"We are not here to dictate to God!"

Ohhh, it's a tough subject this week..."praying that God would bring the rain in order that we might praise Him more fully." I haven't been good with this prayer during my lifetime. I would 'hedge' my prayer in ways that God would hear my desire along with my 'conditions' that would go with my desires. Like when I was in early grade school I would take my New Testament to the dentist office and sit and read it while my palms would sweat waiting for the dentist. I hated the dentist (that was back in the dark ages when kids got cavities and they had to be filled without pain killers). I would read a portion of scripture and pray that God would grant me a 'clean checkup' with out any cavities...I would promise Him that I would read my New Testament every day in the coming year if He would just grant me that one request. I certainly wasn't praying for 'rain'.
Oswald Chambers has reminded me in his writings, that the "only aim of life is that the Son of God may be manifested and all dictation to God vanishes. Our Lord never dictated to His Father, and we are not here to dictate to God; we are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants." This is a lesson I am still learning...to bring my requests and concerns to God without 'dictating to Him' what I want the outcome to be. Why do some lessons take a lifetime to learn?