it’s not my will, it’s His

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7 NAS

I use to think (years and years ago) this verse meant I could ask God for anything I wanted, and He would give it to me. Sort of like I could wish for anything at all, and He would immediately grant my wish(es). And, when I never got what I asked for, I didn’t understand. I was disappointed. I was frustrated. I was discouraged. I hate to admit this, but sometimes I was angry. I just didn’t understand!

But, wait! Eventually I came upon 1 John 5:14 (and numerous other verses). I paid attention! It clearly shows I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Why in the world did I expect the trivial things? Things that didn’t matter? Insignificant? Selfish? Why did I ask for them in the first place? What was I thinking? It’s not about me. It’s all about God.

What is prayer all about? To praise God. To be sincere and earnest. To pray in faith. To ask for forgiveness. To pray for His will. Pray for guidance. To pray for thankfulness. Pray for others. Etc.

What else? I depend on God. I need God. God is my Savior and Lord. He supplies my needs. (That is needs, not wants.) Yes, I know...without God, I am nothing, nothing, nothing.

I pray for God’s will in my life and I know He hears my prayers. God’s will, not mine. I believe and I trust and I serve and I have faith in God. He never promised the narrow road would be easy. The paragraph below (I think I found it in a commentary) speaks much better than I can:

We must come away with the realization that prayer is not dictating to God, but a humble and heartfelt expression of our attitude of dependency and need. Because of this, the one who truly prays is submissive to God's will, content with Him supplying his need according to the dictates of His sovereign pleasure. The result of this, combined with the infusion of God's attitudes and thoughts as we draw near to Him, will work to create us in His image.
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14 NAS