How do I surrender to God?
Matthew 26:42Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”
As was true in Jesus’ experience, life will confront us with reminders of the necessity not only to surrender to God in a general way but also to surrender to him in the face of the temptation to assert our wills.
Matthew 6:10“May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 12:50“Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”
John 5:30“I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.”
Ephesians 6:6Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.
James 4:15What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
1 John 2:17This world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
We should ask God to help us put his will above ours. When our will takes precedence over God’s will, we are proudly announcing that we know what is best for us and therefore know more than God.
John 3:16“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
1 John 1:9If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
We must believe that Jesus Christ is who he says he is—the Son of God who came to earth to show us how to receive eternal life. Then we must accept this message as true—that all people (including us) are infected with sin and need forgiveness of sin to be acceptable in God’s sight. This requires humility and surrender.
Psalm 40:8I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.
We must accept the Bible as the God’s Word to us. Then we will be better able to understand God’s will for us. This is a dual surrender of recognizing God as the Source of his Word and then obeying what it instructs.
Luke 6:46“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?”
John 14:15, 21“If you love me, obey my commandments. . . . Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
John 15:10, 14“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. . . . You are my friends if you do what I command.”
Philippians 2:13God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Colossians 2:6Now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.
Obedience to God requires that we surrender what we want to do and do what God wants us to do, for that is the way to a happy and fulfilled life. We will not be able to do this consistently without God’s help.
Romans 6:12Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
Romans 13:14Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.
1 Corinthians 10:13The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Resisting temptation requires surrender. Temptation is Satan’s strategy for leading us into his sinful, destructive way of living rather than God’s holy way of living. The Bible expresses God’s desire to lead us into a totally satisfying life and ultimately eternal life. We must choose one way or the other.
Psalm 143:10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.
We must learn all we can about living for God. We can begin by studying his Word, reading good books, and talking to mature, godly people. This will help us stay firm in our surrender to God.
1 John 1:9If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 5:14-15We are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.
We should pray. Prayer requires that we surrender our desires to God’s desires; that we move from asking for things to asking what we can do for others. Prayer is bringing our life into harmony with our Creator by surrendering to his will.
Matthew 22:37-40Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
We must love God with our whole being. This requires that we surrender everything we are—our hearts, our souls, and our minds. We must practice that surrender in our relationships by loving others unselfishly.
Romans 6:12-13Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
Romans 8:5-9, 12-14Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. . . . Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Romans 12:1-2So, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Colossians 3:1-3Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
We must learn to live our lives with an eternal perspective rather than with the limited perspective of life on this earth. This will help us have the proper perspective in all that we do.
Ephesians 5:2Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Philippians 2:3Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
1 John 4:19-20We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
We must learn to love others. Love expressed is life enriched. God loves others, so if we surrender to him, we must love those he loves. We cannot bypass others and claim we love God.
