How To Pray With A Submissive Heart

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.” (Matthew 6:9-10)

Let me ask you a question. When you pray and ask God for something, how do you go about asking Him? Do you beg Him over and over to give you exactly what you want? Do you try to negotiate with God saying, “If You do this for me, then I’ll do this for you”? Or do you pray with a submissive heart, asking that the Lord work out His will in your life?  

I know that praying with a submissive heart rather than a demanding heart is not necessarily the easiest thing to do, but it’s something we can all improve on. I truly believe Jesus is not nearly as concerned with the contents of the prayer as He is with the heart of the pray-er, because while prayer does change things, more often, prayer changes us. In fact, one of the greatest things prayer does is that it prepares us to participate in the plan and the will of God. 

Jesus modeled so well how to pray in a submissive way in the Lord’s prayer, saying, “Your kingdom come, your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). He shows us that prayer serves to orient the believer into the will of God rather than the will of the believer. 

Now, does praying submissively mean you can never ask God for anything? Of course not. God hears and answers your prayers. He will respond to your requests and your questions. And He won’t ignore you. Scripture makes it very clear that if we “call upon the Lord while he is near,” and “seek the Lord while he may be found,” He will draw near to us and He will answer us. But that requires us having a heart submitted to God, rather than having a heart bent on fulfilling our own agenda.

John Bunyan once said, “In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.” When we submit our hearts God, we will be content to accept the will of God. Once again, Jesus modeled this for us so well when He experienced that tension between human desires and God’s will. In the garden of Gethsemane, just minutes before His arrest, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” 

You know you’re growing in your walk with God when you can submit your will to His. So, friend, I pray that you choose to follow Jesus’ lead as you move forward in your own prayer life. Approach your Heavenly Father with a submissive heart, and say, “Not as I will, but as You will.”