels in particular areas.
The next
desire we see in the Scriptures is the desire for revenge or at least to
destroy.
From the
story of Cain and Abel, offspring of Adam and Eve. (See Genesis 4)
Cain is
angry that God accepted Abel offering above his, angry enough as to want to
destroy his bother Abel.
Genesis
4.6-7, ‘The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are
you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If
you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is
lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.
I find these
words some of the most chilling in the whole of the Scriptures. This is ‘monsters
under the bed’ big time.
There is a ‘monster’
that is always seeking to master us, to lead us into a way of rebellion against
God, and it is powerful, but we can master it, we do not have to give in to it.
Thanks be to
God that because of the completed work of Jesus we have someone who fully understands
our dilemma…
Jesus understands every weakness of
ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not
sin! So, whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne
of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we
will find help.
Hebrews 4.15-16.
The
difficulty for us is that Western culture is built on creating desires. We are
bombarded daily with advertisements that activate and cultivate our desires.
Are we able
to master the desire that may lead us into ‘sin’ – that leads us further into chaos,
death and decay?
Are we able
to create a desire to interrogate every desire, to see if this desire will
bring flourishing and life. That will bring flourishing and life not only to
me, but to my family and friends, to my community, to this person standing
before me.
Let me put
this bluntly, I see this person before me, and I have a strong desire to have
sex with them. However, they have no desire to have sex with me and added to
which for various reasons having sex with this person is illegal. That’s a ‘monster’ that need to be overcome
before that desire consumes me and leads me into a gross transgression. (And a
possible prison sentence!)
At the ‘softer
end’ I may have a desire to give this person a piece for my mind for what they have
just said or done. But will that help, will my following this desire lead to a
building up, will it lead to flourishing, will it lead to life.
Desires are necessary,
they are part of the warp and weft of life. We have a desire to eat and drink
and that’s important, but we need to be cautious about what we eat and drink
and the amount we eat and drink.
Left unchecked
desires can be dangerous, very dangerous.
Romans 12.2
is a good Scriptural watchword,
‘Don’t let the world around you
squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so
that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all
his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.’
Remember that
the thought is father to the deed. (Check out Matthew 5.28)
We need to
cultivate the desire to walk in God’s will, way and wisdom where our desire is to
honour the Lord, with all our heart and worship Him.
This is
My Desire (Lord, I Give You My Heart)
https://youtu.be/blhRB3xz5yQ?si=iE-_3F48HhDS0eEn
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