Prayer Week 24: Object of Delight

How does God feel about you? Likely it’s a question you’ve never asked yourself, or possibly never even thought about before. On the surface, songs like “Jesus Loves Me” and “ He’s Got the Whole World” pop into mind, and we might give them as a rote answer, but how deeply do we really believe it? Do we live as if it were true?

 

Isaiah 62:4-5 New American Standard Bible 1995

It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,”
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”;
But you will be called, “My delight is in her,”
And your land, “Married”;
For the Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married.
For as a young man marries a virgin,
So your sons will marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So your God will rejoice over you.

Isaiah 43:2, 4 New American Standard Bible 1995

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you…

Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

Psalm 37:23 New American Standard Bible 1995

The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.

Exodus 19:5 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine.

 

God’s love for us is not for show, by compulsion or out of duty. He doesn’t have to love us because He is God or even because He made us. In fact, the opposite is true; He made us because He loves us, because He delights in us. His delight is not earned by anything we do. It is not even earned by how well we keep up our relationship with Him. He delights in us because we are His, because He loves us.

 

This week as you come to prayer, dwell on the fact that God delights in you, that He made you because of His delight in relationship with you. He takes pleasure in your presence. He delights in being alone with you as a beau delights in being alone with His sweetheart. Let His love for and joy in you fill you with peace.

 Prayer points taken from Praying Through Adversity by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.