Not My Will, But Yours

For decades, I acted like I was God. I acted like I knew just what every person I loved needed from God. I had no idea what I needed, but I was confident I could fix anyone else; if they just listened to me.

When I prayed, I would go on and on about what they needed to change. I would ask God to give them patience or wisdom. I would ask God to fix what I perceived as their sins and/or shortcomings.

Bah hah hah!

I wonder what God thinks about my haughtiness! This is my basic sin. I set myself up in the position of God in my own life, and then the lives of the people who were closest to me.

If you shared a prayer request with me, I’d evaluate and judge, then start asking for what I believed was needed.

A 12-step program taught me to “Let Go and Let God.” It took some time, but eventually I added to the saying because it makes even more sense to me: “Let Go and Let God be God”.

I’m not God.

I must remind myself of this frequently because it’s easy for me to slip back into old, bad habits.

In Matthew 6:9, Jesus teaches us how to pray to God. We’re to ask for his will, not ours. So why was I giving God a laundry list of my will? Sinful pride. Blame shifting. A desire to control.

It’s funny how hard this simple thing is to do. People ask me to pray for specific things for specific people. When we do that, we’re putting limits on God. He can do and imagine so much more than we can! Stop telling God what to do! Get out of his way.

LORD God, you are incredible, always surprising me, always loving me. Thank you for all your creation, for the weird animals and the funny bugs. Thank you for your spectacular sunsets. I pray for your will to be done LORD, not mine. I pray you will keep me humble. LORD, thank you for providing for all the needs of my family and I ask that you continue to provide what we need, food, shelter, clothing, and relationships. LORD forgive me for the sins I’ve committed against you today. Please continue to remove my shortcomings as you give me the courage to face them. LORD, thank you for loving me in just the way I need. Please continue to protect me and my loved ones from Satan’s attacks. In your son Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.