“My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42)
We all face difficult time in our lives, and when we come to them, we should bring our situation to our Heavenly Father in prayer, just like Jesus did here. And as He did here, you can ask that a difficult thing be removed from you — or whatever request you desire. But when you do, it is not wrong to add “If it is Your will” or “Your will be done” to your prayer.
NOTICE: you do not have to “name and claim” your request as an absolute certainty for your prayer to be a good one. Some “Bible teachers” have actually gone so far as to say that praying “if it be Your will” is the sign of a lack of faith, and a guarantee that your prayer will not be heard. But here we find Jesus praying what was very much an “if it be Your will” prayer. Surely no one is going to criticize HIS prayer for “lacking faith”?!
Jesus concluded His own prayer with “Your will be done.” And He teaches us in the Model Prayer of Matthew 6 that we are to pray this same kind of prayer every day: “Thy will be done.” (Matthew 6:10b). So make whatever request your heart desires of God, but in the end, submit to His will. He knows what is best; He knows what His ultimate plans are for you, for others, and for this whole world. God’s perspective is so much greater than ours; He sees the panorama of the ultimate landscape of effects of an action, whereas our vision is so limited. It only makes sense for us to pray like Jesus did: “Your will be done.” Far from being a “bad” prayer; it is the very best kind of prayer we can pray.
