Do you feel like you’re just not on track with God?
Like the thing that you want is different than what God wants and you just can’t seem to line up your heart to what HE wants? Maybe you recognize that you’re walking in the flesh the past couple of days and you’re trying so hard to get back to walking in the spirit like normal.
You begin praying that God will change His will, His mind. That somehow your will happens instead of what He wants, but He says no and you continue to pray. Asking yet again for what you want to happen in the situation.
Again He says no and at that moment you’re faced with the decision to either rebel from His holy and perfect will and do things your OWN way or to line up your heart to His, accepting that His will is best for your life.
You love the Lord with all your heart so you want to line up to His will, but it’s not always easy to do that. You REALLY want THIS thing you’re praying for.
We’ve all been there. We all know what that feels like. We all can relate to how gut-wrenching it is to accept God’s will when we want something so badly and God says we can’t have it.
Nevertheless, God knows best, His will IS perfect, and what He wants to happen IS for YOUR best (or the person’s best whom you’re praying for), even though we can’t see it at the time.
We have to learn how to see things from God’s point of view, from His perspective in all areas of our life because as we do, our lives will completely and radically change!
Here are 10 ways to realign the desires of your heart to God’s desires when it’s not so easy to do so!
10 Ways to Realign the Desires of Your Heart to God’s Desires
But first…
How Do You Know What God’s Desires Are?
The starting point for all of this is to know what God’s desires genuinely are. Thankfully, He has given us a love letter, in the form of the Bible, where we can learn about who He is and what He desires for our lives. In order to know His desires, we must…
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Be In The Word
If you want to know what God desires for your life, you need to spend time in His Word. The Bible is full of verses that tell us about God’s desires for our lives. For example, Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.“
When we take time to delight in the Lord, He promises to give us the desires of our heart. That verse literally means, He will put HIS desires into our hearts FOR US. Listen, you can’t get any more easier or clearer than that!!!
Listening to Biblical sermons online (here’s a list of my personal favs and for those who love to study the Bible in-depth like me, my favorite sermon series EVER: an in-depth study of David), throughout the week as much as you can, is a good way to be in the Word also! I love to create printables while listening to sermons or listening to godly Christian music (here’s the playlist I listen to on repeat right now while I’m filling up inventory in my printables shop.
Being in the Bible, listening to sermons, listening to godly music and having the Bible read to me (Bible Gateway) are all a very big part of my day….every single day! And I’m not alone in that…
Pastors all around the world are constantly dedicating their time to the study of the Word of God. Now, one could argue that they are a Pastor and that’s their JOB to be in the Word, and it is, but we are ALL leading SOMEONE whether we realize it or not. I lead on this blog. I lead and shepherd my friends. You lead your family, your extended family, your friends. We are all leading and Christians and non-Christians alike are watching us.
How we think, how we respond to problems, how we live our lives and if we are not putting the Word of God at the forefront of our days, then something else is competing with God and that’s no good.
We must be filling our heart and soul with the Word of God DAILY, as much as humanly possible. Saturating our mind with the things of God because the more we do that, the more we are automatically lined up with Him and His purposes. The more we want Him, the more we learn about Him, the more we respect Him and we MUST respect someone and value what they say and who they are in order to obey them (John 14:15).
His Word becomes like honey to us (Psalm 119:103), fulfilling and satisfying our souls and we WANT to obey Him. We become so sold out to God that we’d do anything, short of sin, for Him.
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Pray
Prayer is another great way to get to know God’s desires for your life. Listen, God is NOT NOT NOOOOOOTTTTTT silent! It’s just that we don’t listen to Him like we should! 💯
When we pray, we are opening up the lines of communication with the Living God and asking Him to reveal His desires to us.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.“
When we pray and make our desires known to God and line up our wills to His will, He gives us peace in return (John 14:27). This peace is a sign that we are on the right track and aligned with His desires for us.
Want a peaceful life? Simple. Line your heart and soul up to God in all areas of your life! ❤️
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Seek godly counsel
Another way to get to know God’s desires for our lives is to seek godly counsel. This could be in the form of a mentor, a Pastor, or even a close friend who is walking in the Spirit (make SURE whoever you get advice from IS walking in the Spirit at the time you seek advice!!! Super important).
