“Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

 The Prayer That Never Fails

I don’t know about you, but my prayer life can be pretty scattered. My thoughts become jumbled—so I force myself to focus, and then I do something worse than being scattered. I start giving God my litany of requests, adding detail upon detail, afraid that if I forget to speak them, He won’t know what needs to be done! I may as well reduce Him to being a Genie in a lamp! By now, I hope you’re laughing at me as I often start to do when I hear myself.

A few years ago, I started to change the way I pray. When I find myself starting to dictate my requests to the Lord, I simply end with, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” I want my prayers to be in accordance with God’s will. In order to do that, three things I need to strive for are:

  1. Praying with the right motivation
  2. Praying with a spirit of forgiveness
  3. Praying with thanksgiving

Romans 8:26 also comes to mind for those times when I’m under such duress that I can barely form a thought, let alone find the words: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” During my times of groaning (and there are many of those), there is no better time than to simply ask for His will.

Praying for God’s will can sometimes seem like we’re “accepting the inevitable”, but when we are yielding to God’s will, we are better able to accept His best for us—even if it’s not the answer we are hoping for.

So, I am learning to pause, and yield. It’s the prayer that never fails. Your kingdom come, Lord, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Where do you need to ask for the will of God in your life today? Are there “suggestions” you have been making to God that need to be laid down? Spend some time waiting and listening for what God wants to reveal about His will in situations you have been praying about.

“Father, thank You for hearing me, even when I don’t know how to talk to You. Show me how to hear You, and may I with grace accept Your kingdom come, and Your will be done. Amen.”