Quarantine Youth: Prayerনমুনা

His Way

Do you have siblings?

I do. A bunch. I’m the youngest of seven.

The hard part about being the youngest is, everyone assumes that you are the spoiled one. Not in my family. By the time I came around, they were out of money and energy.

I remember the few times my parents would ask us things like, “Where do you want to go for dinner?” I’m pretty quiet, and there were always a lot of other voices in the car, so it was usually easy for me to go along with whatever everyone else wanted. Not because I was trying to be giving, but because I knew what would happen if I spoke up...

“Why do we always have to do what HE wants? Why does it always have to be HIS way?”

(To be fair, I made that complaint equally as much...)

One of my brothers would say something dumb like, McDonald’s, and inside a part of me would die. Specifically, the part that wanted Del Taco.

When you have something that you really want, it’s hard to go along with someone else. It feels like losing, and no one likes to lose.

As you build your prayer life, it is going to be increasingly important to give up what you want in order to take part in what God wants. It is also difficult, because you feel like you are losing something, and you are.

When Jesus taught us to pray that it would be on Earth as it is in Heaven, He was teaching us that if we want what God wants, then we have to give up what we have. If we are praying for Earth to become more like Heaven, then Earth has to change. This isn’t just about adding some of Heaven to Earth. In order for Earth to really be like Heaven, then Earth has to give up its way.

In order to live how Jesus is calling you to live, you have to give up your way. There’s no telling Jesus how it should be. Don’t bring Him all of your solutions, and tell Him how you think He should answer your prayers. Come to Him with an attitude of surrender; an attitude that says, “Whatever You want from me God, I’m in.”

And even though you might feel as though you aren’t getting your way, you will know that it is so much better that you are getting His way.