Have you ever prayed about something and realized you had already decided what the answer should be?

God, please let me get this job.
Please let this relationship work.
Please don't let this opportunity fall through.
Please fix this situation this way.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with telling God exactly what we want. But sometimes our prayers can sound less like we're asking God for His will and more like we're giving Him the plan we'd like Him to follow.

We know to say, “Your will be done.” But if we're honest, sometimes what we really mean is, “Your will be done... as long as it looks something like this.”

And maybe one of the of the most difficult parts of prayer isn't asking God for what we want.

It's leaving room for Him to answer differently.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew what was coming. He was about to be arrested and crucified, and Matthew tells us He was “sorrowful and troubled.” (Matthew 26:37)

Then He prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” (Matthew 26:39)

I love the honesty of that prayer.

Jesus knew the suffering that awaited Him, and He didn't hide how He felt about it. He told the Father what He wanted and asked if there could be another way.

But He didn't stop there. “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Those few words change everything.

Jesus told the Father what He wanted without telling the Father what He had to do. And there is a difference.

Sometimes we think surrender means we shouldn't have a preference. But Gethsemane shows us that we can bring God our preference and still surrender the outcome to Him.

You can say, “God, I really want this.” You can ask Him repeatedly. You can cry about it. You can tell Him exactly how you hope it turns out. But still be able to say, “But God, if what You want for me is different from what I want for myself, I trust You more than I trust my plan.”

Sometimes we don't realize how attached we are to our preferred answer until God doesn't give it to us.

We ask God to provide, but we've already decided which job the provision should come through. We ask Him for a relationship, but we've already decided who the person should be. We ask Him to solve a problem, but there's one particular solution we're hoping He chooses.

Then a different opportunity appears and we dismiss it because it isn't the one we prayed for. Something ends and we keep trying to revive it because we can't imagine God having something different for us. A door closes, and instead of asking where God might be leading us, we spend all our energy trying to get that door open again.

That's when it's worth asking ourselves: Am I asking God to lead me, or am I asking Him to take me where I've already decided I want to go?

Because those are not the same thing.

We only know what we want from where we're standing today. God knows what that decision will mean next year, what that relationship will look like years from now, what we cannot see about that opportunity and where another path could lead to. Sometimes what looks like the perfect answer to us is only the perfect answer based on what we know right now.

The next time you pray about something you desperately want, don't be afraid to tell God. Be specific. Ask boldly. Tell Him what you're hoping for. But still leave room for an answer you haven't thought of.

I have prayers like that for this platform too. I want God to use it to reach and bless many people. I pray that something someone reads in Anchored can help them heal, bring them closer to God or give them hope when they need it. And I would love for this platform to grow to a place where, when someone reaches out with a genuine financial need, we're able to help.

Those are some of the things I would love for God to do right now, if I'm honest. But I also have to be willing to say, “God, this is what I hope You do with this platform, but it belongs to You. If Your plans for it look different from mine, help me follow Yours.”

And maybe there's something in your life you need to pray that way about too. Something you really want God to say yes to. Something you already have a picture in your head of how you want it to turn out.

Tell Him what you want. But also ask Him to help you recognize His answer if it looks different from yours. If a door closes, ask for the wisdom to know whether you should keep knocking or walk away. And if another door opens in a way you weren't expecting, don't dismiss it simply because it wasn't part of your plan.

That doesn't make disappointment any less painful. Losing something you desperately wanted can still hurt. Trusting God's will doesn't mean pretending you're happy about everything that happens. But that we don't make our preferred outcome the only outcome in which we're willing to trust Him.

There is something else about Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane that I don't want us to miss.

When Jesus prayed, “Not as I will, but as You will,” the Father's will didn't get any easier. Jesus was still arrested. He was still betrayed. He still went to the cross.

And I think that's important to understand because sometimes when we pray, “Your will be done,” there's still a small part of us hoping that God's will aligns perfectly with ours.

But what happens when they aren't?

What happens when the door you desperately want God to open stays closed? When the person you hoped would stay leaves? When God's answer isn't the answer you had pictured?

That's when “Your will be done” are not just words we say in a prayer. It becomes a decision to trust that God knows better than we do, even when His answer is not easy for us to accept.

So tell God what you want. Ask Him boldly. Be honest about the outcome you're hoping for. But don't hold your plans so tightly to your chest that there's no room for God to answer differently.

Because sometimes the hardest part of “Your will be done” isn't the saying part. It's meaning it when His will looks different from yours.

✝ Kingdom Mantra

What’s something you really want God to say yes to right now? Hit reply to this email or drop a comment below if you are reading this on our website. I would love to hear from you. God bless you and do have a great weekend. ❤️