This verse is often misinterpreted and then people are discouraged and think God doesn’t keep His word.
It’s not saying God is a genie and will grant all your wishes, whatever they are, we know that not everything we lust after in this life is in alignment with God’s will or even part of the path He would like us to be on. I know my own desires were far from godly before I gave my life to Christ and our flesh will always crave things that aren’t good for us. That’s part of the human nature since our separation from God through disobedience in the Garden of Eden… it’s in our DNA now, we all have a hard time fighting our own nature.
That is the beauty of salvation through Christ, lives changed, character changed, desires changed – by Him, not by our own might.
What this verse is saying is that God will change your desires to align them with His will and plans for you. When you focus on God, you don’t have to worry about the desires He places in your heart, you can boldly follow through knowing that if He’s brought you to it, He will bring you through it. Even when you can’t see how.
He will literally give you new desires. The old has passed away, everything will be made new.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
– 2 Corinthians 5:17
He reconstructs us through our circumstances and relationships, He can use anything that happens in our lives, whether it’s good or not, for our good and for His glory. I love this quote from one of my favourite books:
Satan has his place. He loves to make us miserable and tries to destroy our faith. But God is sovereign over Satan, and all of Satan’s aims to destroy the saints are designed [or “used”] by God for the good of His people and the glory of His name.
– from Don’t Waste Your Life, by John Piper
Once your desires are aligned with His, then yes, He will gladly bless us with whatever we ask for because we are walking with Him. Our desires are the same as His and anything that isn’t is easily identified and can be dealt with accordingly. He is our Strength, our Shield, our Fortress, our Loving Father. He is Faithful.
Delight yourself in the Lord, focus on Him, acknowledge Him at work in your life and inside of you, and He will give you new strength, new thoughts, new desires, new life… Despite your temporary earthly circumstances.