The Prayer That Never Fails

By Becky Avella

From the Word:

Click here and read Luke 22:39-45

Key Verse:
Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine. -Luke 22:39-45

I love good books and some of my favorites are Jan Karon’s novels “The Mitford Series.” Set in the small Southern town of Mitford, they tell the story of a lovable, Episcopalian priest, named Father Tim. The magic of the books lies in how ordinary life is in Mitford.

I have learned so much from Father Tim. Before he starts his day, he always prays, “Make me a blessing to someone today.” What an attitude! Whatever happens today, Lord, please let me touch someone’s life! He has a firm grasp on grace, and it shows up throughout the books. But I think the most important lesson that I have learned from Father Tim is his famous “prayer that never fails.”

Whenever he is counseling someone or trying to figure out a situation, he suggests that they pray the prayer that never fails, “Thy will be done.”

Why don’t we pray this prayer more often? Fear! We forget that our God is trustWORTHY. If we are honest, many of us are afraid of what that Will might include. It is almost as if we see God in Heaven saying, “Yippee! She finally surrendered. Now I can pour on the really hard stuff!”

We must remember God’s character and His heart toward us. He says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

He isn’t out to get us. He is out to love us, mold us, shape us, draw us to Himself, and ultimately work out what is best for us individually and for the Kingdom as a whole. Pray the prayer that never fails and trust for just the right answer.

Personal Application:
Does praying this prayer terrify you? List what you are afraid of, confess your unbelief, and ask God to help you trust Him more.

In his book, Absolute Surrender, Andrew Murray gives this exhortation:

“Oh, I want to encourage you, and I want you to cast away every fear. Come with that feeble desire. If there is the fear which says- ‘Oh, my desire is not strong enough. I am not willing for everything that may come, and I do not feel bold enough to say I can conquer everything’ – I implore you, learn to know and trust your God now. Say: ‘My God, I am willing that You should make me willing.’”

Give the Lord Your fear, and then ask Him to make you willing and able to surrender to His good will.

More of God’s Word:
1. Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief! Mark 9:24 (KJV)

2. All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy. – Psalm 111:7 (NLT)

3. God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on); - 1 Corinthians 1:9a (Amplified Bible)

Dear Lord, Thy will be done. As scary as it is to pray, I know that I can trust You because you are worthy of that trust. Thank you that I can rest in knowing You are sovereign over the details of my life. Equip me to let go and wait for Your perfect will.

In Jesus’ Name I pray,
Amen

In Him

By: Becky Avella

From the Word:

Click here and read 1 Peter 5:8-14

Key Verse:
Peace to all of you who are in Christ. - 1 Peter 5:14b

Have you ever received a letter or an email that was signed "In Christ," "Your Sister in Christ," or something to that effect?

In the past, I skimmed over those amazing words without thinking about them. But lately, when I see them, I stop and praise God for the promise they hold for me.

What beautiful words they are! If we would stop to contemplate them, we would be reminded of a beautiful truth. We are in Christ!

After listening to a Bible study lesson a few years ago, I drew a tiny dot with a circle around it in the margin of my Bible. Above it I wrote the words, "Me, Surrounded by God." I didn't know when I drew it how much I would be challenged to trust those words. These past few years have been full of painful trials for me, but there is comfort in knowing that everything that has reached me has come through God first. It reminds me of superheroes who have powerful force fields around them. “Me surrounded by God!” Anything that penetrates my force field has to go through God first, who not only loves me, but is by very nature love! (God is love. 1 John 4:8).

Are you suffering today? Do you find yourself in a painful trial? If you belong to Jesus, you are "in Christ" and you can trust Him to carry you through the hurt.

Personal Application:

Draw a picture of yourself and draw a circle around it. (Stick figures are fine) Write your name and the words “Surrounded by God”

Read the following quote:

“If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings.”
-Adoniram Judson (Missionary to Burma in the early 1800’s)

Do you trust that your trial has been allowed by God's infinite love and mercy? Pray that you will be equipped to trust God's love during your personal trials.

More of God’s Word:

1. God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. -1 Corinthians 1:30 (NLT)

2. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. -John 14:20 (NLT)

3. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. – Romans 8:31-39 (The Message)

Dear Lord, Thank you for the beautiful truth that because I belong to You, I am in You. You surround me and love me. The trials that You allow in my life must first be filtered through Your love and mercy. I can trust you to bring purpose and beauty out of the trials of my life. Help me to trust You as I rest in You. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen