The Prayer that Never Fails

     As Father Tim of Jan Karon's Mitford Series was fond of saying, the prayer that never fails is  Jesus' prayer in the garden the night before he was crucified, "thy will be done".  These words may glibly fall from our lips because of their familiarity but let's ponder them.  Though Jesus did express His personal desire, He wanted His Father's will more than His own.  Do I want God's will more than I want my own?  Do I remember to ask Him what His will is?  When I do submit to God's will, with what kind of attitude do I do it?  I recently read, (unfortuantely, I cannot remember where), that it is only when we come to the place where we can eqully accept any outcome from our request that we can honestly say "thy will be done".  How do we get there?  We can ask God to get us there by considering the good and benficial results He could bring about whether the answer to our request is no, yes, or wait.
     This morning the Lord took me to a passage that perfectly exemplifies this attitude.  In Jeremiah 42:1-6, the people asked Jeremiah to petition God regarding His will in a situation.  (Remember, they didn't have access to God like we do today through Christ.)  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the Lord your God will send you to us.  ⁶ Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.” 
Do I tell God I will obey, regardless of what He wants me to do?  Do I make that committment before I know His answer?  Is there something right now I am avoiding because I think it will be unpleasant or painful?  God gives us the grace (desire and power) to obey, but we have to make the choice.  Let's appropriate His grace - today!