When we seek counsel from others, we are opening ourselves up to hearing God’s desires for our lives through them.
It’s funny how God all arranges our lives to help each other. I will have people email me out of the blue at random times, saying, “This is what I feel God wants me to tell you.” And…it IS! It’s insane how much God connects us together and uses us for each other (Proverbs 27:17) and we can be used even for strangers!
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Listen for the still, small promptings of our hearts
In addition to all of the above, we also need to be listening for the still, small “voice” of God- not an audible voice but those impressions, those nudges, those pokes at your heart and conscience. This is the voice that speaks to us in the quiet moments when we are alone with Him (John 10:27).
So how do we hear Him? We must be getting quiet with Him on a consistent, daily basis. ❤️ If we’re living our lives in a crazy, scattered way, we’re not allowing ourselves to hear Him (Luke 10:38-42).
God often uses these quiet, one-on-one moments with Him to reveal His desires for our lives. If we are not paying attention or don’t take time to sit and drink the Living Water (Psalm 23), we can easily miss it. Those times are VITAL to a life on fire for Christ and must be practiced daily.
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Be part of a Bible-believing, Bible-practicing church
Finding a Christian community of believers is another great way to knowing God’s will for your life. This would be a local church, and if a godly church is not available in your area, a small group, or even an online community. When we are around other genuine believers, we are able to learn from them (Proverbs 27:17) and grow in our understanding of God’s desires for our lives.
As Christians, we believe that the Bible is the Word of God. Within its pages, we can learn about who God is and what He desires for our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is a love letter from God to His people, and it is our starting point for understanding His will for us.
The Bible tells us that God is love, and He desires for us to have a relationship with Him. He wants us to know Him and to follow His commands. When we seek to know God’s will for our lives, we must start by studying the Bible and learning about who He is. Only then can we begin to understand His desires for our lives.
After we have the foundation of knowing how to know God’s will and His desire for our life, let’s get into how to apply it to our lives and how to align our thoughts to Him.
There are many things in this world that will seek to pull you away from God. Your heart’s desires can sometimes take you down a path that is not in line with His will for your life. However, it is possible to realign the desires of your heart to God’s. Here are ten ways to do so…
1) Pray and ask God to align your heart with His
As Christians, we are called to align our hearts with God’s. When our hearts are aligned with His, we are able to walk in His ways and fulfill the purposes He has for our lives. One way to ensure that our hearts are aligned with God’s is to pray and ask Him to align them for us. Pray that He will give us a hunger and desire for Him more and for His precepts.
This is not a one-time prayer, but rather a continual surrendering of our hearts to God.
Every day, we should take some time to pray and ask God to align our hearts with His. This may look different for each person, but the important thing is that we are intentionally seeking God’s heart in all that we do.
Every morning I wake up and ask God what He wants me to do with my day. How He wants me to spend the time He has given me and what He wants me to focus on for that day.
In this way, every single day, I am lining my life up to Him, allowing Him to lead, and listening to where He wants me to go.
When we make following Him in all our ways a priority, we will find that our lives begin to reflect His glory in a greater way and things start to align very naturally to His will.
This consistent walk with Him every day becomes our pattern of life and we end up exactly in the spot He wants us in, and that’s beautiful! 😍
2) Study the Bible and spend time in His Word
As mentioned before, the Bible is a our roadmap for Christians.
In it, God reveals Himself to us and His will for our lives.
The Bible also contains many promises that God has made to His people.
When we study the Bible, we are able to learn more about who God is and what He has planned for us. Colossians 3:16; Jeremiah 29:11.
Spending time in His Word also allows us to grow closer to God.
As we read the Bible, we can ask God to reveal Himself to us and help us understand His Word. We can also pray that God would use the Bible to change our hearts and lives.
By spending time in the Bible, we can draw closer to God and experience His transformational power in our lives.
His thoughts become our thoughts, His ways our ways. We start to line up our lives to Him and see things from His vantage point.
3) Worship God and praise Him daily
The act of worshiping God is an incredibly powerful way to connect with God 💯 and it’s NOT just for Sunday church service!!!!!!!!!
When we take the time to bow our heads in respect, offer prayer, and give thanks for all that He has done for us DAILY, we open up a way for His grace and guidance to enter our lives.
