Too often in prayer, we struggle with God. We beg. We pout. We demand. We expect God to perform like a magician or shower us with blessings like Santa Claus. We major in instant solutions and manipulative prayers. In time, however, we begin to enter into a grace-filled releasing of our will and a flowing into the will of the Father. We learn to pray the words of Jesus in Gethsemane, "Not my will but yours be done." (Luke 22.39-46) In that prayer, we have the very Son of God praying through his tears and not receiving what He asks. In that prayer, we have the complete laying down of human will. Your will not mine, O God. In that prayer we have the perfect flowing into the will of the Father. Every major figure in the Bible struggled. Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, Paul. Even Jesus. Part of prayer is letting go. A letting go with hope. Hope in God. Often we have to let go of our tiny vision in order to release what God has in store for us. And often, that letting go means the death of my own will. Letting go of your will only happens over time, moment by moment as you face the ordinary decisions of home, family, and work. It only happens in time through prayer. 1) Learn to pray for self-emptying 2) Learn to pray for surrender with Jesus in the Garden 3) Learn the prayer of abandonment - "Father, I abandon myself into your hands." 4) Learn the prayer of release. Lift your children, your spouse, your friends, your future, your hopes, and your dreams into His loving arms. 5) learn the prayer of resurrection. "Lord, bring back to life what you want in me."