A Prayer for God to Take Control in a Situation
Snow falls like a million answers to all the wishes cast on shooting stars. I made a wish while the moon shined white last night. I whispered it in the quiet part of my heart where child-like hopes mingled with prayers. On the surface, it seemed to be a wish for everything to turn out okay. On a deeper level, it was a prayer for God to take control in a situation that was weighing on my heart.
I’ll share this story in today’s post. I also encourage you to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you surrender control to God.
A Prayer for God to Take Control in a Situation
My prayer for God to take control was a prayer for my child.
Long story short, I feel like I’ve been failing this child.
Most parents have this moment. The school sends home a paper, or you receive a troubling phone call about your child. Immediately, you look back and decide you should have tried harder, made more sticker charts, yelled less, made more rules about screens, and on and on it goes.
You know you shouldn’t be putting your worth in your child’s performance, but your child’s struggle makes you feel like you’ve been punched in the ribs.
Giving God Control
You’ve heard all the truisms about moments like this:
My identity is not found in my child’s performance.
Being first or best doesn’t matter.
I’m not in control of the outcomes in my child’s life.
This isn’t about me.
I know all these things in my head.
It’s my heart.
My heart doesn’t want to hear it.
My heart says, “I’m failing in the one place that matters most. I should really give up on my career so I can be a better mom. How selfish of me to invest in anything other than my kids. I shouldn’t be surprised this is happening.”
A Prayer for God to Take Control in a Situation
What about you, friend?
Do you feel like you’re failing in places that matter deeply to you?
Do you take it upon yourself when the project falls apart, the friend turns away from God, or the job feels defeating?
Perhaps it’s time to ask yourself if you’ve been trying to control something that was never yours to fix. Perhaps it’s time to pray this prayer:
“Lord, please show me if I have been trying to control something that is not mine to fix. Help me process my emotions with you and then learn to be a good steward in this situation, all while trusting you with the outcome.”
Join me as I processed my emotions regarding my child, and we’ll talk about how to shift from clinging to control to trusting God as we apply this prayer in a practical way.
Creating Space to Feel Your Feelings
After praying this prayer, the tiny white flakes dance in silver circles, and I open my clenched fists. I breathe deeply and feel the weight of disappointment. I sit with the discomfort and don’t judge myself for it.
Instead, I invite God to help me become more aware of his presence as we sit together with my disappointment.
“Lead me to what is true,” I pray.
It falls gently with the swirling song of the snowflakes:
God is working in my child’s heart to lead this little one to a place of greater maturity.
God is working in my heart, too. He is teaching me to release my children to him. He’s teaching me to release my expectations for how my children will make an impact on the world. He also invites me to release my expectations for where my child’s giftings will lie.
Giving Control to God While Stewarding the Gifts
My children are gifts from God. All too often, I take God’s gifts and hold onto them with clenched fists as I aim to remain in control. I want every outcome to fall in pleasant places, and I don’t want to endure hard circumstances.
Meanwhile, God reminds me: These gifts are mine to steward, but they are not mine to control.
Every aspect of my calling is a gift from God: my kids, my writing career, our home, my marriage, my friendships, and the many ministries where God calls me to serve.
As much as I’d like to keep a controlling grip on these different aspects of my calling, God isn’t asking me to control outcomes. Instead, he invites me to be a good steward of the work he places in front of me. He asks me to work with excellence, pour my life into these parts of my calling, and then leave the outcomes in his hands.
As much as I’d like to keep a controlling grip on these different aspects of my calling, God isn’t asking me to control outcomes. Instead, he invites me to steward the gifts. #Stewardship #TrustGod Share on XThe Difference Between Stewardship and Control
Control tells me to do everything in my power to produce pleasing results.
Stewardship invites me to do my best and let God handle the outcomes.
This looks like doing my best to raise our children and leaving the results to God, knowing that he is using their failures and struggles to help them grow.
Stewardship looks like keeping the house relatively clean but not yelling at the people who live in it when they make messes. My role is to steward the house, not keep it perfect.
Stewardship looks like doing my best in my writing career and not striving to chase goals God never asked me to set.
It looks like being the best wife, friend, and mother I can be, and forgiving myself for the places I fall short.
Stewardship looks like cheering for my kids. It looks like building them up and not letting my inner critic tell me I’m a failure when my kids fail.
What about you?
Are you wrestling with a failure in your life today?
What would it look like for you to release your desire for control and simply steward the assignment in front of you?
Your Invitation to Pray a Prayer for God to Take Control in a Situation:
Spend a few minutes resting in the Lord’s presence. When your mind has settled, ask him to show you an area of your life where you’re grasping for control. You might be trying to control a person, an outcome in a situation that’s important to you, or some other specific part of your calling.
Then, pray this prayer:
“Lord, please show me if I have been trying to control something that is not mine to fix. Help me process my emotions with you and then learn to be a good steward in this situation, all while trusting you with the outcome.”
What would it look like for you to stop trying to force outcomes and adopt a stewardship mentality? Write down what this shift would look like. God is working. He is opening those clenched fists and inviting you into a better way of being.
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 7, 12, and 16, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. I also recently released a teen devotional called Anchored, designed to help teens learn key biblical narratives and apply them to their lives. You can find these books here or read more below. 
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Devotions for Boys by Boys
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
These Books Are Free on Kindle Unlimited: God Wants to Heal, Restore, and Refresh You
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. He also wants to help you establish a rhythm of meeting with him daily as you trust him with the hard parts of your life. Click here to explore two books that will guide you: Be Still and Trust and Lean Into Grace. They are free on the Kindle Unlimited program and for sale in print.
Download Your Free Devotional Here
Set Free: Let God Do What You Cannot explores ten realms in which most of us need God to work in our lives and bring deliverance. We’ll talk about finding freedom from fear, worry, insecurity, bad habits, emotional pain, and more. This short online devotional will bless you as you let God accomplish what you’ve been unable to achieve through willpower. Get your download for free with promo code GRACE or for a donation of 3.99 here. Thank you. This small gift helps keep this ministry running.
I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here!