Worship also helps to humble us and put our self-serving egos aside, so that we can see ourselves as part of something much larger. Instead of worshipping ourselves (the works of our hands, our beauty, our own image, etc.), we are worshipping the Creator, and He is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). He will share HIS glory with NO ONE, as it should be. For He ALONE is worthy!!!
👉 Worshiping God on a daily basis lines our hearts up to His because it’s in that worship that we are submitting our hearts to Him. We are saying He alone is worthy of worship, praise, and adoration. He alone is worthy of our allegiance.
He becomes our focus and as we fix our eyes upon Him, life becomes easier, our decisions become easier, our individual worlds become easier to navigate.
It also helps boost our mood and increases our sense of well-being. We become more happy and feel more alive. 🙏
I’m constantly spending time worshiping God. Singing to Him through songs, praising His holy name, praying to Him, glorifying Him, and all that He does in my life, creating “offerings” for Him (i.e. Christian printables, blog posts like this, Christian graphics, etc.)
When I am worshipping God (focusing on Him), I find myself becoming more and more joyful, even in the midst of being surrounded by negativity on every port. If you don’t already set aside WORSHIP time for Him daily (apart from prayer time and reading your Bible time), you REALLY should. It is SOOOO vital to my own walk in Christ. 💯 I cannot even tell you all the ways it helps me become more like who He’s called me to become!
And by making time to praise and worship Him each day (and realizing that worship time is not just for Sundays), we remind ourselves of His goodness and His love for us, which can fill us with hope and peace that spills out from us into our families, friends, blog, etc. Ultimately, worshiping God is a vital part of living a fulfilling and meaningful life.
4) Listen for His guidance
When I was a teen, our church played this game where we had to walk in the dark through several rooms and corridors to come out the other end of the church. Everyone came out just fine, but not me. 😆
I went in around the middle time of everyone who went in but came out dead last. It was SOOO hard for me and I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t find my way in the dark.
I opened a door and ended up stumbling around in the bathroom. Got out of that room and continued on my way, feeling against the wall, walking around like an ant, meticulously going along every wall humanly possible.
It was not a fun thing to do and honestly, I failed miserably.
It taught me a valuable lesson that without God and His light (Psalm 119:105), it’s like stumbling around in the dark. You can’t see anything and life is basically pointless.
You can’t be sure of what’s ahead of you and it’s pretty easy to get lost or hurt yourself. The same is true when we try to navigate our lives without God’s guidance.
We don’t usually even realize we’re doing it, but when we don’t set aside dedicated time to listen for His guidance, we’re essentially walking through life blind.
Thankfully, God is always there, waiting to help us find our way.
If we take the time to listen for His promptings to our heart, His convictions, He will guide us step by step along the path He has laid out for us (Psalm 37:23). And even when the way is dark and scary and things don’t make sense, we can trust that He will never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
So whatever you’re facing today, don’t go it alone. Listen for His voice (John 10:27) and guidance, and let Him lead you forward, knowing that His ways are always best (Isaiah 55:8-9). He sees the whole picture; we only see a tiny portion of it.
5) Spend time with other believers who will encourage you in your faith
As a Christian, it is important to surround yourself with other believers who will encourage you in your faith.
Spending time with people who share the same fervor for God and beliefs in the Bible can help to keep you focused on your faith and provide you with support during difficult times.
Additionally, being around other Christians can help you to grow in your faith and learn more about God.
Attending church services, participating in godly (where gossip is NOT allowed or tolerated!) Bible study groups, and volunteering for Christian organizations are all great ways to meet other believers and deepen your faith and knowledge of Christ.
6) Serve others and reach out to those in need
As we go through life, it’s easy to get caught up in our own problems and stresses, hibernating in our own little worlds that we create.
We can forget that there are other people in the world who are struggling, too.
That’s one reason why it’s so important to reach out to others and serve them in any way we can.
It doesn’t have to be a big gesture; even the smallest acts of kindness can make a difference in someone’s life. When we serve others, we not only make their lives better, but we also make the world a little bit brighter.
Most of all, this way of living is commanded to us in Scripture. Women are called to teach other women (Titus 2:1-8).
You don’t have to know a ton in order to teach. You can always find someone who doesn’t know as much as you do about the Bible and start there, teaching them, loving them, shepherding them as Jesus shepherds us.
