Secret Petitions

We all have them. Things that are so dear to us we can’t share them with others. Feelings and desires that we don’t want to reveal for fear of being judged insensitive, unloving, selfish, or ambitious.

Only God knows these desires. In many cases He’s the One who has placed them in our hearts. The longing to see our loved ones well, happy, and fulfilled. Knowing God and following Him completely. The longing to be freed of certain responsibilities because they are hard to bear.

When we find ourselves in circumstances not of our own making and opposite of what we expected from the realization of our desires and dreams, it’s easy to turn away from God. Yet we’re told to delight in Him—to take joy in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, to rejoice in every situation, to praise Him because He is good and faithful and loving.

Delight in the knowledge that He is proving Himself to you as you deal with that special-needs child or dependent parent or spouse. Delight in knowing that God’s love never fails, His grace is always sufficient, and His presence is always near. He will grant us our deepest desires in ways we don’t expect.