God – In our prayers to You we ask for what we need or want from You. We ask You for the outcomes we want. We do so without considering the outcomes You want for us.

After polio and during my rehabilitation from paralysis, in daily prayer I asked You, my Lord, to cure me, to grant me the miracle I wanted.

As I petitioned You to be cured, I also asked You to strengthen my trust in You to accept the outcome You wanted for me.

In the end, because of Your love and plans for me, I was healed instead of cured.

I have come to believe that You thought that I could be a better servant to others and You while I was seated in a chair with four wheels and not standing on two strong legs. The plans the polio virus intended for me were uprooted by Your Divine Will for me.

Lord, as we all pray for the outcomes we want, please help us let go of the ultimate outcomes. Rather, let us trust that Your Will for us will be done on Earth and in Heaven.

Lord, let Thy will for each of us be done, now and forever. Amen

This prayer was inspired by today’s sermon by Stuart Bates, Rector, St. Francis Episcopal Church, Houston. Stuart, thanks to you for your inspiration and that of all ministers of all denominations to focus our hearts on what great plans the Father has for all His children.

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.