September 22 ~ John 16:23-24
“This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!"
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Our 2-year-old niece, Zola, has been “campaigning” to come to our house for a visit for more than a week now. Every time we visit, she gets her little pink backpack… or stands by the door… or latches onto one of us and won’t let go…and she repeats over and over, “Go! Go!” One night last week we kept Nathan, Zola’s baby brother. When I went to get him, Timothy told Zola, “It’s Nathan’s turn to go… then it’s my turn. It’s not your turn.” Zola kept saying, “NO! It’s MY turn!”
So when we picked the children up for church this morning, Zola was very happy… until we stopped in the church parking lot. She “froze” in her car seat and refused to get out. “No! No!” she cried. I carried her into the building… crying. We know that she thought we were picking her up for a visit to our house. That would have been her preference. The hour spent with friends in the church nursery was worthwhile… but it was our will for Zola – not hers! Once she saw her friends and toys in the nursery, she was fine, and she was happy when we returned for her and took her back to her home. But her choice was a visit to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Greg’s house!
I have to tell you that I am one of the world’s worst for “campaigning” to God for the things that I want. I pray continually… oh, man, do I pray! But I can’t say that I always pray for God’s will. In fact, I would have to admit that I interject far too much of my own desires into my communication with our Heavenly Father… as if I know better than He does how things should go!
Now I know better… and I do try to ask for God’s will. But I’m pretty sure that He can see right through me. He hears me say, “If it be your will”… but he also hears that little undertone in my voice that says…”but I really want it this way!” If ever there was a scripture passage that clearly tells us that God will answer our prayers, it is this one. If ever there was a passage that tells us He will do so according to His will… it is this one!
We can “campaign” all we want. God will still do what is best for us. We can kick and scream and go rigid and “refuse to get out of the car,” and He will still do what fulfills His perfect plans. Does this mean we waste our breath when we pray? Absolutely not! God wants to hear from us. But He wants to hear the surrender in our voice… He wants to fully recognize our humility and our desire for His will – not our own.
If we can ever truly relax and let God have control, I honestly believe we will see that His ways are better than ours… that His choices trump ours every time. I, for one, am a work in progress… and I suspect you are, too. But we need to do this… we must do this! We have to call on God to meet our needs… in Jesus’ name…according to His will. When we get to the point where we can genuinely make this shift in attitude… when we can completely surrender control to God… we invite Him to fully and freely work in our lives – and the floodgates of joy and blessings are blown wide open. I know I want this in my life and the lives of those for whom I’m praying… don’t you? Isn’t it time we chose to “let go and let God”? When you ask God to hear your prayers… will you be invoking His will – or yours?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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