GOD SATISFIES OUR EVERY DESIRE
Oscar Wilde, once wrote, “There are two tragedies in this life. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” In a way, Mr. Wilde recognized one of the most challenging aspects of being human. We want so much. We measure our lives by how much we get or do not get. Often we are not even sure about what we want. We are only sure of one thing: we want.
Today, our Savior addresses the issue of wants and desires in regard to our prayer life. Jesus points out that it is not wrong in and of itself to desire something. In fact, God is very gracious to us in respect to our desires. Our Savior gives us some comfort and assurance in that he reminds us that GOD SATISFIES OUR EVERY DESIRE. 1) He doesn’t offer sham substitutes, and 2) We can be confident of the best.
1) He doesn’t offer sham substitutes
The fact that God satisfies desires should not surprise us. God does take our wants and cares into serious consideration. Desire is a real thing. It is what leads us to want something and then to ask for it. Desire is often the guiding force behind our prayer life. The problem is that our sinful flesh takes desire and turns it on its head. This sinful flesh of ours is very fickle. It has definite desires and wants, but it is unable to determine the appropriate way to satisfy those needs.
Think of how we often satisfy our own physical hunger pangs. Perhaps you’re driving along the highway or sitting at home, when suddenly you feel your stomach begin to rumble. Your appetite has peaked. You have a desire for food. How we satisfy that desire is crucial. Do we pull off the highway into some fast-food place for a large fries and drink, or stroll into the kitchen for a bag of chips? Usually, that’s the case. Now, the desire for food is not wrong. How we satisfy that desire can be wrong, though. We can gorge ourselves on chips or candy and be satisfied, but its all a sham. There are greater needs that are left unmet; better foods that need to be eaten, nutrients we need to absorb.
All too often that’s just how we approach our heavenly Father in prayer. Most of our prayers just seem to skim the surface. Not only that, but we seem to ask God to satisfy our physical desires with some sham substitutes. We’re tempted to ask God to fill our desires by giving us something to gnaw on for a while just so we’re satisfied. Yet, all-the-while we are unaware of the greater things he provides.
Physical desires are very fleeting. They fall for one sham or another. And they leave us wanting for more. The businessman wants a bigger salary. The actor wants more fame. The athlete wants to break the record book. The husband wants a bigger bass boat, the wife wants a better wardrobe, and the kids want a newer family car to be seen in. Look around us and we can find example after example of people who spend their life’s energy seeking to obtain certain goals. Many of these people have dedicated their lives to one goal--maybe financial success, fame, or the mastery of some skill or sport.
The sad fact is that many people achieve their goals only to find that they are empty. They meet their aspirations only to complain that life has lost its meaning. Their desire has been spent. And once their desire is spent, they feel nothing but emptiness.
We are such people. We have a hankering, an appetite, and a desire for such things. What is your life’s aspiration? Maybe its financial security, or simply retiring with enough to live on, or you might want something more personal like more family time at home. It could be you desire a new home all together. Maybe you just want to have more fun. There’s nothing wrong with many of these desires. Many are noble aspirations. There’s nothing wrong with praying to God about these things either. God does provide physical blessings and satisfies those desires. Yet, these desires do become a problem when they get in the way and keep us from the greater spiritual blessings God would provide.
Spiritual desires matter most. And our Savior is urging us to set our hearts on these desires. The wonderful comfort is that our Lord causes our desires to conform to our needs. Just look at the model prayer Jesus has given to us. The Lord’s Prayer is full of desire.
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. So Jesus gave them a model prayer. Now the first thing that you will notice is that this model prayer is full of desire mainly for spiritual blessings. Jesus taught his disciples to ask for important things. In fact, they are even to demand these things from their heavenly Father. We pray that God’s name be hallowed. This simply means that God’s name be put above all other names. This is a real desire that needs to be met. We also pray that God’s kingdom will come. We desire our lives to be under God’s reign. Then things are good! We pray for his coming in power. We demand daily bread. We claim reconciliation with God even as we work for reconciliation with our neighbor. We ask to be spared from the conflicts between good and evil.
