Throughout college and grad school, many people I encountered prayed for my healing from my physical disability.  In one particular occasion, a woman asked me point-blank if she could do this.  

Having heard this question so many times, I looked her in the eye and said, “Fine.  You can pray for my healing, but God has already told me He is not going to do this.  He can use me more with my disability than without.”

This woman was so focused on her own wants and not my needs.  She concentrated too greatly on my physical “imperfections” that she could not see the perfection of God’s ministry through my current condition.  The reason why I know this?  I prayed this exact way for a short time in my life.  Through my communicating my heart’s desire with my heavenly Father, I was able to place it at His feet, trusting He understood my longings.  By doing this, I eventually, over time, became more at peace by slowly aligning my heart’s desire with His, observing Him working through me not just mentally and emotionally but also physically and spiritually.

No matter what you have faced, are facing, and will face in life, as you express your desires to the Lord, may You feel His comforting peace as He continues to journey alongside you every step of the way.

Gracious God, in everything that we pray, help our desires to be aligned with Yours, so we may see Your glory be revealed in, around, and through us at the end.  In Your name I pray, Amen.