Talk with Jesus

• Are there any desires in my life that are not yet submitted to You and are in danger of becoming an idol?
• Is there something I want at any cost, more than I want Your will for my life?
• Are there things in my life that I believe can satisfy me and meet my needs more than You?
• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there are any idols in your life:
  • A desire (identified above)
  • A method of escape or addiction
  • Shopping, money, work, materialism, celebrities
  • Erotica, pornography, sex, masturbation
  • Relationships (romantic, friendship, family)
  • Other __________

My desire is to be married. My desire is to one day experience sex the way God intended it to be.

Marriage and sex were idols in my life before. Marriage and sex are good things; God’s ideas. But even good things, if they are in the wrong place in our life, can become snares of captivity. So, I submit my desires beneath my desire for God. I submit my desires underneath my love and desire for God, underneath my trust for Him. Because I KNOW He is completely good and completely trustworthy, I entrust my life [and my desires] to Him (Psalm 143:8). If my desires are unsubmitted to His heart, they are in danger of becoming an idol again.

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Let's unclench our hands from whatever idols we are grasping onto. If we truly want God’s ways; if we truly want to “delight ourselves in the Lord”, that our desires become the same as His desires, I’m convinced that He won’t give us something that is an idol!

Is there some way that you are wanting to respond? Do you want to pray a prayer of repentance?

A note on repentance: So often, I would let much time go by after sinning or doubting the character of God, where my head was intentionally turned away from Him.

Journal Entry, Age 21
Tomorrow, will my heart be in a place
Where I can speak to You once again
Because my back is starting to ache
With the efforts of avoiding Your gaze.

My spirit longed to connect with Him immediately; I didn’t want to be apart from Him for a moment longer. I have learned that the time lapse before turning back to Him can just be an instant.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Hebrews 3:15 ESV

Feel free to add your own words to the following prayer:

Father God, right now, I repent for putting __________ in front of You. I want to say out loud that I take this idol down from my life. It is no longer in a place before You in my life. I invite You, Jesus, You alone, to sit on the throne in my life. Be Lord over every part of my life, over every desire.

I die to self and allow Christ to live through me.
Amen