God is such a loving God He is always looking for opportunities to bless His children. One of the best ways He shows this love is by granting His children their secret petitions.

When I was in High School I use to lay awake at night listening to Leon Patillo on my, now extinct, record player. My favorite was his live album on which he sang the song "You Are Flesh Of My Flesh." As I drifted off to sleep, I would ponder how nice it would be to have that song sang at my wedding. I never told a soul; only Jesus knew. It was a secret petition.

The Bible talks about secret petitions in Psalm 37:4. "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. (Amplified)" A secret petition could be a desire only you and Jesus know about. God takes pleasure in giving us our desires and what the Amplified Bible calls secret petitions. However, God does not want to give us our desires outside of an intimate fellowship with Him. For this reason, the verse first says we must delight ourselves in the Lord.

The word delight is an interesting word. In the original Hebrew language delight means to be soft and pliable. When I first discovered this, that meaning did not make sense to me. How does delighting myself in the Lord relate to being soft and pliable? As I sought the Lord, He reminded me of when I was totally in love, or infatuated, with my girlfriend in college. Whatever this girl wanted me to do, I did. You need me to wash your car? Okay. Do you want me to walk you to class? Do you need me to carry your books? Do you need me to carry you to class? I was hooked. I was willing to do anything for this girl; I was so in love.

One night after curfew at Oral Roberts University, my girlfriend called to tell me she was craving pizza. At 1:30 in the morning, she couldn’t go get one or have one delivered, so she asked me to do it. There was a pizza joint in the area that stayed open late for the foolish and indulging, so I gave them a call and ordered her favorite kind. Another problem was that, her dormitory was locked and I could not bring it to her door - school rules. Love would not be thwarted, however, we used a rope. She lowered a rope through her third floor window and I tied it around the pizza box. I tied that knot with such love and tender care. A fool in love? Most definitely. There I was in the middle of the night risking getting caught and severely disciplined, meeting the needs of my dearly beloved sweetheart.

You laugh, but I know you have done some pretty foolish things too in the name of love. (I just have the pleasure of writing mine for the world to see.) I had even a greater love for my wife Pippa when we dated, but we lived in two different cities and I was nine years older. More mature and more wise, I was able to contain myself a little better.

I remember specifically what my roommate said to me at the time. "You are putty in that girl’s hands." Then it hit me, soft and pliable. Is this what Psalm 37 is talking about when it says delight yourself in the Lord? I discovered it was.

To delight yourself in the Lord means to be madly in love with Jesus to the point you will do anything for Him, even if it seems foolish. The thought of getting caught does not phase you a bit. Why? Because you’re so in love. To delight means you are soft and pliable like clay in the potter’s hands. If God says do this, you do it with joy. If the Holy Spirit prompts you to do something in the middle of the night, you don’t just roll over in bed and yawn; you get up with excitement willing and ready to do whatever He asks. Delighting in the Lord is allowing God to mold and shape you into the person He wants you to be, and loving every minute of it. Why do you love it? Because you know it’s helping you get closer to Jesus.

I believe this is God’s greatest desire - a passionate love relationship with His children. When this intimacy with the Lord is developed, God begins to bring us our most desired dreams and even our secret petitions. God knows it’s safe to grant those desires, because He knows your desires have been refined by His presence. God gets great joy in granting the desires of His loved ones.

Fifteen years after my times of laying in bed listening to Leon Patillo, I found myself planning a wedding with a beautiful girl named Pippa. Pippa told me about all the songs she wanted to have sung at our glorious ceremony. I agreed and told her it was her day, and to pick whatever songs she wanted. In all our discussions about the wedding, there was never a mention of Leon Patillo’s song.

Then rehearsal came. Pippa had this girl sing this song, and that guy sing another song. I thought about the song I always wanted to hear at my wedding, but I determined not to put any pressure on Pippa to include a song she may think is corny. Then I began to reason in my mind. Well, I never claimed it or declared it or confessed it three times a day. I didn’t bind it, curse it, loose it, or even fast forty days for this to come to pass. I guess that’s the way it is. No Leon song.

The next thing I knew it was our wedding and Pippa was walking down the aisle in her gorgeous wedding gown. We lit candles, had communion, and everything else you do at weddings. This person sang this song, and that person sang another. Then it happened. After Pippa and I said our vows the minister handed Pippa a cordless microphone and the pianist started to play a song. Hey, we didn’t rehearse this. What’s going on here? Am I suppose to have a microphone too? Pippa surprised me and began to sing a song. The first time she had ever sang solo in public. I’ll give you one guess what song she sang. That’s right, "You Are Flesh Of My Flesh" by Leon Patillo.

I was in shock. My mind and emotions were racing. I could not believe it. Once Pippa started to sing, my first thought was, "This girl can sing too? I did not know that. Wow, what a bonus!" Then, realizing this was the song I always wanted sung at my wedding, I was humbled. Before I knew it, I felt Jesus tap me on the shoulder and whisper in my ear, "I heard your secret petition." I was overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed that Pippa loved me enough to sing to me at our wedding. I was even more overwhelmed with the realization of how much God loved me by hearing and granting my secret petition from fifteen years ago.

I believe this was truly a reward of faithfulness and a result of my ever growing intimacy with God over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I have made plenty of mistakes. In fact, big ones I wish I could go back and change. However, my heart has always been after God. God does not say you have to be perfect for Him to grant your desires; He says to delight in Him.

God hears your secret petitions and He is sensitive to your strongest desires. Does this mean you will receive every desire you have secretly prayed for? No, but the ones God knows are best for you will be granted.

God knows even the deepest desires that you may not be aware of yourself. One desire, that may be a secret to you, lies in the deepest corridors of every believer’s heart. It is the desire to know Christ and to be in His presence. When you lay your head on your pillow, tell Jesus how much you love Him. Spend time with the Lord in prayer expressing your heart to Him. Let God know how much you need Him and depend on Him for everything in life. When you do this, your love relationship with Jesus will grow.

Delight yourself in the lord, He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. Fall wholeheartedly in love with Jesus. Place your life in His hands and be soft and pliable. The next time the Holy Spirit asks you to do something, ask yourself if you are in love with Jesus enough to do it. If you are, your secret petitions are on the way.

-- Jeff Hidden