Praying for God’s Will
Photo by Melody Margrave
Written by Melody Margrave
“Thank you for the world so sweet. Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for the birds that sing. Thank you, God, for everything.”
Growing up in a Christian family, I was taught to pray at an early age. Now later in life, nothing is sweeter and more humbling (and sometimes entertaining) that listening to a young child pray.I love for the little ones to say the blessing because they are a model for us in our prayer life. They ask for the basics, and the needs, even though sometimes they slip in their “wants” too. The entertaining part of a young person’s prayer comes when I overhear things like “Dear God, please don’t let my brother eat the last cookie that I hid in the cabinet. I really want that for my lunch tomorrow.” To a young child’s mind, that is a basic need and hopefully, the brother doesn’t get hungry during the night and destroy that child’s wishes.
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (I John 5: 14-15) I’m a fervent believer in prayer. My favorite prayer times are when I’m driving to work in the mornings or in a solitude walk around the school building during lunch. It’s the times that I need to talk to him the most, especially this year. For years, my prayer time was also on the weekend drives to the nursing home to see my Mom – again, a time I needed to talk to him most. It has been in those times that the four little words that are most overlooked in I John 5: 14 have stood out to me and I have learned to trust in them. “According to his will” are words that I have learned to believe and trust in. It’s how I learned to talk to God. Most of all, I’m thankful to him for answered prayers, for providing for me, my family, my students, my friends… But, I also must remember that he has a plan and “according to his will,” those prayers will be answered.
Lately, I have noticed that social media is full of prayer requests and comments about praying for everything under the sun. I am glad in this troubled world that people are turning to God in prayer. It is both humbling and inspiring on a stressful day for me for someone to post that they are praying for teachers everywhere. I am also hopeful to see so many people turn to prayer for their answers to life’s trials. We need to pray for each other and we need to trust that God will provide those answers.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”
This serenity prayer was written on a plaque that used to hang on the bathroom wall in the house I grew up in. It sounds like a strange place for it to be displayed, but I think in some way my mother knew that I would take time to look at it there. Some people would say she was God-lead to place it there. No matter, why it was there, I did take time to read it. Now, it is in one of the packed up boxes of all the treasures I couldn’t bring myself to give away and I think of it often. Those words often pop in my mind at times when I’m struggling the most. “Accept the things you can not change.” “According to his will.”
I think the hardest part of prayer life is trusting in God to provide those answers. Again, those four words I have learned to concentrate on… “according to his will.” We don’t always like God’s answer. Tying the serenity prayer to this means that we need to learn to accept God’s answers to prayer whether we like them or not.
I might pray fervently for something that I think should happen – anyone who knows me knows that I have opinions about just about everything. In my talks with God in the mornings, I try to remember to ask him to show me the way – “according to his will” – and please, give me the wisdom to accept it and I often want to share it when someone posts on social media that they prayed for something to happen and it didn’t. It’s such a valuable lesson, but one of the hardest ones to learn. Just because we think it should happen, doesn’t mean that it is God’s will and we must accept his answer.
So, in my wanderings to improve my spiritual life, I’m going to continue to talk to God along my path each morning, noon, and night. Most of all asking him to help me accept his will in my prayers.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
Melody C. Margrave is married to Richard Margrave and lives in Virginia with their son, Zachary. She is a high school English teacher who is prayerfully making it through her fortieth year of teaching – this year virtually. Prayer in the morning on the way to work is helping her through the year of teaching from an empty classroom.
