A Simple Prayer
Every day, I pray: “God, I humbly ask for knowledge of Your will for me, and the power to carry that out.”
A simple, passive prayer.
Perhaps simple-sounding, but not easy. And definitely not passive.
Knowledge of His will
If I ask God what He wants, there are ways for me to hear Him:
— Read God’s Word. God had His say in the Bible. And there’s plenty in there about how He wants me to act. And think. And treat others.
— Get quiet and listen (which I find difficult to do). But it’s essential. I hear God in my spirit because that’s one of the places He resides.
— Pay attention to what happens in my life. Events aren’t coincidence or “out of the blue”. Every day of my life was planned before I was born. And the way life occurs helps and guides me.
The Power to Carry Out God’s Will
This comes from God.
Without it, I do what I want. Which leads to mistakes, damage to others, and damage to myself.
I need to align my will with God’s. So when I ask for “power”, I get the:
— Willingness to do what He wants.
— Wisdom of what to do (or not do, if inaction is called for).
— Courage to act (or stay still).
— Determination to keep doing God’s will regardless of what happens.
A simple, passive prayer.
Not.
But it’s what I need, and want, to do. Every day.
What helps you do the right thing?
A Simple Prayer – But Is It? – What helps you do the right thing? Share on XJoni Vance is an award-winning author of fiction, essay, and poetry. She loves mystery, history, and how God reveals Himself every day.
May God reveal the mystery of His love in your life story.
Thanks, Joni. For me, much of the same as you mentioned. Time in the Word and time in prayer, though I don’t take as much time listening as I should.
I always feel my time is so limited that I don’t spend enough. But I do what I can – and am thankful God helps me and gets His point across in some way. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Joni,
Such a great prayer to pray! God’s will and the power to carry it out… so good.
What helps me do the right thing? Conviction. Which comes from reading God’s word. Only by being faithful to do that does the conviction come… when verses or Bible stories pop in my head and I see the correlation to my life.
And… all of the above that you mentioned… reading, getting quiet, listening, paying attention to what happens:)
Thanks for reading and sharing. Every reminder helps!
Joni
Sometimes the simple ones carry the most power. Faith isn’t complicated, it’s quite straightforward and simple. Perhaps our prayers should be too. Good food for thought!
Blessings!
D
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. 🙂 I appreciate your support.