Christians have developed many kinds of spiritual habits to draw closer to God, including prayer, fasting, studying Scripture, silent retreats, serving others, confession, repenting and more.
These practices help us grow our faith and deepen our relationship with God. But to achieve maximum results, we must understand and fully commit ourselves to two simple words: “I surrender.”
Do you ever feel torn between wanting to give your all to God and wanting to do things your way? The Apostle Paul wrote, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” This is a constant battle we must all face. We must make the choice daily to surrender our pride, self-centeredness, love of money and hunger for power to God.
The statement “I surrender” is not a one time declaration, but must be uttered daily in prayer. These words represent total submission of mind, body and spirit to the One who loves us most and wants the best for us. In the same way we ask God for our daily bread and forgiveness, we too need to pray “I surrender to You, God” and name the things that hold us back.
As a daily reminder, I find it helpful to write these two words on a piece of paper and place it where I can see it each day—the dashboard of my car, computer monitor or bathroom mirror.
Some days we will come up short, but each time we pray those two words, we will draw closer to God.
