Prayer Week 17: The Practice of Surrender

We like to be in control. We want to be independent and make things happen the way we think they should. While this often gives us a feeling of purpose and fulfillment, it also usually brings a fair amount of stress and anxiety with it. The idea of surrendering control over to another entity is difficult and foreign, but necessary.

 

Psalm 68:19 New American Standard Bible 1995

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
The God who is our salvation. 

Psalm 55:22 New American Standard Bible 1995

Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Matthew 11:29-30 New American Standard Bible 1995

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

1 Peter 5:6-7 New American Standard Bible 1995

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

 

As believers, part of our relationship with God involves submitting to Him. That includes surrendering our burdens and anxiety to Him. It is not just a duty; it is part of a loving relationship between Father and child. He wants us to trust Him, and to entrust our lives to Him, daily. He wants to bear the burdens for us. We only need to allow Him.

 

This week as you pray, make a list with 4 headings: anxieties, responsibilities, needs and desires. Write down everything that comes to mind under each heading and as you do give each one up to God and into His hands. Surrender these things to His sovereign plan and control. Do this every day this week, many items will likely be repeated. That is ok, it is putting into practice daily giving Him your burdens. See how it changes your attitude, heart and perspective.

 Prayer points taken from Praying Through Adversity by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.

Prayer Week 9: Thy Will Be Done

What do our prayers mostly consist of? Is it mainly requests, asking God for what we want, or telling Him what is going on and how we feel? None of these are bad, we should be this confident and open with our Maker. However, this is not all there is to prayer, and at times I believe that even in these our focus can be wrong.

 

Luke 22:41-42 New American Standard Bible 1995

And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 New American Standard Bible 1995

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 New American Standard Bible 1995

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

Our main focus in prayer should not be that God does what we want, but that God’s will is done. We do not always know what is best for us, but God always does. Of course we can and should talk to God about how we feel and what we want, but it should always be with an attitude of submission and trust, relinquishing control to the One who is all-powerful and sovereign. Even Jesus, the Son of God, prayed for what He wanted, but added that ultimately He wanted God’s will, not His, to be done. He also taught His disciples to pray with this attitude.

 

Matthew 6:9-13 New American Standard Bible 1995 (emphasis added)

“Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

 

This week as you pray, let this be your only focus. In every situation, no matter what it is, let these be the only words you pray about it. Surrender control to God. Surrender every situation over to His power and holy will.

 

Romans 12:2 New International Version

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 

God’s will is completely good and perfect. He is trustworthy. Entrust your life and situations to Him. Allow them to be used for your good and His glory, as platforms to show His mighty power.

Prayer points taken from Praying Through Adversity by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.

Fully Surrendered

Surrender is generally seen as a bad thing, giving up or quitting even more so. We are taught to stick with it, see it through, tough it out, or else. It is seen as weakness. Even the idea of surrendering to God is taboo. We need to be our own person, controlled by no one, dependent on no one. How do we reconcile that with being called to submit and even surrender to God?

Surrender to Suffering

Jeremiah 21:9 He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. (NASB)

It seems counter-intuitive that surrender would end better than standing your ground, especially for Americans. But that is just what God told the Israelites when they were besieged by the Babylonians.

I read a story⃰ about a woman who learned (after a near perfect life) that her third child died in utero. Unable to bear the pain of suffering, she and her husband turned to their own sources of consolation. He became a workaholic, she an alcoholic. Those choices resulted in the destruction of everything they knew: family, marriage, work, relationships. Everything fell apart.

I think both of these stories have the same reasoning behind them.