This morning I spent an hour praying with two other women who believe passion- ately in prayer. I brought them up to date on Mary’s cancer, and then we talked about the best way to pray over her, since that isn’t always obvious. But one of them knew exactly how to summarize our scattered thoughts. “No matter what the situation is,” she said, “there’s one prayer that can never fail. It’s, ‘Thy will be done.’ ”

That foolproof prayer always gets God’s “yes.”

I don’t think the Lord minds if we make suggestions: “please eliminate all cancer cells within Mary… please extend her life by many years… please don’t allow her to suffer in any way…” But in the end, our bottom-line should always be, “Whatever you decide, Lord, we’ll line up behind that.”

As we prayed, a Sunday school chorus popped into my head:

God can do anything, anything, anything; God can do anything but fail.

A foolproof prayer and a God who can’t fail? It’s win-win. If there are any problems after that, they’re within us.

But what happens when someone we love is handed a diagnosis like Mary’s, and we hate the thought that such a thing might be God’s will? An excellent request for ourselves concerning our own praying, then, is to ask God to bring our human wills in line with his divine will. That may look good on paper, but oh, what a mouthful.

If I’m going to pray such a prayer and mean it, God’s answer is probably going to involve some serious emotional pain. But the only other choice is to be standing outside of his will for Mary. Might that then miss what he’s doing in her life and mine, too?

Sara Young, author of the book Jesus Calling writes short prayers plucked from Scripture’s promises using words Jesus might use with us. This morning my two friends and I read this:

“Entrust your loved ones to Me; release them into My protective care. They are much safer with Me than in your clinging hands. When you release them to Me, you are free to cling to My hand.” (from Genesis 22)

Our disconnect with that truth, however, is that God’s protective care may look nothing like our protective prayer. Though I haven’t been clinging to Mary physically, I’m definitely clinging emotionally, wanting to hold her close… just like always.

I think God is gently teaching me that he is the only one both of us ought to be clinging to. So, as painful as it is to pray it, may his will be done.

O God, “Your unfailing love is better than life itself. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.” (Psalm 63:3,8)

Praising and Praying with Mary

1. I’m thankful for another day of meaningful pursuits with church commitments and family fun.
2. Thank you for continuing to pray for good sleep at night.