praying His will
as i mentioned yesterday, i have been praying for people in my life who are struggling through uncertainties. a young mother and father with a 2 year old son fighting for his life after a near-drowning. a student with a father in a medically induced coma, wondering if he will survive and, if he does, wondering if he will be brain dead.
and i've been praying.
as i have done so, i have found myself wondering how to best pray.
so...i have been asking Him.
"Lord, what do i pray?"
the answer i have consistently received over the last three days has been, "pray according to My will. that My will would be done."
that makes sense.
john eldredge, in his book "walking with God" writes this:
"this is a really, really helpful place to begin--to ask God what to pray. i don't know what's going on...so i ask him. remember the disciples asking Jesus, 'teach us to pray'? too many times we just jump in and start praying...and it doesn't have much effect. we just sort of swing our sword around in the air randomly. do this for a while and you'll get the impression that prayer doesn't really work. or that God isn't in it. oh, it works, and He's in it. when we pray effectively...if we pray according to God's will, he hears us all right. and he answers our prayers. isn't that what you want? i sure do. i want to see my prayer work! i want to pray according to God's will. but i don't always know what that is, so, i ask." (pg. 106)
so, my prayer for these people in my life has simply been, "Lord, may Your will be done. if that is complete healing, then so be it. if You choose to say 'not this time,' then so be it. may Your will be done."
