Our Father...Sample

Praying with Open Hands

Have you ever prayed for God’s will but held onto your own?

To pray “your will be done” requires a trust that God’s purposes are better than our preferences. This line of the Lord’s Prayer is a quiet revolution against self-reliance. It reveals whether our faith is built on surrender or control.

Jesus models this kind of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. As he faces the cross, he prays, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42, NIV). It is a moment of deep surrender, showing us what it means to trust God fully even in the face of suffering. Jesus, fully aware of the cost, chooses submission.

In our own lives, surrender is rarely easy. It comes when we trust that God sees further than we do, that his timing is perfect even when ours feels delayed, and that his plans lead to life even when they require pruning. But we are often invited to believe that before we see it.

Praying “your will be done” each day helps us loosen our grip on our own way. It softens the heart and opens space for God to do more than we imagined. And sometimes, the very prayers that feel unanswered are the ones being most powerfully transformed.

Ask God to search you today. Where are you resisting? What outcome are you demanding? What might shift if your hands opened in trust?

Prayer:
God, I let go of the need to be in control. Search my heart and show me where I’m clinging to my own way. Let my prayers reflect trust in your character and not just a desire for a certain outcome. Shape my will to match yours.