7 Steps to Receiving the Desires of Your Heart

Wondering if you’ll ever see your heart’s desires come to pass? Don’t give up! Use these seven steps and move closer to everything you’ve dreamed of.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” –Psalm 37:4

What are the desires of your heart? Your heart’s desires equal everything you secretly dream about, visualize or imagine. They’re not just far-off, impractical wishes or impossible hopes, but they are deeply spiritual in nature.

Maybe you desire to be married or have children. Perhaps you’ve always desired to start a ministry or a business. Or what about financial freedom and abundance? Is that your dream? Whatever the desires of your heart, it’s never too late to receive them. No matter how old you are or how long you’ve been waiting—you can live the life you’ve always dreamed of.

Many Christians wonder if the desires of their heart are God’s will, and rightly so. Before we ever begin pursuing our heart’s desires, we must know they line up with God’s Word and will. The more time you spend with God—seeking Him and obeying His Word—the more certain you will be that your heart’s desires match His will. In fact, when you follow Him, He puts those desires in your heart (Psalm 37:4). They become in sync with His will.

Find out three ways to know if the desires of your heart are God’s will here.

Once you are convinced you are in line with God’s will and Word, follow these seven steps to receive the desires of your heart.

1. Catch a Vision

“I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants.” –Genesis 13:15

The first step to receive the desires of your heart is to catch a vision. If you can see it, you can have it. That doesn’t mean if you want it badly enough, you’ll get it. It means if you can catch a vision in your spirit (the inward man) and believe you will receive what you pray for—it will be yours (Mark 11:24).

That’s what happened when Moses sent 12 spies to scope out the Promised Land. They all saw the same things, experienced the same things, and were given the same information. Yet, they came back with strikingly different reports. Ten of the 12 came back saying, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us” (Numbers 13:31, NASB).

But Joshua and Caleb caught a vision of what God could do to deliver their hearts’ desires into their hands. They said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it” (verse 30, NASB). They were the only ones who caught the vision—two out of 12!

There are two kinds of people—those who can see their desires coming to pass and those who can’t (or won’t). Only one group will be in the victor’s circle. Don’t let naysayers talk you out of what belongs to you. Catch a vision in your spirit of your heart’s desires with the Word of God, and declare aloud, “I will by all means take possession of my heart’s desires, for I am well able to overcome any adversity by my God!”

2. Disconnect From the World

“Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?” –James 4:4

Once you catch a vision of receiving the desires of your heart, it’s time to prepare your heart to receive them. The Bible begins here: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord” (Psalm 37:3-4, NKJV).

How do you do this? It starts with disconnecting from the world—that’s the only way to give God first place in your life. Many believers wonder why good things never seem to happen to them. They expect God to do His part, yet they are not willing to do their part.

Jerry Savelle explains it this way:

“You have to get to the place where you qualify to receive the good things God wants to give you. When you seek Him, trust Him and delight yourself in Him, then it becomes His responsibility to bring you the good things that will satisfy the desires of your heart. If you start to pursue the things you want in life, rather than pursuing God, you will disqualify yourself from the promises. So, seek God’s face—not His hand. When you pursue intimacy with God, you will qualify yourself to receive all that He has promised. And the best part is, you will not lack any good thing.”

Make a commitment to connect with God every day, feed on His faithfulness, and delight yourself in Him. Trust in His love for you, and He will bring all the desires of your heart to pass.

3. Throw Off Unforgiveness

“Throw off everything that hinders.” –Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

You’ve caught a vision and disconnected from the world—maybe you’ve already done much more than that. Maybe you’ve done all that you can think to do. When you’re standing in faith to receive the desires of your heart, you’ve likely contemplated Ephesians 6:13, which says, “having done all…stand” (KJV). But a lot of times, people have done all they want to do, not all they are required to do.

One of the most common areas where people miss it is in the area of unforgiveness. It’s the big dog of hindrances to receiving your heart’s desires. Part of the reason for this is a misconception of what forgiveness really means. Forgiving someone isn’t a special favor to them. It isn’t justifying what they’ve done, and it doesn’t even indicate a restored relationship. In fact, forgiveness isn’t something that happens between you and another person—it’s something that happens within you. It is a quiet, personal transformation in your heart.

More important than anything else—forgiving someone else sets you free. That’s why Paul exhorted believers to “focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

Watch as Kenneth Copeland teaches you how unforgiveness disarms faith.

Whatever has been said about you, done to you, stolen from you—make a decision to forgive—no matter how big or how small. Obey God, throw off unforgiveness, look forward to what lies ahead, and watch as the path to your heart’s desire opens right up to you.

4. Don’t Oversimplify Love

“The greatest of these is love.” –1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Are you starting to figure out that achieving your heart’s desires involves many working parts? It’s similar to the human body. And although each individual part has a unique and specific function, none can work at all without one component moving and flowing through them all—blood. It’s a complex system that delivers and retrieves what each body part requires, and without it—nothing else works.

The same is true in your spirit man, only the critical element in the spirit realm is love. The entire world was created by Love Himself (God). Love is what saved and delivered us, it’s what healed us, and it’s what sustains us here on earth. It is so powerful, that without love (given and received), one’s physical body can even begin to deteriorate, causing sickness and disease.