God satisfies our most desperate desires. And this is no sham. His satisfaction is not a substitute for the real thing. It is the real thing. In a world that desires genuineness and truth, only God can satisfy. It’s because he loves us. Jesus makes this point very clear: “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” Just as an earthly father wouldn’t give sham substitutes to his children in need, so our heavenly Father surpasses all desire by satisfying us as only he can. He satisfies every desire.
God mainly satisfies our spiritual desire for salvation and belonging. When you think of it, every desire or aspiration we have is an extension of our need to be at one with God. Everyone desires peace. Everybody desires the hope of eternity and the ability to attain it. We all want heaven. Unfortunately, our sinful minds come up with all sorts of sham substitutes for heaven or how we can get there. God doesn’t give us sham substitutes. He gives us the real thing in his Son, Jesus Christ.
In Christ Jesus we have genuine forgiveness. We have the true hope of heaven. We have the real promise of salvation right now. This is now sham substitute. Our desire is satisfied. And this satisfaction will last for all eternity. No shams! Even when that bag of chips is empty, forgiveness will still be ours. Even when that new SUV is rusted out, salvation will still be a sparkling truth. And even when that new computer is obsolete, heaven will still be your home address!
2) We can be confident of the best
God promises to satisfy our desires because of his grace. He leads us to pray for these things and to trust him to provide. We can be confident that God will provide the very best. The fact that we believe this is proof that God does answer our prayers. He has created faith in us to believe just as he promised he would. Jesus reaffirms his Father’s promise: “If you then, though, you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more, will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” The Holy Spirit offers proof that God has satisfied our most desperate desire. The Holy Spirit assures us of God’s love. He has given us the Means of Grace; the Word and Sacraments. As the Spirit creates and sustains saving faith in our hearts, he leads us to desire these things all the more. As we hear about Christ’s love for us, our faith grows, and so does our desire to hear more about Jesus’ love. As we are assured of forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper, we are moved to want to receive it more and more. These are the guarantees that God gives. There’s no reason to doubt. We have the very best God has to offer.
A few weeks ago I was sad to open the newspaper and read that McKenzie’s Bakery was finally going out of business for good. I was sad to think that we wouldn’t be able to find any more nice King Cakes for Mardi gras. In fact, we had been saving coupons in the hopes of using them in the future. Well, nobody will honor those coupons or savings slips. Now that McKenzie’s is closed, there’s no guarantee we’ll get the best King Cakes around.
Not so with God! We have the guarantee that he will provide the very best. That guarantee isn’t sealed with a coupon. It’s not simply based on an advertisement. God’s guarantee is sealed in the Holy Spirit. He is the one who guarantees that our desires have been met in Christ. He guarantees this whenever we go to our Father in prayer. Whatever is on our hearts and minds, God will hear and answer. We don’t need to doubt. We’ve got his promise.
One day, while shopping at the mall, I saw a mother and her son in a toy store. The little child began frantically searching the aisles for toys, when, suddenly, the little boy spotted a toy spaceship from the Star Wars series. This was the object of his desire. Nothing else could compare to that Star Wars X-Wing fighter! The boy shook the box, carefully examining the shape and feel and, then, he went to his mother and asked if he could get the toy. After some discussion, she finally gave in.
The family left store. I began to browse around some more. As I walked out into the mall, there was the woman and her son. She was sitting on a bench looking disgusted, as the little boy yanked on her purse, begging for change to play in the arcade. On the bench next to her sat the spaceship, still in the bag and unopened.
Thanks be to God that our greatest desires have been met in Christ Jesus. In a world where there is little hope, we have the greatest of hopes. We have the hope of desiring God. The miracle is that God has given himself to us. That means he gives us his undivided attention. He hears and answers our prayers, and satisfies our greatest desires--whether we get what we want in this world or not. Amen.
