Made for More: 30 Days of Experiencing More Life, Love, and FreedomSample

Day 6: Desire, the Heart, and the God Who Sees

David, the author of Psalm 9, often wrote with passion and vulnerability—bringing both praise and pain to God from the depths of his heart. Of all the books in the Bible, the Psalms reference the heart more than any other, and for good reason. In David’s poetic prayers, the heart is not just a metaphor—it is the seat of emotion, longing, desire, and worship.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary puts it this way:

“Of all the books in the Old Testament, the Book of Psalms most vividly represents the faith of individuals in the Lord. The Psalms are the inspired responses of human hearts to God’s revelation of Himself in law, history, and prophecy.”

In Psalm 37:3–4, David writes:

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

This passage is often misunderstood. Many have been taught to distrust the desires of their heart—as if those desires are automatically sinful or selfish. But David points us in a different direction. He connects the heart with desire and then invites us to trust God with both.

At the core of every human soul is a longing—a desire to be seen, wanted, known, and loved. These aren’t shallow cravings; they are the echoes of Eden. C.S. Lewis wrote about this longing, using the German word sehnsucht, meaning “a yearning for something inexpressible.” In Mere Christianity, he explains:

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Desire, then, isn’t the problem. It’s where we take our desires that determines their fruit. When we take them to lesser things, we come up empty. But when we bring our longings to God, they become springs of life.

Jesus spoke to this when He met the woman at the well:

“But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.” — John 4:14 AMP

We were made for zoe—life with God, flowing from within. And that’s what our hearts truly thirst for.

This is why David, in his most vulnerable moment of confession, cries out in Psalm 51:10:

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

David knew his heart needed cleansing—not just behavior modification, but transformation from the inside out. He didn’t ask for stronger willpower. He asked for a new heart. A heart made clean. A heart free to take his core desires to the one who can fulfill them.

It’s a beautiful and bold request. And it reminds me of a tender moment in the actual book, The Wizard of Oz. The Scarecrow and Tin Man are discussing what they each want most.

“I shall ask for brains instead of a heart,” says the Scarecrow, “for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.”
“I shall take the heart,” replies the Tin Man. “For brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”
— L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

He was right. A heart alive, purified, and pointed toward God—that’s where joy lives. That’s where we discover who we really are and can be trained up in the kind of life God has for us.

So today, bring your desires to God.
Bring your longing to be seen, known, and loved.
Ask Him to create in you a pure heart.
Because when we delight in Him, He meets us in that very place—and there, we find what we were thirsty for all along, Him.

As you reflect on all this with God today, consider asking Him:

Jesus, I want to acknowledge that my heart is your home. I also want to ask, what do you see in me that you love about me?

Holy Spirit, what is at work in me that isn’t me, isn’t of you, and therefore does not need to be, nor is it welcome in my heart, your home?

Father, is there one phrase or sentence that feels like it’s just for me today? Would You help me hear it clearly and understand why it matters?