"Thy Will be Done"

I joined a new small group at our church and I think it is going to be a great fit for me.   It's a newly formed group, so prior to the holiday season, we are just studying short bible passages that focus on prayer. 

The facilitator said something on Friday that I found really helpful.  The passage we studied was Mark 14:32-42.  Jesus had taken three disciples out to keep watch while he prayed.  Jesus knew he was about to be arrested/crucified and was anxious about it.  He asked God to take away this trial he was about to face, but followed by saying "Your will be done."

The importance of this phrase was highlighted by our bible study leader.  He said, in all his years as a Christian, he hears this phrase used during prayer time only rarely.  People instead pray for healing, lack of suffering, peace, etc. all well intended but maybe should be more frequently praying, "your will be done."

This is a tricky prayer though - requires you to trust that God's will for your life is best, even if things don't go the way you might want it to.

I've been at a loss as to how to prayer for my marriage during the past few months.  During the year of "fighting" for my marriage - it was front and center in my prayers.   Prayers the my marriage would be healed, Victor would find peace, and I would find ways to be the best wife possible.  I was terrified that my marriage would fail and I would be left alone to raise four kids.

Well, I am now 5 months into this single parent gig and it's not so bad.  I've truly found a new joy and peace about my life that I never expected to find.  This has stumped my prayer life though.

Somehow even though I didn't want this, I am currently happier and there is more peace in our house, than there has been for a long time.  At the same time, I'm certain God did not want my marriage to end or Victor to behave in the way he is behaving.   Due to this,  I felt like I should be praying that Victor turn his life around and come back to us.  However, I just couldn't do this, because the thought of my marriage actually being a source of joy and peace seems impossible to me and I know I don't want to go back to how things were before. 

So I was stumped.  I can't pray that Victor continues making bad choices, yet I don't really want him moving back in anytime soon. What was I to do?   I wasn't sure, so I just stopped praying about it.

After Friday night though, I've finally figure out how to pray for my marriage again. 

It's simple really - "Lord, may your will be done and please give me the strength and grace to accept your will even if it's not what I think might be best." 

How might the phrase, "Thy will be done help your prayer life?"