Surrender
Do you want to pray a truly audacious prayer? Pray the words Jesus taught us to pray:
Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done.
Pray these words without reservation, hesitation or qualification.
Why does this qualify as an audacious prayer? For one, it is a prayer of complete surrender. Every time we pray these words with sincerity, we let go. We acknowledge the reality that God is God, and we are not. We own the truth that God is in control and we have no control. We join our hearts with His heart and express our desire for Him to have His way, and we agree that His way is best.
It is also audacious because we are in no way expressing the way we think it should be done. Have you ever been given total freedom on a project, only to be given a ton of suggestions on how to do it right or better? God wants to hear our desires, but sometimes our desires feel more like instructions. What trust and surrender we express when we say, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done." Period.
Prayers of surrender are not easy prayers. They may be easy words to mouth, but they are not easy words to mean. Imagine some of the most difficult, frustrating, maybe heartbreaking issues you face in this season. How easy is it to say, "God, whatever You want. Whatever You think is best, do it." Whatever includes many things we do not want. Can we really say, "Even that God. Even the thing I don't want...you know best."
Such a prayer reminds me of Paul's landing place in 2 Corinthians 9:
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
God thought it was best for Paul to receive a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass him, to keep him from becoming conceited. Read those words again. A messenger from Satan! God thought this was best for Paul. Paul did not at first pray, "Your will be done." No, he prayed to God to take it away, three times. Ultimately He arrives at the place of surrender: For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
Whatever you You think is best God, do it. That's audacious.
Today's Prayer
Fix in your mind a situation or two over which you have clear thoughts on the best possible outcome. Choose an area where three times or more you have asked God to take it away, to change it, to do it this way instead. With stedfast resolve and complete surrender, say it: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.
Final Thoughts
Surrender. Let Go. Give it all to Him. He can loves you and can be completely trusted.
A Song