The man after God's own heart. David. This wonderful king, leader and servant of our God. While he made some mistakes and chose sin over the Lord at times, he is forever branded as the man who longed for God's heartbeat to be the rhythm of his own heart and life. Over the years I have done several studies on David that talked about his worship, service, obedience, sacrifice, faithfulness to the Lord as the pivotal reasons why he is called such a man. And while I definitely see those traits in David's life that define him as a godly man, I believe the reason he is known as the man after God's own heart is because he asked God for it! All throughout the Psalms, we read David pray "give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name" (Psalm 86:11). In my own life, I will many times pray that God would cause me to worship with more passion, serve with more humility, obey with less hesitation, sacrifice more quickly, choose faithfulness to the Lord more readily...but as I have been studying these prayers of David, I am realizing it is rare that I just pray, "Lord, give me your heart.". "Lord, give me a heart that seeks you." "Lord, let your heartbeat be mine". It is so easy for me to focus on lists, traits or characteristics. I can pray for patience, peace, humility, self-control, kindness, mercy, my speech, purity, forgiveness to others etc. However at the root of all of these prayers truly is the single minded prayer of David who pleaded with the Lord to give him a heart that would mirror the Lord's very own. Now Scripture still teaches us the importance of interceding for other people's needs, praying for forgiveness and provision, crying out for mercy and deliverance, begging the Lord to bring His salvation to those around you. But before you pray today for specific people to share the Gospel with, pray first that God would give you a heartbeat for the lost that mirrors His very own.
