Stop Trying To Surrender To God

What does it mean to surrender to God?

There are many Christians who struggle giving their life to the Lord completely. When you tell them they need to surrender their life to the Lord they often answer by saying, “I'm trying.” Perhaps there is no more foolish statement that could be made then to claim to be trying to surrender. How do you try to surrender? You either surrender or you don't. When you say you are trying to surrender what you are actually saying is that you are trying to convince yourself to surrender. There is no try in surrender. You either do or you don't. Stop flattering yourself into thinking that you are trying to do what you should do when in reality you are only trying to convince yourself to do what you should do. Surrender is not an effort. Surrender is when you let go completely. Here are a few thoughts regarding what surrender truly involves.

To surrender means you have stopped fighting.

If two armies are fighting in a battle and one decides to surrender it means they put their weapons down and stopped fighting. That is what surrender is. The reason you have not truly surrendered is that you are still fighting God. You are using the weapons of blame and excuses. Until you put down your arguments you cannot say you have surrendered.

2. To surrender is to give up in favor of another.

When you surrender to God you are saying, “not my will but your will.” You are relinquishing your rights and giving them over to another. Not until you are willing to give up your rights to God can you say that you have surrendered.

3. To surrender is to yield power to another.

Again, in a battle when you surrender you are submitting to the power or authority of another. You cannot try to surrender authority. You either do or you don't. To truly surrender to God is to give him authority in your life.

4. To surrender is to yield all influence in your life.

When you surrender to God you are giving him the influence that controls your life. It is not that you are going to try to let God influence you or battle other influences. To surrender is to give him complete influence in every area of life.

5. To surrender is to give up your own rights.

Perhaps this is the hardest part of surrender. We want what we think we deserve. To surrender is to give up all rights to God and allow him to have all rights over you.

6. To surrender is to revoke all of your own demands.

When you surrender to God you demand nothing from God. An army that surrenders to another has no right to demand anything. They are totally at the mercy of the other army. The safest place you will ever be is surrendering your demands to the mercy of your God.

When the prodigal decided to come home he was surrendering to his father. He didn't try to come home. He arose and went to his father in surrender. There is no try in surrendering. If you say you are trying to surrender to God you are fooling no one except yourself. You either surrender to God or you will continue to fight against God. The choice is yours. To try is futile. To surrender is full and voluntary. It's your choice.