God calls us at times to pray difficult prayers.
He tells us to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1,2). And that’s hard, especially when they are from the other party. That’s hard when they are incompetent. That’s hard when they stand opposed to God and his Word.
Yet God still wants us to pray for them.
God tells us to pray for our enemies – to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). And that’s hard. It’s hard because it’s not fair. They hurt us. They did us wrong. They don’t deserve our prayers. It’s hard because we all struggle to love those who hate us.
Only when we truly understand how undeserving we are of God’s love can we show such love to others.
Praying for our leaders and our enemies can be difficult prayers. But those aren’t the hardest words for us to pray.
The hardest words to pray are the words Jesus spoke to his heavenly Father in the Garden of Gethsemane as sweat dripped from his brow like blood: “Your will be done.” “Lord, please let this relationship work.”
“God, please help us have a child.”
“Lord, please don’t let my mom die.”
At times, we pour out our hearts to God, pleading for the things we want most. But then God wants us to add the words, “Your will be done.”
Those words feel dangerous.
It feels as if we are telling God it’s okay if he doesn’t do what we ask. It feels as if we are giving him permission to do the opposite. It feels as if we are taking the chance that we won’t get what we want.
But understand this: God doesn’t need our consent. “Your will be done” is not a prayer of permission.
It is a prayer of trust. In the garden, Jesus trusted his Father’s will all the way to the cross, where God accomplished his will for our salvation.
God’s will is perfect. He promises to work all things together for the good of those who love him. His ultimate will is that we be saved.
Our heavenly Father knows best. Often what we ask for – though it seems best to us – isn’t what is truly best for us. A father who gives his children everything they ask for is not truly loving them. Sometimes the most loving answer God can give is no.
To pray, “Your will be done,” requires faith. Faith that trusts God’s good intentions for us. Faith that trusts that if he “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not, along with him, give us all things” (Romans 8:32).
When we say, “Your will be done,” we are falling back into the safe and powerful arms of the all-knowing God who gave everything for us.
Those words are still hard to pray. But they are not dangerous.
They are the words of a child trusting his Father.
Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas. You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion,” on Amazon. com.
