LIFE CHANGING PRAYER compiled by Debra Maffett

point of abject acceptance. I’m tired of asking, was the burden of my
prayer. I’m beaten. God, you decide what you want for me. Tears flowed.
I had no faith as I understood faith, expected nothing. The gift of my
sick self was made with no trace of graciousness.
And the result? It was as if I had touched a button that opened windows
in heaven; as if some dynamo of heavenly power began flowing. Within
a few hours I had experienced the presence of the Living Christ in a way
that wiped away doubt and revolutionized my life. From that moment
my recovery began.
Through this incident, God was trying to teach me something
important about prayer. Gradually, I saw that a demanding spirit, with
self-will as its rudder, blocks prayer. I understood that the reason for
this is that God absolutely refuses to violate our free will; that,
therefore, unless self-will is voluntarily given up, even God cannot
move to answer prayer.
In time, I gained more understanding about the Prayer of
Relinquishment through the experiences of others in contemporary life
and through books.
Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is a pattern for us, I learned.
Christ could have avoided the cross. He did not have to go to Jerusalem
that last time. He could have compromised with the priests, bargained
with Caiaphas. He could have capitalized on his following and appeased
Judas by setting up the beginning of an earthly kingdom. Pilate wanted
to release him, all but begged him to say the right words so that he
might. In the Garden, Christ had plenty of time to flee, but he used his
free will to leave the decision up to his Father.
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