Bold Prayers that Changed My Life (part 4)

Earlier this month, I had an opportunity to speak to a women’s group for Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer. I shared with them Six Bold Prayers that Changed My Life. This post is the fourth in a series of posts that is based on that speech.

You can read the earlier posts by clicking on the title. The first bold prayer is Lord, Bless Me. The second bold prayer is Show Me Your Glory. The third bold prayer I shared is Help My Unbelief!

I will continue to share those bold prayers over the next several days. I hope you’ll come back to find out more about how these prayers changed my life and can change your life too!

Bold Prayer #4: Not my will, but yours be done. (Luke 22:42)

This familiar prayer was prayed by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, just hours before He went to the cross and died for our sins..

Luke records Jesus praying, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me – nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.“

As believers, we know that Jesus had to go to the cross. It was the only way to bring salvation to the people. Jesus, divinely God, was the only one who could make such a sacrifice since He had lived a perfectly sinless life. He was able to take the punishment that belonged to us in our place, thus paying the price needed to redeem us.

And yet Jesus was also fully human. He still felt the pain and the emotions of this horrific event. Jesus didn’t want to have to die for all of humanity, and yet He was willing to do it if God asked Him to.When Jesus asked God if there was a different way, and then conceded to doing whatever God asked of Him because He trusted God to know what was best, He gave us the example of the ultimate prayer of self-sacrifice. Nothing we ever give up for God will begin to compare to this.

There are times in our lives when our desires conflict with what we know God wants us to do.

What times have you given up doing things your way and willingly done things God’s way? Or maybe you didn’t do it willingly, but God’s will prevailed over your will and when you look back you can see the blessing that came from it.

A long time ago, in what feels like another lifetime, I was married to a different man. He was an Army officer. In February of 2007, he deployed to Iraq and while there he wrote me an email stating he didn’t want to be married anymore. 

I was shocked. I really didn’t know we were having marital problems. I was devastated. I felt rejected and abandoned. I pleaded with him not to leave. I begged him to stay and work on things with me. I was a stay-at-home mom to three young children. I couldn’t imagine becoming a single mother.

I prayed diligently for the Lord to restore our marriage. And I really believed He would. I got set up with a marriage counselor and did all the things she told me to do. I fully expected God to restore our marriage … and yet as the months went by, that didn’t happen.

Can I just tell you how surprised I was when He didn’t work in the way I was praying for Him too. After all, isn’t God for marriage? Doesn’t God hate divorce? I could not fathom why God would not save my marriage.

Seventeen years later, and all I can tell you is that I still don’t understand why. But I do see the blessings God gave me out of His plan.

Perhaps you have a similar story … Has God said no to something in your life that to you seemed like it should have been an obvious yes?

Trusting God with our lives is hard. We want to have things go our way, to pray that God works like we want Him to work. But God’s way is always best, even when it doesn’t seem that way to us.

God promises in Jeremiah 29:11 that He knows the plans He has for us … and that these plans are for our well-being, not plans for our disaster.  He promises that His plans are to give us a hope and a future. In Romans 12:2, we find the Apostle Paul saying that God’s will is always good, pleasing, and perfect.

To this day, I will tell you that when I went through that divorce nearly two decades ago, it surely didn’t feel like it was giving me a hope or a future. It didn’t feel like a good or pleasing or perfect plan either. At the time, it felt like I was being ripped apart and torn into little pieces. My world crumbled around me and I couldn’t see how I would ever pick up the pieces. My life felt like it was over.

But I also tell people that my divorce is the best worst thing that ever happened to me. No, it wasn’t pleasant at the time. It was a terrible experience. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone! But God turned those terrible times into something beautiful …

I gave up many things during my divorce. I was no longer a stay-at-home mom, but rather a working, single mom. God gave me a lot of confidence during those years as He built up my stamina to tackle problems. I grew in my faith in Him. I saw Him provide time and time and time again for me and my children.

Later on, God gave me a new husband, two bonus daughters, a new home with a miracle story. He gifted me new dreams and a new purpose in life. My outlook was broadened significantly. My whole life changed because my first marriage ended, and in some ways it changed for the better.

I want to be very clear. I still think God is for marriage and that He hates divorce. But I know that sometimes God works in ways that do not make sense to us. That’s why it is a big and bold prayer to ask God to do His will in our life, instead of what we want … and to trust that His plans and His will is going to be good even when it hurts.