Is the desire of your heart the same as the request of your lips?

Posted on by Pam Larson

Psalm 21:1 

O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices,
and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

From Scripture Studies “A Study in the Psalms Volume 1”

Note that for David, “the desire of his heart” was the same as the “request of his lips.” Often, the pious, beautiful sounding prayers we utter with our lips (often before men) do not reflect the true desires of our hearts. We pray for spiritual riches, but desire material riches in our hearts. We pray that God’s will be done, but desire to go our own way in our hearts. We pray that God’s name would be glorified, but we desire fame and renown for ourselves in our hearts. This should not be. God sees the heart. We are not fooling Him. Prayer cannot be effective unless it truly reflects the desire of our hearts. Likewise, our hearts should not desire anything that we cannot speak to God in prayer.