That may sound like a very unChristian thing, even a sinful thing, to suggest. If you want to get rich, to be free from all trouble, or to have whatever it is you your heart desires at the moment, then you will not find the answer here. Isn’t it impossible then to get what we want by praying?
The answer to the problem is simple. Pray, “Not my will but yours be done” and mean it. If you really want the will of God more than your own will, and more than the other things you ask for, you will always get what you want. God will do his will, and you will know that he has given you precisely what you wanted. You will even “count it all joy when you fall into various trials” (Jam. 1:2).
This is not to say that you should not ask for the things you want. Be sincere about what is in your heart and ask. Do it. Paul says, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” But then pray, “Your will be done,” and mean it. Mean that you really do want his will, not yours.
This is what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. He made his request known to God” “If it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” He added with all sincerity, “nevertheless not my will but yours be done.” And his Father gave him what he wanted, not the taking away of the cup but his Father’s will. It was terrible for our Lord, what his God did to him, but it was what he wanted more than his own will.
We need to understand the seriousness of the third petition of the Lord’s prayer. We cannot ask sincerely for the will of God to be done unless that is what we really want more than anything else.