Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart.
We catch a little glimpse of the Lord’s Prayer, when we mention “will.” Matthew 6:10B reads “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” but conforming our will is different.
When we pray “Thy will be done,” we pray that God’s will come into existence.
But when we pray “conform our will to yours,” we ask God that we “receive the same form as” His. (G4833 Thayer).
It can be easy to say, “Fine God, you can have your way.” It’s often harder to say, “Lord, make your will my will.”
In Abandonment to Divine Providence, Jean-Pierre de Caussade wrote:
To conform ourselves to the will of God (even in the small things!) should be our priority
1) because he is Sovereign and it is just that his will should be accomplished (OK he makes a good point there)
2) we know by faith that his will in all things is good, generous, just and adorable (worthy of worship) and our desires are blind (we don’t know what we should want or what to avoid) and corrupt (we tend to like things that will do us harm).
This week, read Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28-29. Since God’s will is for us and for our good, what areas do we need to work at to conform our will to His?