A Prayer of Surrender
As a child I used to play a game called ‘Surrender’. The rules of the game were simple: two opponents grabbed the other’s arm and gave a ‘Chinese Burn’ until one person yelled “surrender!” to stop the game and accept defeat. Pretty brutish, really. I liked to play with my younger sisters but not so much with my older brother (for obvious reasons).
Surrendering to something doesn’t come naturally to us. Our natural bent is to rule over our own lives. We want to control and determine our own way and our culture screams at us ‘you do you’. But as Christians we’re called to surrender – not a surrender of defeat but one of trust. Trust in God who loves us deeply and knows what is best for us, even when we can’t see it ourselves.
I came across a prayer in a novel recently which really (and I mean really) challenged me when it comes to surrendering to God. When I came to it, I stopped and re-read it a few times. Like the character in the book, I wondered if I could pray such an audacious prayer. Total surrender to God’s will and way. The prayer reads:
Father in heaven,
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
This prayer was written by John Wesley in 1755 and is called ‘A Covenant Prayer’. It’s hard to digest, isn’t it? Do I really want to be ‘…put to suffering’? Am I truly ok to be ‘…brought low for thee’? Later in the novel the character processing this prayer says ‘So I say hineni (Hebrew word: ‘I am here’). Again. Not because I’m already willing to die this kind of death, but because I want to be willing to die to myself and live to you. Whatever that means. Help me to trust you enough to submit to all the ways you are seeking to make me more like Jesus. Especially when everything in me wants to resist his way.’
I share this prayer because I believe it’s a powerful reminder that this surrender is not about weakness, but about strength. Strength to trust in His purpose for us, even when it doesn’t align with our desires. It’s a call to lay down our will, our plans, and our need for control, and surrender (daily) to follow Jesus (cf. Luke 9:23-24).
I invite you to join me in learning to pray this prayer of surrender – not out of fear but a desire to be more like Jesus. Looking at the prayer now even as I write this, I acknowledge it is not easy, but it’s the way of Jesus. On the night he was crucified Jesus prayed ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.’ (Matthew 23:42b).
In Grace,
Emma
PS – I read The Covenant Prayer in a book series called ‘Sensible Shoes’ by Sharon Garlough Brown. I highly recommend these books to my sisters in Christ. They are beautiful, challenging, and a wonderful read! LINK
