Long ago I read an essay by CS Lewis about prayer in which he defined two styles of prayer - "A Pattern" and "B Pattern" prayers. He showed that both are found in the Bible, frequently, but that they seem to be diametrically opposed to each other and admitted that he had no solution to the problem presented by these divergent prayer styles.
"A Pattern" prayers call for the will of God to be done, for his glory to be revealed and his sovereign plan to be carried out on the earth. "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," Jesus prayed in Matthew 6. When we pray "A Pattern" prayers, we seek the will of God and submit ourselves to that will. The goal of these prayers is to align ourselves with the divine will.
In "B Pattern" prayers, we make bold requests, in which we petition God for that which we need or want. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus sanctioned this type of prayer when he said to his disciples, "Ask and it will be given to you." We all to God for the desires of our hearts!
Which kind of prayer is right? Ought we pray to ask God to give us our desires or ought we pray to seek to align our hearts with the will of God. The answer to that would seem, from the example of Jesus in Luke 22:42, to be YES. As Lewis said, this is a quandary with no easy solution. We don't choose one or the other, but like Jesus, we engage in both.
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”In one short prayer, Jesus prayed both styles of prayer. He made a bold request, perhaps the boldest ever made. Think about it. In eternity past, the Godhead devised this glorious plan of redemption then the night before the plan went into effect, Jesus says, "Let's find another way. I don't want to go through with it." What is bolder than that. There is nothing wrong with asking big things from God. Bold things. That which only God can do, which requires the miraculous release of God's power. Do it. Pray big. Pray bold. Pray audacious and aggressive prayers.
But Jesus did not demand his own way. He asked God for his request, then he returned to A Pattern prayer. "Your will be done." Do you really want your will to be done instead of God's? Do you really want that thing you ask for if God has something different for you? Don't you trust God enough to believe that his way, even if it requires suffering, sacrifice, and hardship (as it certainly did for Jesus) may lead to a greater blessing in the end that what you THINK you want or you THINK you need.
So pray big prayers. I stood beside a woman who was about to die knowing she would probably die. I asked God to heal her and raise her up. He didn't. But that didn't stop me from asking. Ask God to save sinners and bring revival and turn the darkness to light and do what only he can do!
But don't be a petulant child demanding that God yield to you. Don't forget which one of your is God! It is his will that ought to be done, not yours. His will is best, his ways are right and our default position ought to always be to yield to his will. Ask God audacious requests then fall into his arms of grace and trust him to do what is right.
Father, I thank you for the privilege of praying and asking you for big things. But I also pray that your will, not mine, will always be done. There is comfort in knowing that you are in charge, not me.
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