So if we pray, "Thy wil be done," how can we deal with the fear of giving up control?

Part of the answer is to pause and let your soul be impressed by the truth that God is sovereign. That is, He is wise, powerful, and loving.  God loves you in dimensions beyond your imagination (Ephesians 3:14-19)! God is so powerful that He is "able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we ask or imagine". And God's "understanding has no limit" (Psalm 147:5).

Surrender to His sovereignty and pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Praying "Thy will be done" is like taking your hands off the steering will of your life and letting God drive. Most of us are control freaks and we like to keep God in a neat little corner called Sunday morning where He cannot do too much damage to our nice, comfortable lives. Prayer is an obvious threat to that control so why would anyone pray something like, "Thy will be done"?

Consider, though, that Jesus struggled with the same issue. He looked at the anguish of the cross and couldn't help but pray, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup (cross) pass from me." The physical torment and the spiritual anguish of encduring the penalty for our sins was enough for Jesus to ask if there was a Plan B. He could have failed right there and seized control of His life. But He "trusted himself to Him who judges justly" and gave up the wheel to his Father. Without the moment of trusting surrender to the Father's will ("yet not my will be your will be done") we would be toast.

The picture below is, according to the BBC, the likely Garden of Gethsemane. What drama unfolded here!

Next time -- how do we deal with the fear that this prayer creates in us?

Tim Keller wrote:"Here's the gospel: you're more sinful than you ever dared believe; you're more loved than you ever dared hope." (Thanks Treich for that one!)