His Will, Not Mine
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me”. John 6:38
I have had times in my life when I had to trust God and have faith that He would keep His promises. It was hard but I had to believe that His will — not mine — was best.
One of the most difficult times was when one of our children called and she was in crisis. At this time, she was a prodigal and had walked away from the Lord. I was put in a position in which I really had to trust and have faith, despite the overwhelming desire to rush in and save her from herself.
That night, she called with one minute left on her cell phone. She had no heat, no power, and was all alone in the middle of a frigid Northeast winter. As you might assume, I didn’t sleep that night. Instead, I spent my time praying through tears that still flow when I recount the heartache.
So, I had to trust God and His promises. I had to trust that His will — not mine — was best.
I leaned on God and His promise that I need not fear. I knew that He would not forsake me (nor our child). “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; Do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8.
I also leaned on God’s promise to hear my prayers and to take care of this situation. “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Psalm 34:17.
Now, God didn’t promise that He would answer my prayers the way that I wanted them answered. He promised to hear them and deliver me from this trouble.
And, I didn’t pray for what I wanted. What I wanted was for God to supernaturally teleport our child to our warm, safe home.
But that night, I prayed one of the most difficult prayers I have ever prayed in my life. When I prayed for His will, I asked God that, if our daughter were not going to make it through the night (because of the severe weather conditions and no heat), that He would lead her to repentance and restoration. Her eternal salvation was of far greater concern to me than her earthly life. Knowing that I will be spending time with my children, for all of eternity, in Heaven is of immense importance to me, far more than to have them here with me on earth for a few decades.
I knew that what I was praying was God’s will and I had to trust that He would answer my prayer. And, I had to remember that He loved her more than I did. He wanted to be reconciled with her far more than I wanted their reconciliation. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14.
I also knew that sometimes God’s answer to our prayers is simply “no”. Sometimes it is because He has a better plan. And sometimes it is because people have free will and just refuse to cooperate. Still, I lifted up those prayers with faith and confidence.
It is amazing how much we will trust God when there is nothing left to do.
I was certain that this was going to be the night that this child would come back to the Lord. Sadly, I was wrong about that.
But I wasn’t wrong about God’s faithfulness.
I praise God, that our prodigal has repented and been restored to a right relationship with Him. In fact, she is an incredible help to me with this blog.
Sometimes there is nothing harder than praying for God’s will because it means we have to lay our will and desires down, trusting only in Him.
But He is trustworthy. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths”. Proverbs 3:5-6.
Our prayers are not always going to be answered in the way that we hope even if we are praying for, what we deem to be, God’s will. God does desire good things for us but we live in a fallen world, so, that isn’t always what we get.
What I am saying to you right now is that God is faithful and true. He is a God of promises, hope, and endless, boundless love. And, no matter what the end result of our prayer is, He is worthy to be praised because His love NEVER fails. “38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39.
When we have prayers that don’t get answered in just the way that we hoped and we begin to doubt God’s love and faithfulness, let us read Ephesians 2:4-5. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.”
God has redeemed us, through the sacrifice of His own Son! He is a God of mercy and grace. He is trustworthy and faithful! He will NEVER forsake you! And you are safe in saying “thy will, not mine, be done”.
If Jesus, facing all that He would endure, was safe in laying down His will, so are you. “42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:42.
Lift your prayers to our Father in Heaven and trust Him with the outcome!
I pray that today we would have a deeper faith and trust for you, Lord, than we have ever had before. And Father, I pray that we would trust you more completely than we ever have before. I pray that we would lift our praises to your holy name, more boldly and in greater numbers than ever before, Father, because you alone are worthy. ““Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” Revelation 4:11.
Be filled with joy, pray without ceasing, and know that your Father in Heaven hears your prayers and adores you. “Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
If you are here today and do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and you have felt that perhaps God isn’t listening when you pray, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) and pray the prayer that is outlined there. I promise that God is listening and will hear this prayer. Once you have prayed, please reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com and let me know. I’d love to be in prayer for you.
Luv Ya!
