Jan 16, 2025 2 min read

(Hebrews 13:21) May God work in me what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ.

Is this verse your heart desire? Do you pray this way? Do you pray: “My Lord, I surrender my full life and future to your will. Please come and work deep in my heart. Heal the inner wounds, and cleanse out the darkness that still lingers within me. I don’t want to do my will, I want your will to be done in my life.”

We can say the words of this prayer, but many of us struggle to truly surrender our lives to God. Although we are born-again by the Holy Spirit, the inner pull of our fallen condition still resists total surrender. We are okay surrendering parts of our lives to God, but to surrender every aspect of our lives is very hard. In our minds we want to surrender, but we often stop short.

It is very hard for us to honestly call out to God, and ask him to do in our lives whatever will please him, as it says in Hebrews 13:21. The reason is we think what pleases God will be bad for us. The bottom line is we do not really believe God has the best for us in mind. We believe God is love, but it is a major spiritual battle to let go and surrender ourselves to his love. Because of our fallen, yet saved, condition, it is hard for us to let go of our desire to control and rule our own lives.
Often the idea of totally surrendering our lives to God’s way sounds more like committing a form of suicide. We equate surrendering our lives to God with negatively losing our lives, no more fun, joy, or fulfillment. As Hebrews 13:21 emphasizes, the pleasing work of God in our lives is always through the love, forgiveness, and salvation of Jesus Christ. It is not arbitrary. It is not happenstance.

Nothing reveals God’s love for us more than Jesus dying on the cross in our place. God always works in our lives through the grace and love Jesus Christ. God’s love is not an abstract idea, it has already been demonstrated for us in Jesus Christ.

Have you surrendered your life and future to the pleasing will of God? Or do you surrender some parts of your life to God, but keep control of other parts? In fact, what does it even mean to surrender our lives to God? Is it gritting our teeth, and doing what we really don’t want to do?

Get a pen and piece of paper, and write down one or two sentences describing what you think spiritual surrender means. Think about it. In the end, we need the Holy Spirit’s help. Holy Spirit, please empower us to surrender our lives to the love of God every day. Amen.