There have been times in my life when I have been scared to pray. Never for the things that I want, mind you – those things always tend to come pretty easily.
Nope.
I have been scared to pray asking God for what HE wants – HIS will.
It’s not even like I can feign ignorance about what God wants. It is no great mystery. When I stand back and look at the big picture, I know His greatest commandments –
…”’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Luke 10:27
So, I guess if my prayers line up with those two commands, I am on the right track. Those requests are from God. Hence, His will.
We need to love Him with everything we have, and we need to love others like we love ourselves.
Easy, right?
Yes and no.
I really like clarity, so I can struggle with what that looks like in my daily prayers.
What goes into a prayer that asks for His will to be done? I know that He wants me to love Him with everything I have, and I should carry love onto my neighbor, but what does that look like in prayer? And, the biggest hurdle for me – when I pray for HIS will, how do I get past MY will and get over the fear of giving up control?
I guess the short answer for all those questions that first comes to mind is TRUST.
Pray with Trust in God
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
As someone who really likes to be in control, this can definitely be a challenge. After all, most of the time I feel like I have a pretty good read on a situation, and understand what is going on. And, if I don’t – I find out from someone (on this earth) who does.
But, here, God is asking me to trust Him. It should be easy enough. He has shown Himself trustworthy since the beginning. He has always come through on His promises and never, ever went back on His word.
So, why is this so difficult at times?
Sometimes I wish someone would pray for me as Elisha did for his servant –
And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:17
I can only imagine what I might see! All the plans from now until the end… The hundreds, or thousands, or millions of ways God has protected me and will continue to…
But, if I really did see the whole picture and the plan God has for everyone, would that even truly help me? Sure, I might see the progression of how one thing leads to another. But, I wonder if that would change my heart?
Part of me thinks that even if I saw the Grand Plan laid out before me, I might actually try to reason with God that maybe some of my ideas of how things should go might work out a little bit better…
(Yep – there is my prideful nature showing through…)
So, to counteract my pride, I should pray with absolute trust that God has this and will take care of it all – far better than I could ever imagine.
For that, another answer to my questions about how to pray for God’s will comes into play – THANKSGIVING. I should be very thankful and my prayers should reflect that as well.
Pray with Thanksgiving
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petitions, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
I have clung to these two verses for years and have tried to include thanksgiving in all my prayers. God absolutely is worthy of my thanks and praise.
But, I also know I haven’t always been as generous with it as I could and should have been.
Sometimes it’s hard to be thankful when you know things aren’t headed in a direction you would choose. There have been many times I would have welcomed a different option – an alternate path than the one I was on. At those times, I fought God. I fought Him hard.
James 1:2 tells us to “consider it pure joy” when our lives are full of trials and temptations.
Pure joy.
I understand the reasoning, but it doesn’t always make the pill any easier to swallow.
Unless I change my mindset and remember it has to hurt enough to encourage change.
If I shift my thinking from that of a victim to that of someone who has been given an opportunity to grow and become more of how God wants me to be, it’s a little more palatable.
Not that it makes it easy. But, if I have a better understanding of why God allows trials to come to my life, then my initial reaction can change from dread to thanksgiving. After all, God, like any good Father, does it all out of love.
And, that, is the final answer to my questions – LOVE.
Pray with Love
I need to pray for His will knowing that He loves me, and I love Him.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
1 John 3:1
He loves us so much He sent His only son to die for us, (John 3:16). While I can sit here and write this and know that is the greatest sacrifice and show of God’s love, I can’t even fathom doing that. Especially since He knew we would sin and fail to obey Him. He loved us SO much, He did it anyway.
So, to pray for His will to be done – knowing how much he loves me – shouldn’t be something to fear or worry about.
David, and other psalmists give perfect examples of how to pray about God’s love.
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Psalm 86:15
The greatness of God’s love is beyond our understanding. Therefore, I need to keep that in mind while praying for His will.
It’s not all about me or my will. It’s not even about my love or how I love. It’s about realizing God’s love is so great and unchanging. Learning more about God’s love will help me love Him more – as well as help my love overflow onto my neighbors. Now, that would help me focus more on God’s will and better carry out His commands.
What I learned and am still learning…
God loves me! And, because he loves me, I should have no problem trusting Him and thanking Him – regardless of what He wants and what happens. Why, then, should I be hesitant to pray for His will?
I guess because it doesn’t always line up with My Will.
There’s the skewed logic… Instead of trying to align His will with mine, I should be doing the exact opposite!
How often do I pray for my loved ones here on earth? Not just for them, but for their needs and wants and desires? Why then, should it be any different to pray for God’s needs and wants and desires?
It shouldn’t.
In the end, these are the answers to any questions of doubt about how to pray for God’s Will:
HE is the One who knows best. I do not.
HE is the One who wants me to be refined and purified. I want to be comfortable.
HE is the One who loves me – and I love Him.
Simple as that.
Your thoughts?
What do you find helps you release control and pray for God’s will to be done in your life? What verses do you cling to that help you best determine His desires? I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Can’t wait to hear from all of you!
