21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Day 1

SURRENDER

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” – Matthew 26:39 –

It’s easy to say that we are surrendered to God, but how we live our lives tells the true story. If the storyline is wrought in a pursuit of temporal things, then the reality is we are not surrendered. If our story is full of daring adventure seeking nothing except the glory of God, then, and only then, can we say we are truly surrendered.

Jesus knew this well. He was sent for one purpose, to be a sacrifice. His perfect life would become the atonement for the sin of all mankind. Knowing this, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus knew His fate, and yet regardless, He asked for the Father’s will to be done.

Are you fully surrendered to God’s will for your life? Do the decisions you make on a daily basis suggest that? Take some time and reflect on whether you are truly living in a way that would declare to God “not as I will, but as you will.” We can’t say this apart from the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit.

Ask God to deepen your commitment to His will. Pray that He will put a passion in your heart for His glory alone. Make a declaration to Him today that you are fully surrendering to Him and you want nothing more than what He wants for you, then proclaim the precious words of Isaiah, “Here am I, send me.”

“I have a pen in my pocket, and that pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing, and that pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand if I am to write properly with it. If another holds it partly, I cannot write properly… Can God work His work, every day and every hour, unless you are entirely given up to Him? God cannot.” - -Andrew Murray-