My name is Wes, and I am a control freak.
Man, felt good to get that off of my chest.
But that’s the reality that so many of us live in, right? We want to be in control of every aspect of our lives. My career. School. Marriage and relationships. Friendships. I have met very few people who are comfortable taking a backseat in their lives and giving control to others.
The sad thing, though, is that control is an illusion. If you joined us last fall for the Plan B series, you probably remember the message where we talked about control being an illusion. None of us are really in control of anything – one series of random, chaotic events can land us in a totally different place in our lives. All in a matter of seconds.
Control is an illusion.
We’ve been talking about prayer for the past few weeks on the Cultivate blog, and we have arrived today at the point in the Lord’s Prayer (Jesus’ model prayer for how we should pray) where he says this:
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10
Jesus tells his followers that after they have spent some time praying and reflecting on the greatness of God, they need to spend some time surrendering their lives to this great God. Jesus tells his followers to pray asking for God’s kingdom (or God’s will) to come on earth (in other words, our lives) just like it already does in heaven.
Can I be honest with you and say that this is my least favorite part of prayer? I want my will to come. I want my will to be done. But I think that praying this prayer is the whole reason God wants us to pray in the first place. It’s all about our alignment with Him. It’s a reminder to us to radically re-orient our lives around the life God calls us to live, in light of the greatness of His glory.
Now, there are certainly seasons in my life where this prayer is prayed and God is bringing to mind a big-time change. A little over a year ago I went through a break-up and after some of the dust from that had settled, I prayed this prayer and I felt God saying, “You need to take a year off of dating. A full year.” I didn’t like that change. I prayed about it for a few months hoping that God might change His mind. But He didn’t. And sure enough, I ended up taking a year off. And now, a little over a year later, I feel much better equipped relationally to have a mature, Christ-honoring relationship should the opportunity come in my future when I meet someone I’m interested in dating.
But honestly, most of the time when I pray this prayer, I simply say it and listen. I listen for God’s voice. And generally, what I hear back are some reminders of places in my life where I’m out of alignment with Him. My thoughts. My attitudes. My actions. Sometimes I see the faces or 
hear the names of people that I need to say the words “I’m sorry” to when I see them next time. This prayer of surrender is so closely linked with me listening to God. And as I do, I’m bound to hear some stuff I don’t like. But when I have the courage and the faith to follow through, I’m never sorry.
So, it’s my hope that this week, in addition to taking some time to pray about God’s greatness that you might also tack on to that prayer the prayer of surrender. Take some time this week to ask for God’s kingdom to come powerfully in your life, and for Him to show you how You need to play a part in that. I’m confident it will make a huge difference in your life and help you be used by God to change the lives of others as well!
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