Permission to Want and Desire

Don’t be a stranger to what you most deeply want. I think what God most deeply wants for you is what you most deeply want.” Father Greg Boyle

Are you aware of what you most deeply want? Do you give yourself permission to be honest with what you most deeply want?

It can be scary to take a real honest look at what we want. We might discover unmet desires, and unacknowledged disappointment. We might find that we have deep desires that we've masked out of fear that they will never get met.

When I think about my nearly 10-year marriage, some of my most vulnerable moments with my husband have been when I am sharing about my deepest longings. Sometimes it feels safer to not even bring them up. But when I do muster up the courage to reveal what I want, there is almost always a deeper intimacy and partnership that gets birthed.

What if God has deposited your deepest desires into you? What if he designed you to know him more intimately in those desires? Consider the reality that Jesus often asked that very question: what do you want? What do you want me to do for you?

If we withhold our deepest desires from God, we will always keep him at a distance. We will always be protecting ourselves, never giving God the chance to meet us in those desires.

If, however, we allow ourselves to acknowledge what we most deeply want, then we get more in touch with our soul. And in that place, we are free to deeply, intimately connect with God and receive from him.

So be brave with your desires. Let God invite you into a place of safety, and give yourself permission to embrace your deepest desires. 

Who knows? Maybe the things that God most deeply wants for you is what you most deeply want.

ACTION & PRACTICE

Take some time today or this week to reflect on what you are currently wanting. Don't edit yourself. Simply journal or list out the things that your soul most deeply desires. Share those things with God. Listen for anything he wants to say.

Do you give yourself permission to acknowledge what you most deeply want? What stands in the way of that? Please share in the comments.

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