A. Often God will grant your heart's desire:

PSA 37:4. Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

PSA 84:11. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

PSA 145:19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

PRO 10:24. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

PSA 21:2. Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

PSA 145:16. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

B. But sometimes He withholds it because it's not His time:

ECC 3:1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

ECC 3:2. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

ECC 3:3. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

ECC 3:4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

ECC 3:5. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

ECC 3:6. A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

ECC 3:7. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

ECC 3:8. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

PSA 37:34. Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

ECC 8:5. Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.

ECC 8:6. Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

C. Or because it would choke out your fruitfulness:

MAR 4:7. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

MAR 4:19. And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

MAT 13:22. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

LUK 8:14. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

D. Or seriously stumble or offend others:

1TH 5:22. Abstain from all appearance of evil.

ROM 14:14. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

ROM 14:15. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.

ROM 14:16. Let not then your good be evil spoken of:

ROM 14:21. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

1CO 8:8. But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.

1CO 8:9. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of your's become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

1CO 8:10. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

1CO 8:11. And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

1CO 8:12. But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.

1CO 8:13. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

E. Or bring reproach on the Lord's work or ministry:

2SA 12:14. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

2CO 6:3. Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:

2PE 2:2. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

F. Or because of unrepented sin in your heart:

JER 5:25. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

PSA 66:18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

ISA 59:1. Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

ISA 59:2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

G. Or because you're asking with the wrong motives:

JAM 4:2. Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

JAM 4:3. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

H. It's not always good to get the desire of your heart:

PSA 73:3. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

PSA 73:7. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

PSA 73:16. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;

PSA 73:17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

PSA 73:18. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

PSA 73:19. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.

PSA 73:20. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

PSA 73:21. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.

PSA 73:22. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

1TI 6:9. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

1TI 6:10. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I. You may miss something better God had planned for you:

PSA 81:10. I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

PSA 81:11. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

PSA 81:12. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

PSA 81:13. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

PSA 81:16. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

J. Nonetheless we have trials when we can't have something:

1SA 1:6. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.

1SA 1:7. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

1SA 1:8. Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?

1SA 1:10. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

PRO 13:12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

2SA 13:1. And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.

2SA 13:2. And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her.

K. Warning against stubbornly insisting on getting your way:

PSA 78:27. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:

PSA 78:28. And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

PSA 78:29. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

PSA 78:30. They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,

PSA 78:31. The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

PSA 81:12. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

PSA 106:14. But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.

PSA 106:15. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

NUM 11:4. And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

NUM 11:5. We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

NUM 11:6. But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

NUM 11:7. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.

NUM 11:8. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

NUM 11:9. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

NUM 11:10. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

NUM 11:11. And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

NUM 11:12. Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?

NUM 11:13. Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

NUM 11:14. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

NUM 11:15. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

NUM 11:16. And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

NUM 11:17. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

NUM 11:18. And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

NUM 11:19. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

NUM 11:20. But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

NUM 11:21. And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

NUM 11:22. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?

NUM 11:23. And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

NUM 11:24. And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

NUM 11:25. And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.

NUM 11:26. But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

NUM 11:27. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

NUM 11:28. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

NUM 11:29. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!

NUM 11:30. And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

NUM 11:31. And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

NUM 11:32. And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

NUM 11:33. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

NUM 11:34. And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

1SA 8:4. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

1SA 8:5. And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

1SA 8:6. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

1SA 8:7. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

1SA 8:8. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

1SA 8:9. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

1SA 8:10. And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.

1SA 8:11. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

1SA 8:12. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

1SA 8:13. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

1SA 8:14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

1SA 8:15. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

1SA 8:16. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

1SA 8:17. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

1SA 8:18. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

1SA 8:19. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

1SA 8:20. That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

1SA 8:21. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

1SA 8:22. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

1SA 12:1. And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.

1SA 12:13. Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.

1SA 12:16. Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.

1SA 12:17. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.

1SA 12:18. So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

1SA 12:19. And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.

L. What you give up for the Lord He will often return:

GEN 22:1. And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

GEN 22:2. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

GEN 22:3. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

GEN 22:4. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

GEN 22:5. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

GEN 22:6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

GEN 22:7. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

GEN 22:8. And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

GEN 22:9. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

GEN 22:10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

GEN 22:11. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

GEN 22:12. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

HEB 11:17. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

HEB 11:18. Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

HEB 11:19. Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

HEB 6:15. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

ECC 11:1. Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.