When you cut off love, you cut off the blood flow to your entire being. Living without love suffocates the other areas of your spiritual life. Without love, you cannot be in obedience to God’s Word: You cannot forgive, you cannot give, you cannot keep yourself from evil. Love is the lifeblood to your heart’s desires.

The reason so many Christians aren’t seeing more manifestations of God’s goodness in their lives is that they have oversimplified the idea of love. It isn’t just “being nice” in general, or loving your friends and family. It isn’t just avoiding strife or living a good life. Love is much deeper and more far-reaching. God’s two greatest commandments are that we love Him and love others. We find a partial definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, but to fully understand what God is asking in the first and second greatest commandments, consider a full study about love in the Bible. It will bring revelation, as you seek to fulfill this step to achieving your heart’s desires.

Watch Kenneth Copeland share how faith and love work together.

Take the time to discover what love really is, and then let the Holy Spirit do a work within you. If you heed His correction, He will help you learn to love like you never have before. As you do, you’ll find that love will open the door. Love will give life to your heart’s desires.

5. Create a Thought-Word Connection

“He will have whatever he says.” –Mark 11:23 (NKJV)

We’ve covered several necessary steps to achieving your heart’s desires, and we’ve learned that each one plays a critical part in producing results. The next critical step to is to create a thought-word connection. Why is this important?

Think back to one of those nail-biting scenes in a movie where someone is trying to disarm a bomb. Cut the blue wire…no, wait. Cut the red one…wait. Maybe it’s the black one! The simple disconnecting of one wire defuses the power of the bomb, making it useless because each one of those wires must unite to cause an explosive reaction.

Achieving your heart’s desires is the same. If just one spiritual wire is missing—nothing will work—your faith will be disarmed. There are two such “wires” that, when connected, have power far beyond anything that can be created by man here on earth—thoughts and words.

Find out more about the scientific evidence for the power of words here.

Gloria Copeland likes to say, “Talk the Word.” That doesn’t mean just every now and then when you’re feeling spiritual—but continually. In Deuteronomy 6:7, God says you should talk His Word “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (NIV). That’s pretty much all the time, isn’t it? At home, at work, in the grocery store—wherever you are, keep the Word of God in your mouth.

But, here’s the connecting wire: To change what’s coming out of your mouth, you must change the thoughts you’re thinking. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart [the] mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45, NKJV). If you’re focusing most of your attention on natural things—watching secular television, thinking about worldly matters, worrying about your job and family—then that’s what is going to be in your heart in abundance. And that’s what you’re going to talk about.

You can’t put natural things first and expect God to fulfill the desires of your heart; you’re doing it backward. Instead, fill your heart with an abundance of the Word, and your mouth will get in line. When you connect your thoughts and your words by creating a thought-word connection, get ready for an explosive response in the spirit realm! Your heart’s desires will be the result.

6. Persevere in Faith

“Through faith and patience inherit the promises.” –Hebrews 6:12 (KJV)

After your thoughts and words are in line with God’s Word, what do you do next? You wait. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you like waiting to receive the desires of your heart? Waiting probably doesn’t rank very high. Patience isn’t as fun as conquering by faith, is it? But perseverance is required to get to the finish line. That’s why Hebrews 10:36 says, “You have need of patience” (NMB) because persevering in faith is what brings you to the finish line—where your heart’s desires are waiting for you.

But waiting isn’t passive—it’s very active! While you’re waiting, you are persevering in your faith, which means you aren’t letting anything or anyone talk you out of what you’re believing for. And while you’re waiting, you obey God’s commands all along the way.

Perhaps the desire of your heart is a spouse. You may be frustrated by how long it is taking to see this come to pass. Yet, so many singles who are asking God for a mate are doing their own thing, living their own way, and not trusting or waiting on God. Many are pursuing unbelievers and engaging in an impure lifestyle. This will hinder the desires of their hearts (Matthew 5:8).

To persevere in faith, don’t waver from your position—remain obedient, continually grow in God, and above all—Don’t. Give. Up.

7. Develop a Heart of Gratitude

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.” –Psalm 100:4 (KJV)

If you’ve been waiting quite some time for your heart’s desires, there’s a sneaky temptation that can creep in and poison your heart—grumbling. Why hasn’t it happened yet? I’ve been following the Lord for 20 years. I’m a tither, and I live a godly life. Nothing good ever happens to me like it does for others.

Start thinking these kinds of thoughts, and just like that—you’ll get out of alignment.

A heart of gratitude is full of praise and thanksgiving—and holds amazing power. If believers really understood the magnitude of that power, they’d be praising God with every breath. Your heart’s desires are contingent upon developing a heart of gratitude. It will release you from bondage and unleash the power of abundance in your life. You may not feel like it at first, but keep practicing. God is worthy of all our praise. As you praise Him for who He is and the victory He’s secured for you, He will make a way to bring the desires of your heart to pass.

Now that you know the seven steps to receiving the desires of your heart, you can start putting them into practice today. Take the time to get a vision, disconnect from the world, forgive, love, think and talk the Word, and wait with a heart of gratitude. When you do, “may he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed” (Psalm 20:4, NIV)!

Category: FaithBuilders