How to Discover The Desire of Your Heart

Last Updated on November 12, 2025 by Stacy Averette

What are you passionate about? What do you love to do even if no one paid you to do it? What is it that you can’t help doing, no matter how tired or busy you might be?

Why even ask and answer the question, “What is the desire of my heart?” Does it even matter?

Psalm 37 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

I believe the desires of our hearts are often simple things right in front of us, but we overlook them in our pursuit of bigger and better things. We think we want certain things, especially things others around us might have—wealth, material possessions, or achievements. But are they the desire of YOUR  heart, or do you desire them because you think you should?

I’m asking you a lot of questions because I want to help you think about what you really want, to consider that it might already be right in front of you, and because I believe contentment brings joy.

The Desire of My Heart

I find myself trying to outrun the clouds again. Tropical blue skies turn gray, and the sun-shielding umbrella catches drops of water. My mind rests, so I close my eyes. Time away from my ordinary life is welcomed but unsettling. I’m in a new and unfamiliar season, and I haven’t had much time to think about it until now.

The questions sting.

“Why do you blog? What’s the point of sharing anything with anyone?”

“Blogging is dead. Haven’t you heard?”

“Should I quit?”

It’s good to remind myself and you, dear friend, of what desire looks like and what it doesn’t! So I ask myself the questions I asked you at the beginning:

• What are you passionate about?
• What do you love to do even if no one paid you to do it?
• What is it that you can’t help doing, no matter how tired or busy you might be?

Here’s what I came up with:

• I love to communicate—to share with family, friends, strangers, anyone who will listen—about my ordinary days, where the mundane becomes sacred.

• Whether it’s a delicious new recipe, a thrift store find, a trip I took, a celebration we enjoyed, a book I read, something God taught me through His Word, or a life experience, I love to talk about it. Words always take center stage in my dreams.

• I’m passionate about life. Always have been. I love to tell stories about my days as a small-town country girl, challenges in the big city at university and seminary, life in ministry, parenting, marriage, and just about every other ordinary event in daily life.

• For me, it’s not that I want or need to be the center of attention or that I think I’m better or that my life is more interesting than yours. I am a communicator. Always have been. I can talk your ears off about Jesus or fried okra. I can’t help it. I’ve tried to keep quiet, listen. And I do that when I need to, but I can’t help but share what a wonderful life this is.

• My purpose is not to paint some pictures of “the perfect life” or to try to hide the struggles and the ugly. I share some of those. But I’ve always been a glass-half-full kind of girl, and that hasn’t changed even with the losses and disappointments that life brings. There is drama, but that’s not what I want to focus on every day.

• I believe God knew me before I was born. I believe he sanctified me, setting me apart for a purpose that I, with my personality, experiences, and passion, would live out. (I believe that about you, too!) My life won’t look exactly like yours, and that’s OK. Not everyone will understand me and why I do and say certain things, or why I don’t do certain things. That’s OK, too. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, but God delights in me and He rejoices over me with singing because He made me. He knew I would love sweets and collect old stuff with a story, and that I would be a serious person who dances like crazy (in my head) when that song with a beat comes on. He knew that I would be a homebody who loves to travel. He knew that I would be a lifelong learner, a list maker, and a rabbit chaser. He knew I’d struggle with insecurity and that I wished everyone would like me. Still, my work ethic, determination, and passion for tackling hard things and living life to the fullest would keep me going, even when I’m afraid of what might happen or what you might think. He knows me better than I know myself, and He loves me. He loves me. He loves me. He loves me.

• So when I post a recipe, a photo, a story, or even a selfie, it’s my way of squealing with delight. It’s my Super Bowl-winning touchdown cheer. It’s my performance-of-a-lifetime standing ovation. It’s my best day ever celebration. And posting here or on social media is my way of inviting you, including you, sharing with you this wonderful life.

• I hope you can be happy with me and for me because joy is contagious if we expose ourselves to it often enough. Like you, sometimes my life hurts and I feel sad and broken and weary and long for the day Christ returns. But until that day, I will celebrate. I will look on the bright side. I will cheer and laugh. And I will do my best to inspire and encourage you to do the same.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2) The Message

The Desire of Your Heart

So what is the desire of your heart? What are you passionate about? What do you love to talk about? What’s your “Why?”

• gardening
• baking
• woodworking
• gunsmithing
• reading
• hiking
• makeup
• running
• volunteering

The list is endless! God made you YOU with a personality, desires, gifts, and talents that are unique to you! Ignore those who might say that the thing you love to do is boring! Do your thing! Enjoy your life and place it all before God as a thank offering.

I encourage you to write it down. Use the paragraph below if you need help getting started. Click here to download/print the paragraph below.

“I believe God knew me before I was born. I believe he sanctified me, setting me apart for a purpose that I, with my personality, experiences, and passion, would live out. My life won’t look exactly like yours, and that’s OK. Not everyone will understand me and why I do and say certain things, or why I don’t do certain things. That’s OK, too. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, but God delights in me and He rejoices over me with singing because He made me. He knew I would love ______ and ____________________, and that I would be ____________________________________________________. He knew that I would be a ___________________________. He knew that I would be ______________, a _____________, and a ____________. He knew I’d struggle with _____________ and that I really wish ________________; but, my ______________ and ______________ and ____________ and keep me going when I feel afraid of what might happen or what others might think. He knows me better than I know myself, and He loves me. He loves me. He loves me. He loves me.”

Please write it down so that on hard days you can say it out loud and remember. I’d love to hear if you’re willing to share.

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