I once read an article about a high school senior who wrote a prayer in her journal. She prayed that God would give her a life and a ministry that was uniquely hers. She wanted her life to glorify God and to point others to Him, but she wanted to be careful not to instruct the Lord on the details. She not only trusted Him with the end result; she trusted Him with how He would bring her to it.

A few months later, the girl died very unexpectedly, and this portion of her journal was read at her funeral. Her school was forever impacted. Her friends were forever changed. Many came to know the Lord as a result of this young girl’s death.

Through her death, the Lord had answered her prayer – her life glorified Him, and her legacy ministered to others in profound ways.

Though I forgot the girl’s name and where I read the original article, I never forgot the lesson that the Lord taught me through her story. God does indeed answer prayers, but sometimes when He answers Yes, He doesn’t do it the way we would have done it. That’s when I started praying this next 5-word prayer:

Not my way, but yours.

How many times have you read a story in the Bible and thought, “Well, that’s not how I would have done it!”?

• Establish a nation through a barren, geriatric couple? That’s not how I would have done it.
• Conquer a city by marching around it for seven days? That’s not how I would have done it.
• Reduce an army of thousands to just 300 men? That’s not how I would have done it.
• Allow the son of God to be born in a manger? That’s not how I would have done it.
• Launch a church with a handful of fishermen, tax collectors and sinners? That’s not how I would have done it.
• Give eternal life by dying on a cross? That’s not how I would have done it.

God has this strange habit of avoiding the easy way. Have you noticed that? Instead of taking you along the direct route from point A to point B, He leads you through detours, twists, turns, tangents, circles, hurdles, flip flops, obstacle courses, and quicksand before you finally arrive at your destination disoriented and confused, but thankful nonetheless.

It’s difficult to keep God’s ultimate promises in mind when you’re in the middle of the scary jungle. But when you learn to pray, “Not my way, but Yours,” you acknowledge that:

• You trust God with the journey as well as the destination.
• You will not question His directions or try to convince Him that there’s an easier way.
• You will keep your eyes on His ultimate promises, not on your current surroundings.
• You will not compare your path to anyone else’s.
• You will embrace the scenery, as scary as it may be, as an opportunity to draw even closer to God.

I remember the first time I took my boys on a walk around the block. When we left the house, they could sense that we were walking away from home and expected that there would come a point that we needed to stop and turn around in order to make it back home. But we kept walking forward instead. Suddenly, our house was right in front of us again and they were so confused as to how we got there when it felt like we were walking away the whole time. They didn’t understand that we were walking in a circle.

“Not my way, but yours.” Sometimes, it may feel like every step you take is leading you farther and farther away from where you believe the Lord is leading you.  But it might be that home is just around the corner.

Q: When has God drawn you closer to Him through your journey than your destination?

Read the entire 5-word prayers series

Introduction to 5 Word Prayers
1. Not my will, but yours
2. Not my timing, but yours
3. Not my day, but yours
4. Not my reason, but yours
5. Not my stuff, but yours
6. Not my way, but yours
7. Not my job, but yours
8. Not my glory, but yours