During August, I plan to explore the subject of prayer. Each devotion will focus on an aspect of prayer. Today, we look at giving up control and praying for God’s will to be done in all circumstances.
Key Verse
“17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (NIV)
My Story
Do you remember what a blessing to witness the arrival of each of our children? After months of anticipation, the moment arrives when the doctor hands you a bundle of joy. The feeling is like no other feeling in the world. At that moment, they are perfect in every way. I don’t think words can truly express what that feeling is like when you meet your child for the very first time.
I gave birth to three beautiful children, two daughters, and a son. I felt like a complete family as I cherished each one of them. At their inception, I thought about all my plans for their lives. Ballet classes, gymnastics, softball, karate, fishing trips, baseball, proms, and eventually, weddings would fill my years to come. Excitement filled my soul as I planned their futures filled with joy and happiness.
Soon, my dreams came crashing down as my son slipped into eternity to be with His heavenly father. All my plans for his life were gone forever. So many emotions rolled around inside me. Years of doubt followed as I tried to figure out what I had done wrong. Kids aren’t supposed to die. As a parent, I am supposed to protect my children and provide them with everything they need. But instead, I felt like a failure.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;”
Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)
God’s in Control, Not Us
In our society, we have convinced ourselves that we can control life. But we can’t. This thought of control is an illusion that helps us sleep at night. Once my son’s death forced me to take off my rose-colored glasses, I learned the best thing I could do was to surround my children in prayer. And, when things got tough for them, I could point them back to Jesus. My job as a mom included teaching them to trust in the Master’s plan for themselves.
Praying for God’s Will
The most challenging prayer for each of us as parents is to ask for God’s will to be done in the lives of those we love. So often, we want to control the events for everyone in our family. With my son’s death, I learned I couldn’t and needed to trust each child’s protection to God’s loving arms. When tough times arose, I needed to pray for His will to prevail instead of trying to control it. And, I needed to accept whatever that looked like for their lives.
As the years wore on, I watched my girls as they made faith their own. They had to develop that relationship for themselves because I could not do it for them. Sometimes, their struggles were tough for me to watch from the sidelines. But then I remembered to turn them over in prayer to the One that controlled the winds and everything under the sun. He could change their circumstances.
As the grandchildren began to fill the house with laughter, I had a new generation to cover in prayer. I also needed to teach them to give all their troubles to their Heavenly Father. When they feared the darkness, I shared about the creator of light and how He protected them in all circumstances. I also taught them Bible verses to recite when problems arose.
Give them to God in Prayer
Our children are a gift from God. We raise them and teach them so many things throughout their lives. But, they are only ours because God entrusted them to us. Our job is to trust them back to God instead of trying to control life for them. Pray for them, instruct them in the ways of the Lord, and trust Him enough to pray for God’s will to be done in their lives. Also, offer a prayer to help us to accept it.
In Your Life:
What circumstance in your family’s life causes you to want to try to take control of the situation? What steps can you take today to pray for God’s will to be done in all circumstances of your life?
Prayer
My dearest Heavenly Father. I come before you today in prayer. Please help me to trust you in all circumstances and help me to relinquish control back to you. Take away my doubts and fears for myself and my family. Give me eyes to see that Your plans are the best. Please guide and direct the heart of each of my family members back to you. Thank you, Lord. Amen.
His will be done indeed Ms. Yvonne. Perhaps one of the most difficult things for me to let go is that illusion that I have any real control over anything. Learning to pray His will is a key to growing in our faith I think. It’s that tangible act of acknowledging that God is in control of our lives and even though we may not understand the “why”, we must accept through faith the “Who.” Well said ma’am. Thank you for your encouraging words.
It is the hardest part of our faith, to truly trust God to control our lives. It is a daily struggle that is so worth it. Thanks JD. Blessings
Thank you for your timely devotion. We pray for our children and trust God has them in His hands. Letting go and not taking the worries and stress back is not easy. God’s will be done, not ours.
Amen Craig. May God’s will be done in our lives daily. Blessings
I often mistakenly think I am in control, but GOD is only and always!!!! Excellent piece.
Me too. I think we all tend to think we are in control. Thanks Jessica. Blessings
When I finally released our son to God and stopped trying to take control of the situation, peace came over me like I’ve never felt before. Our son had been making poor decisions as a teenager and I thought I could “fix” everything myself. When I hit rock bottom, I remembered to go to God. He brought peace and comfort and answer to many prayers. The prodigal returned and is now a wonderful Christian son, husband, father, friend, and shares the love of Christ in many ways. 🙂
Thanks for sharing about your son. God has a plan and when we allow Him to be in control, we will be amazed. Blessings
Thank you for sharing such a personal, heart-wrenching story, Yvonne. Your comment about the illusion of control helping you sleep reminded me that the same illusion also steals our sleep. We’re not built to carry the weight of control.
So true Annie. The thoughts of control can keep us up at night too. I am thankful I can give up control and problems to God. Blessings
A superb post, Yvonne. I remember when I realized that this prayer was the only one necessary. Out of fear, at the beginning, I prayed point by point to God what I wanted Him to do so that they would turn out to be godly men and women. I eventually learned that He didn’t need my help in knowing how to turn them to be godly men and women. Your will be done in their lives to make them Yours, Lord, is now my prayer.
I think a lot of us start off our prayer life in this way. We think telling God how to do things is praying but I am glad I realized it is best to let Him be in charge. Thanks Melinda and blessings.
What a powerful reminder, Yvonne. It’s easy for me to depend on myself instead of God. What a difference! I’m thankful He teaches me through excellent sources, including this post. Thank you for sharing from your heart.
I am thankful for the way He teaches us so many things. Thanks Jeannie. I appreciate your thoughts. Blessings
Such a good reminder that the illusion of control is exactly that: an illusion. I know this intellectually, but the challenge is to translate that knowledge into consistent behavior!
It is hard to move the knowledge fro our head to our heart. But practice makes it easier. Thanks Ava. Blessings
“Thy will be done.” It is a hard prayer to pray, but it means total surrender to God. And that’s where we want to be.
Amen Candyce. It is where I want to be daily. Thanks and blessings
Thank you Yvonne for sharing your story. Prayer should be so simple, but it can be difficult as well. I agree control seems to be my bottom line in the struggle. I appreciate you reminding me of that.
Thanks so much Sylvia. I appreciate your thoughts and encouragement. Blessings
Yvonne, I always feel heart-broken for you when you talk about your son. Yet, I appreciate how you are vulnerable to share it with good spiritual insight. This matter of giving up control as a child of God relates so well to parenting and our children. Perfect analogy. Thank you!
Thanks Karen. God wants us to use our stories to reach others. I appreciate your thoughts. Blessings
Thank you, Yvonne, for such a great offering. We mothers want all to be well for our children. May all the prodigals come home. May we be patient while He works. May we trust Him when we don’t understand. God bless.
Amen Nancy. I pray for those things too. Blessings
Releasing our children is one of the hardest but most necessary prayers. I am trusting God now as in 45 days I will put my youngest on a plane to start missions. She spends three months in training and then I don’t know where she will go the following three. I want to go with her to protect her. But I know I am placing her in the hands of One that loves her more than I do. So hard but amazing at the same time.
Scary but so wonderful. I will be praying for her (and you). I sure she will be blessed beyond measure with the experiences. Thanks Jennifer for sharing. Blessings