Series: “Connecting with God” - Part 3
"The Prayer of Surrender"
Pastor Jerry
Luke 17:20-21
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This past year people have experienced extreme stress with navigating through the pandemic. The
most difficult type of stress is the stress
that you have no control over. Let me give you three
examples of stress you have no control over.
The first is
uncontrollable circumstances. It’s where you feel helpless. Something that you can’t do anything about. A second is
uncooperative people. People who are in your life that drive you crazy! They’re not going to change and you just have to kind of go along with it. A third is
unexplainable pain. When we have pain and we know why we’re having it, we can handle it a whole lot better than unexplainable pain that doesn’t make sense.
Do you have any of things happening in your life that you have no control over? Uncontrollable circumstances, uncooperative people and unexplainable pain? The only solution is surrender. You have to surrender to God in that situation.
This truth leads us to the second phrase of the Lord’s Prayer in this series on Connecting with God. Last week we looked at the first phrase
“Our Father who art in heaven….” (The
Prayer of Connection). We talked about what kind of father is God. Today, we’re going to look at the second phrase in the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:10
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is what I call the
Prayer of Surrender. But what in the world is
“God’s kingdom?”
First, let me tell you what it’s not. God’s kingdom is
not political. It’s not national. It’s not governmental. The second thing the Bible says,
“The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” Here’s the third thing the kingdom is not. Romans 14 says
“The kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink but it’s living right with God and a life of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” These examples are what the Kingdom of God is not!
So, what is it? Well, first, let us answer,
“Where is the kingdom of God?” The kingdom of God is wherever Jesus is king. If He’s king in your heart then the kingdom of God is within you. If He’s king in heaven then the kingdom of God is in heaven. If He’s king here on the earth then the kingdom of God is on earth. It’s wherever Jesus is king. It’s wherever His rule and reign is.
And, the kingdom of God is wherever God’s will is done. If God’s will is done in your family, or in our church, or wherever, then the kingdom of God is there.
Thy will be done is the
Prayer of Surrender. It says, God you’re in charge. It says I am not in charge.
What does it mean to Surrender? It means that you make four stress changing choices.
- Surrendering to Jesus means letting go of control.
Every day you get up in the morning and you have to decide who’s going to be in control of your life –
you or God. Every day it’s a battle. You want to control. You want to make your own rules. But that means you want to be your own god. The Bible says in Psalm 46:10
“Be still and know that I am God;…” God says,
“I’m in control so you need to let go and know that I am God.
Whenever we face out of control situations things that are beyond our control, we always tend to go to one of two extremes. First, the more out of control your life gets, the harder you try to control it. You redouble your effort. You’re not at peace at all. That’s one extreme. The other extreme, is just the exact opposite.
You just give up. You go into despair and you start to get depressed. And you are miserable. Both of those reactions to stress are foolish. They don’t work.
Instead you need to pray the prayer of surrender.
The number one reason you’re under stress is because you’re in conflict with God. You’re trying to do things, trying to control things, which only God can do. That puts you in opposition to God. You’re fighting with God. And in any conflict with God, you’re going to lose.
A lot of people pray the
serenity prayer …“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” But that’s not the whole prayer. The power of the prayer is the entire prayer.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time accepting hardship as a pathway to peace taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to your will so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen. (Reinhold Niebuhr) The whole prayer is that
I’m going to surrender to your will. That’s where all the power is. Step one is letting go of control.
- The second thing it means to surrender to Jesus - learning to be content.
What are the alternatives? You can worry about it. Does that work? No. You can resent it and get bitter about it. You can regret it. You can be fearful about it. There is only one thing that works in the situations that you can’t change.
Acceptance! Learning to be content!
Paul understood this. Notice what he says in Philippians 4,
“I have learned to be satisfied with the things that I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I’m poor and I know how to live when I have plenty. And I have learned the secret of being happy
at any time in everything that happens. I can do all things thorough Christ because he gives me strength.” When Paul wrote this he was in prison, in Rome chained to a Roman soldier in a cold, dark prison. So he knows what he’s talking about. He says I know how to be up. I know how to be down. I know how to go through bad times and how to go through good times.
I’ve learned to be content.
- Surrendering to Jesus means laying down my plans.
You know plans we make get changed a lot. Problems come up that sabotage our plans.
That’s called life. Plans don’t work out:
first, because we
make all kinds of bad decisions. But
secondly, because we
have an enemy and his name is Satan. Satan wants to defeat you. But
third we
live in an imperfect world. Though Adam, sin entered the world and everything on this planet is broken.
Listen. There’s going to be problems in your life. That’s why we’ve got to stick together.
That’s why we need to get connected: to get connected to this church, get connected to God, get connected together.
What does God’s want to do in your life? More than anything else I’ll tell you what he wants to do.
He wants you to learn to be unselfish. Life is about learning to be unselfish. It’s the number one lesson.
God wants you to learn to be like him. God is love. In order to be like God it means I’ve got to learn to love like God. I’ve got to learn to be unselfish like God. Life is all about growing and learning to be other person centered instead of self-centered. God wants you to learn to be a giver not a taker in life.
Jesus said
“If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who give away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the good news will ever know what it means to really live.” That’s what it means to surrender. I lay down my plans, my life, I surrender myself to God. God cares about
people and he says that’s the kingdom of God.
- Surrendering to Jesus means Leaving the future to God.
I’m going to live today one day at a time. I’m going to decide in advance to leave the results of my life up to God. Proverbs 3
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.”
What does make straight your paths mean? It means this: He’s going to keep you on the right track. He will keep you from heading in the wrong way.
Let me ask you. Would you like to have less stress and more peace and more serenity in your life?
Of course the answer is yes. Then you have a decision to make. The decision is am I going to do what I think is best? Or am I going to do what God thinks is best for me? Am I going to do what He wants me to do? So, what will it be?
Will you surrender to God? Today! Surrender is the ultimate expressions of faith. I’ll be honest with you. Here’s what Jesus said to do in Luke 14
“You must give up everything you have to be my follower.” When you come to Jesus you give up everything you’ve got. You surrender control, you surrender to be content in all things, you surrender your plans, you surrender your future into His hands. You surrender your all to Him! You pray the prayer of surrender:
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ….” 