The more you align YOUR OWN life with the Bible and help others do the same in their lives, the more you’ll see things from God’s angle and realign your heart to His, each and every day.
7) Give generously of your time, talents, and resources
We all have something to give, whether it’s our time, our talents, or our resources. And when we give generously of ourselves to others, we align our hearts to God and see others how HE sees them, not how the WORLD sees them. 💯
When we give of our time, we can help others in need or lend a hand to a friend or neighbor.
When we give of our talents (that which God gave us), we can share our skills with others and help them to reach their potential and grow them in Christ.
This is what I do in my printables shop. I create products, using the skills I’ve learned and that God has graciously given me, to help aid others in THEIR ministries.
Creating printables for churches, ministry leaders, homeschooling moms, etc. Supporting THEM as they make a difference in the lives of people and support others whom God brings into their lives.
I also do this with this blog. Pouring out my time and my life in the service of others, helping train them and teach them, shepherding them to become better Christians, more knowledgeable in the Scriptures in order that they are able to then go out and help train others as well.
I do ALL THIS as a single mom and have faithfully done it for 11 years at the time that I’m writing this, even continuing to serve the world through this blog in the midst of being homeless and living in a homeless shelter.
👉 Our lives should always (as in, no matter what) be in pursuit of serving God and supporting and helping others.
When we give of our resources, time, and talents, we can support those who are working to make a difference.
No matter how much or how little we have to give, every act of generosity makes a difference!! ❤️
8) Live a life that is honorable and glorifies God in all that you do
The Bible tells us to live a life that is honorable and glorifies God in all that we do.
This means living a life of integrity, doing what is right, even when it is hard or when no one is watching.
It means being honest in our dealings with others and being faithful in our commitments. It means speaking kindly and treating others with respect (Philippians 2:3).
When we live our lives in this way, we are showing the world that we are followers of Christ.
We are also setting a good example for others to follow. When non-believers see us living lives that are honorable and glorifying to God, it may be the first step in them coming to know Christ for themselves! 🎉
If a Christian sees the way you live, and starts to think to themselves, “Why is THEIR Christianity so much different than mine?”, it can lead to them realizing they are not GENUINELY saved and lead to their true salvation.
This is what happened to me!!! Most “christians” are deceived. The world is not full of a lot of people who think they are bad, but a world full of people who errantly think they are GOOD!!!!! 👈
9) Seek godly counsel when making decisions
We all face choices in life, some of which are more difficult than others. When faced with a difficult decision, it can be tempting to go it alone or to seek counsel from the closest person in proximity to us at the time. However, the wisest course of action is to seek godly counsel, those who are walking in the spirit.
By consulting with someone who is grounded in biblical truth, we can gain valuable insight into the situation and make a decision that is honoring to God.
In addition, godly counsel can help us to avoid making impulsive decisions that we may later regret. When it comes time to make a tough choice that you don’t know what to do, remember to seek godly counsel. It could be the difference between making a wise decision and a costly mistake.
10) Trust in God’s perfect plan for your life and submit to His will for your life
It can be difficult to trust in God’s plan when things are not going the way we want them to. We may feel like we know what is best for us, and it can be hard to let go and let God take control in those moments. However, it’s important to remember that God is perfect (Psalm 18:30) and His plan for our lives is the best for us too (Jeremiah 29:11).
We may not always understand why He does things the way He does (Isaiah 55:8-9) in the timing that He does them (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), but we can trust that His plan is always for our good.
Submission to God’s will can be difficult, but it is worth it in the end. When we submit to God, we are acknowledging His sovereignty and entrusting our lives into His hands. It is an act of faith that allows us to experience the fullness of God’s perfect plan for our lives.
If you struggle to submit to God, smell the essential oil Wintergreen. If it’s medical-grade (doTerra is), it will help you submit to Him!!! Anytime I’m struggling with submitting to God, I smell that oil and it always helps me!
It comes down to this…
What is your number one goal in life?
Is it to be happy, wealthy, and successful?
While these things may bring happiness for a short time, they will never completely satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts. Our ultimate desire should be to align our hearts with God’s desires for us. When we do this, we find true fulfillment and lasting joy in the peace of the Father.
