The Heart of Worship ~Day 10

Rom 6:13 tells us to give ourselves to God; to surrender ourselves for His purposes. The heart of worship is surrender.  Surrender almost always is used in a negative context; almost always implies that we have lost. We are conditioned that winning is everything. To surrender means that we have given in, which is unthinkable.

But to worship God, we must surrender; and we do this, not out of fear or duty, but in love (1 John 4:9 – 10, 19). Paul tells us in Rom 12:1, we should offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God; to dedicate our lives to pleasing Him, because after all, God showed great mercy to us.

When you offer yourself completely to God it's called true worship. God wants all of our lives. Not 99%, but 100% of our thoughts and our deeds. Often we hold out, because we want to control our own lives.  The saying, "Let go, and let God" is easier said than done. We often give a situation or problem over to God in our prayers, and then take it right back to stew over it ourselves. We need to trust that God will handle it.

Trust is essential when we surrender to God. We need to know God to trust Him. The best way to know Him is through His word. God says He loves us (Ps 14:9); we are never out of His sight (Ps 139:3); He cares about every detail of our lives (Matt 10:30); He gave us the capacity to enjoy all kinds of pleasure (1 Tim 6:17b); He has good plans for our lives (Jer 29:11); He forgives us all our sins (Ps 86:5); and He is lovingly patient with us (Ps 145:8).

If we read Rom 5:8, we understand just how much God loves us. How can we say that we do not know God after reading His word? What more proof do we need that He truly loves us?

God is a liberator, not a slave driver. He cuts us free from worldly bondage. He is our Savior, our Father, our Friend. Maybe even after we have started to know our God, we fall victim to that old villain pride. This comes from us wanting to control everything. We do not realize that we are in a struggle. We are still trying to retain the reins of our lives. It comes back to "Let go, and let God". Our pride just won't let us "let God" all the way.

A. W. Tozer said, "The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We are still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us." We need to realize that God is better equipped to handle our lives, so submit to Him.

Rick Warren said, "Surrendering to God is not passive resignation, fatalism, or an excuse for laziness." It is exactly the opposite. Sometimes, when we surrender, we may be called to a spiritual battle. However, God will give us the grace we need to win for Him. He wants us to use our gifts for Him on the "battleground".

Surrendering is the best demonstration of love and obedience. Then just sit back and watch Him work! (Ps 37:7 a) Trust that He will take care of you. The supreme example of self – surrender is Jesus (Mark 14:36). Jesus prayed, if it was in His will, for God to take the suffering away; but that He wanted God's will to be done, not his own (Mark 14:36). Jesus knew that God was able to take away the suffering, so He instead asked for God's will to be done. He was willing to pay the ultimate price; to surrender to the Father's will.  We need to understand that true surrender is to be able to pray for His will to be done at whatever cost.

We need to die to ourselves. When we do, we experience a blessed peace in our hearts (Job 22: 21). Next, we experience freedom (Rom 6:17). Last, but certainly not least, we experience God's power in our lives. Victory in the battles of life comes through our surrendering to God. As William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said "The greatness of a man's power is in the measure of his surrender." Surrendered people are the ones that God uses. For instance, God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus because she totally surrendered her life to Him (Luke 1:38). To be a person that God can use, we must first surrender our lives to Him (James 4: 7a).

We were designed to surrender to God. If we choose not to do this, we will surrender to other things. These other things will become our idols. We will eventually have to pay the consequences for submitting to these idols.  Surrendering our lives is a rational, intelligent act and the most sensible thing we can do with our lives. It is the greatest blessing in our life when we allow ourselves to surrender to God's will. Putting Him in the "drivers seat" of our lives gives us blessings in abundance. There is one moment of complete surrender, but we die daily (1 Cor 15: 31). When we die daily, we practice complete love.


Point to Ponder:

The heart of worship is surrender.

Verse to Remember:

"Surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes." (Rom 6:13 b)

Question to Consider:

What area of my life am I holding back from God?