Have you ever prayed about a difficult situation that either you or someone else was going through and asked for a specific outcome to happen with it all? I used to do that quite regularly in almost every one of my prayers, until I began to understand that maybe those difficult things that were happening were actually meant to help whoever was going through them spiritually grow.
There are quite a number of examples I could provide in my own life of difficult things I’ve gone through where I really tried to tell my Higher Power how they should be resolved. From the loss of intimate relationships, close friendships, jobs, and a business I owned, to the decline of my physical health, many of the prayers I’ve said for these things have ended up going in exact opposite direction of what my ego had wanted. But in the long run, I’ve consistently seen that it’s been for the better because I’ve learned very valuable lessons with the outcomes I received.
Take the loss of my bed and breakfast for example. As it headed towards financial ruin in its last few years of operation under my ownership, I prayed day in and day out for a buyer to come in and at least purchase it for a price that would pay me back the $600,000 I had personally invested into it. Eventually when it sold as a short-sale with me losing everything but the shirt on my back, I became quite angry with God for that outcome. But through my 12 Step recovery work, I ultimately saw how it brought me more humility in life by totally losing that investment. That loss actually taught me how much money had been ruling my life. Now I live a much humbler existence that isn’t being controlled by money like it used to be. I fully believe that if my original prayer had been answered in the way I wanted, I’d probably still have money controlling my life more than not.
Now, I do my best to pray for my Higher Power’s will in every difficult situation I go through. Currently, it’s my physical health issues that are definitely the most challenging thing I’m facing. All I ask in my prayers these days in dealing with them is for the strength to get through each 24 hours and for “Thy will, not mine” to be done. While my ego may not like the physical uncomfortableness I go through on on most days, I’ve become a lot more more compassionate, selfless, and humble having endured it as long as I have. That’s why I continue to ask for Thy will and not my own because maybe this is just part of some higher purpose that will become even more clear at a later date.
When it comes to everyone and everything else that I pray for nowadays, I also ask for God’s will and not for any particular outcome as well. Take for example a friend of mine who recently has been very fearful about becoming homeless due to his landlord ending his rental agreement. While I want to pray for my Higher Power to quickly fix his situation and find him an easy resolution, there may be some wonderful spiritual work manifesting within my friend’s life by going through this. Thus the only thing I’m praying for is God’s will in the whole matter.
The reality is that I’ve continued to observe over time in both others, and in myself, leaps in spiritual growth by going through any arduous time in life. While the ego may want to pray for a specific outcome time and time again when they’re occurring, I’ve found that in asking for Thy will and not mine, that the end result is far better than anything the ego could ever have imagined.
So if you happen to be facing something very difficult right now in life, I encourage you to take a moment, breathe, and ask for your Higher Power’s will, and not your own. I truly believe that you will grow exponentially on a spiritual level in doing so. But even better, there’s a good chance you’ll also end up with an outcome that will make you much happier in the long run, than anything your ego might have ever conceived of in the first place…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson