(Editor’s Note: This is the last in a four-part part series on how to pray using the elements found in the P.R.A.Y. acronym: P - Praise, R - Repent, A - Ask, Y - Yield. Find the other posts at www.councilroadwomen.org!)
Yielding is laying down the idol of control and choosing to trust God. It’s trusting God over my own ideas about what would be best for me. Yielding is making time to listen.
I recently asked Instagram followers in a poll (it was very scientific!) what they thought of the term “yielding” in regard to their prayer life. The most common answers were “surrender” and “listening”. These were lovely responses, causing me to wish my first instinctive answer was equally as graceful.
In my experience, yielding in prayer most often feels like a wrestling match with God. I often feel as if I were Jacob wrestling with God and asking for His blessing (Genesis 32). But the wrestling is actually my attempt to convince God to allow me to keep control of circumstances in my life. Yielding to God’s will is difficult because it requires us to open our hands, let go of our control and take hold of an uncertain future in faith.
Control (or more accurately, the semblance of control) is comfortable. The call to yield can mean a call to sacrifice comfort for the sake of something better: purpose through obedience to God.
There are seasons when yielding feels easier than others -- sometimes it is more like listening to God, while other times it does feel like a wrestling match. Whatever describes our experience, yielding is a crucial aspect of our prayer life. And often, this last portion of the P-R-A-Y acronym will point us back to the first: Praise.
Practically, this is how that often plays out in my prayers: “God I pray for XYZ, but I pray not my will but Your will be done (yield), because I know You are good and I praise You for Your faithfulness (praise).”
In order to faithfully yield -- or to say it differently, to submit to God’s plans -- I need a level of trust in God’s character. As I praise God for His goodness, I bend my heart towards a willingness to trust Him with my plans. I can then more willingly pray that not my will, but His be done.
I’ve wrestled with the idea of yielding in my current season because at times I’ve felt like my own plans would have been better -- or at least less painful. I recently had to walk the path of saying goodbye forever to the son we were trying to adopt. We brought this precious baby boy home from the hospital after his birth mother chose us to be the parents. Yet, after a year of raising him as our own, a judge determined our adoption would be dissolved with Ezra returning to a bio family member.
The year of uncertainty about where our son would ultimately end up was agonizing at times as I prayed “God, do whatever is best for Ezra. I desperately want him in my life, but not my will but Yours be done for Ezra’s good and for Your glory.” I prayed this over and over, or asked the Holy Spirit to give words to my prayers when it was hard for my heart to truly ask for what was best for Ezra, even if it meant I did not get to remain his mother.
When yielding your control, plans and ideas to God in prayer, whether it feels like a wrestling match or a peaceful listening session, remind your heart that the Creator of the universe sees you, knows you, wants good for you, and is on His throne in control of all things. Prioritize yielding, because in doing so, we find new opportunities to rest in God’s peace and purpose for our lives. Even in the pain of yielding, God is present, and what better gift could we ultimately have than His presence?
Meet the authors!
Lauren McAfee is a PhD student in ethics and public policy from Southern Seminary. Lauren is author of Not What You Think, Only One Life, and Legacy Study. She also works at the Hobby Lobby corporate office as a project coordinator. She grew up in Oklahoma City and loves her church community at CRBC. Lauren and her high school sweetheart, Michael McAfee, have been married for over ten years and have one daughter, Zion. Connect with Lauren at www.laurenamcafee.com or on Instagram @laurenamcafee.
