How To Pray God’s Will For Your Life (Even When You Might Not Like the Answer)

Learn how to pray for God’s will when you do not yet know what it is, through scripture, honest prayer, wisdom, counsel, and surrender.

There is a kind of praying that happens when you do not yet know what God’s will is, but you have a feeling it might not be the answer you are hoping for. It is not neat or polished. It is the same prayer prayed over and over, sometimes through tears, sometimes with a little bit of dread mixed in.

I am in a season like that right now. Something is unfolding in my family, and I do not know all the details yet, but I have a feeling it could mean something hard for us. I keep praying for wisdom and God’s direction, and, if I am being completely honest, I keep hoping that the direction turns out to be easier than I think it will be. That is not a lack of faith. It is just what it feels like to be human and to love God at the same time.

If you are in a season like this too, waiting on an answer while quietly hoping it is not the one you are bracing for, I want to share what has carried me through it. These practices will not make the waiting comfortable. But they will keep you close to God while you wait for Him to make His will clear.

Stay Connected To God Through Scripture

When everything else in life is shifting, scripture is what stays the same. Reading and studying God’s word is not just something we do in the easy seasons. It is how we stay steady when our feelings are pulling us in a different direction than the truth.

I know that when I am hurting, it is so easy to let my emotions do the talking. It’s important to concentrate and understand what scripture actually says. Staying in scripture, even just a few verses a day, keeps bringing me back to who God really is instead listening to my worries or fears. His truth never changes, and that is exactly why we need it most when everything around us is changing.

🌿 TIP BOX: When life feels unsteady, pick one book of the Bible to read slowly. Let that familiarity with God’s word be the steady ground under your feet.

Pray Continually, Even When It Is Hard

Praying continually does not mean praying pretty. Some of the most honest prayers I have prayed lately have been raw and repeated, far from eloquent. God is not asking for polished words. He is asking for us, just as we are.

Pray Scripture About Who God Is

One practice that has held me steady is praying scripture out loud, especially the Psalms. When I do not have words of my own, I borrow David’s. I pray his words about God’s faithfulness, His nearness, His goodness, and His sovereignty, and I let those truths become my own prayer. Praying who God is, instead of only praying what I want, has a way of settling my heart even before my circumstances change.

The Brick Wall Prayer

One prayer I return to again and again is what I call the brick wall prayer. I simply ask God to throw up a brick wall, or close a door, if I am moving toward something that is not His will for my life. I ask Him to stop me in a way I cannot miss or explain away.

I have prayed this prayer so many times over the years, and I have watched God answer it. Doors have closed that I could not open, and did not want to once closed. Paths have shut down clearly and completely. Every time, I look back and see His protection, provision, and abounding grace every time.

Praying this way takes the pressure off of us to figure everything out on our own. We are simply asking God to make His will unmistakable, and trusting that He will.

Ask God For Wisdom

James 1:5 says…

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

That is such good news in a hard season. We are not expected to already know how to navigate it. We are invited to ask.

Asking for wisdom is different than asking for a different outcome. It is asking God to help us see clearly, respond well, and trust Him even when we cannot see the whole picture. That kind of wisdom does not always change our circumstances, but it always changes how we walk through them.

Seek Wise Counsel

We were never meant to carry hard seasons alone. Proverbs reminds us again and again that wisdom is found in the counsel of others. Prov. 15 says…

Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.

Asking trusted people to speak into our situation, and asking them to pray with us and for us, is one of the ways God provides for us. There is something about saying our fears out loud to a godly friend, and then hearing them pray those fears back to the Lord on our behalf, that steadies us in a way we cannot manufacture on our own.

Listen And Surrender

This is the hardest step, and also the most important one. Listening means paying attention, to scripture, to circumstances, and to the counsel of wise people, and asking God to help us see His will through all three. Surrender means laying down our own preferences once we sense His direction, even when it costs us something.

Surrender itself is a single moment, the moment we say yes to God’s will over our own. But affirming that surrender is not. We often have to keep choosing it, moment by moment, asking God to help us because our feelings do not always catch up right away. Asking Him to align our thoughts and emotions with His truth is itself an act of faith. We are trusting Him to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Praying God’s will when we do not yet know what it is will never feel simple, and I do not think it is supposed to. But every one of these practices, staying in scripture, praying honestly, asking for wisdom, seeking counsel, and surrendering, keeps drawing us closer to the God who already knows how our story unfolds. He is not asking us to feel nothing. He is asking us to trust Him with everything.

Scripture To Ponder

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Pro 3:5-6

Happy Sunday, friends…