Friday, April 1, 2011

If you pray “Thy will be done,” you will always get your way

YES, the title of my post today is an April Fools Day joke. Now let’s get serious about the subject.

In one of my spiritual formation classes, my assignment is to say the Lord’s Prayer every day. It serves me well. Through its simplicity, I hear the Father say: “Greg, do you really mean it when you pray ‘Thy will be done?’” It's not easy to pray this way. If anyone thinks it is, he has not yet plumbed the depths of “self” within his own heart.

Praying “Thy will be done,” can be perilous—to your self-life! Yesterday, my elderly mother fell and broke her hip; and immediately God’s will for my day was set in motion. After surgery, her long, hard rehabilitation process will begin. My first thought was of her pain. But I have to confess that my second thought was: “How will this affect ‘my’ life and ‘my’ plans?”

Then the Spirit reminded me of my prayer. It wasn’t “My will be done,” but “Thy will be done.” It's not easy to pray, "do whatever you want” when you know that if God has His way, you may not get yours.

2 comments:

  1. Good morning Greg,

    If I am not mistaken I think you wrote several months ago something where you mentioned you had to go to your mom's home at 2:00 o'clock in the morning because something happened to her. Was it also related to a fall or was it something else? I'm not asking for the sake of being nosey, but to take an interest in her health and pray for her and you and obvioulsy the effects on the family. I do hope and pray that everything will be properly taken care of by the Lord providing for all of you wisdom, strength and patience. Thank you for sharing the lessons you are drawing from your everyday life.

    Many blessings,

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry to be late in response. Yes, my mother has fallen many times, but this was the first time she broke anything--her hip. and she is now going through a long, painful recovery. I do appreciate your prayers.

    ReplyDelete