40 Days of Purpose: Surrender is Worship

Worship has been the focus of the last few posts and it looks like it will be for the next few too. Probably a good thing since my definition of worship was not the most accurate before I opened The Purpose Driven Life. Today we will be looking at surrender being the heart of worship.

KEY VERSE

“Give yourselves to God… Surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.” Romans 6:13 TEV

It makes sense for surrender to be the heart of worship because we can’t love without giving and when we worship we give ourselves.

Surrender is the natural response to God’s love and mercy or at least it should be. I think when we choose to surrender it’s usually when we recognise and appreciate God’s love for us and just how much He has done for us.

We surrender out of love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

True worship happens when we give ourselves completely to God, it is all about offering ourselves to Him.

WHAT KEEPS US FROM SURRENDER?

There are barriers that keep us from surrendering to God. The first is fear.

Fear keeps us hidden in our doubts, it whispers what sounds like logic but is really our anxieties. It is the anxious voice that hides within our hopes.

When fear is within us we can’t surrender. We can’t surrender because we are unable to trust God. But when we know God better and know His Word we learn that love casts out fear.

Surrender is easier when we know how much God loves us. We know God loves us because He says so (Psalm 145:9), He forgives us (Psalm 86:5), He is patient with us (Psalm 145:8), He has good plans for us and cares about the details of our lives (Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 10:30). But most of all we know He loves us because He proves it as seen in Romans 5:8.

“But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 CSB

God wants us to surrender because He knows it will bring freedom. Freedom from fear and worry but He wants us to come willingly. He loves us so much He wants us to choose Him.

The second barrier that keeps us from surrender is pride.

We don’t like to accept our weaknesses. We like feeling that we are in control, which is not the reality. This desire for control is the biggest cause of our stress; it is pride that comes from trying to be God.

We should know by now that trying to be God is impossible and never ends well. We need to learn from our ancestors’ mistakes and choose humility over pride.

Surrender is not easy, it can mean sacrificing our current way of life to submit to God’s way. Or it can mean suffering so that the parts of us that aren’t submitted to God will be changed.

When we surrender we become who God designed us to be. Our surrendered self is the truest version of ourselves.

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU’RE SURRENDERED?

A good example of surrender is Noah. He shows us that surrender is best demonstrated in obedience. Surrendered people obey even when it doesn’t make sense. Just look at Noah he built an ark and he had never seen rain to believe in floods and he lived far from the sea. But he didn’t doubt that God’s word was true and he built the ark.

You know you’re surrendered when you trust God to make a way or provide instead of trying to make it happen yourself.

“Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him.” Psalm 37:7 CSB

You may also know you’re surrender when you no longer react to criticism or defend yourself like you used to. A surrendered heart no longer lives for selfish gain or demands for things to happen a certain way either.

Surrender is hard work there is no doubt about it. It is the spirit versus the flesh, we are fighting against ourselves.

Jesus is the best example of surrender. In Mark 14 we read of his struggle against the flesh and how he didn’t want to die. Jesus took his feelings to God and surrendered his desire to live saying ‘not my will but yours.’ We need to be more like Jesus and let go of what we want and surrender to what He wants.

BENEFITS OF SURRENDER

There are many ways that surrender benefits us.

“Come to terms with God and be at peace; in this way good will come to you.” Job 22:21 CSB

When we surrender we feel peace, it brings us freedom (Romans 6:17) because we are no longer chained down by our fears or anxieties. When we surrender we are no longer slaves to the sin that held us down.

We also experience God’s power (Joshua 5:13-15). Surrender brings strength because we are no longer weakened by our fears. It brings victory over sin.

There is nothing more powerful than a surrendered person. Just look at Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was just a teenager and yet she surrendered her life to God to become the mother of our Saviour (Luke 1:38).

At the end of the day we all surrender to something whether it’s expectations or something else. We are free to choose what we surrender to but the consequences are chosen for us.

To surrender to God is the only way to live (Romans 12:1), every other way will ultimately lead to frustration and death.

We should follow the example Paul set us in Philippians, the happiest book of the bible. Yet Paul was in jail when he wrote it. Paul surrendered to God’s will and he was happy with it despite his circumstances because he knew that this life is not the end and to live God’s way would have the greatest reward. Death for Paul in this life meant eternal life with God in the next. Are you as certain of your fate?

“Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23 CSB

Surrender is a daily thing, and we are our greatest hindrance. God wants to bless those who surrender to Him and He tests those who do. So we will often be faced with doing things that are the opposite of what we want but that’s where surrender comes in. We let go of what we want and submit to what He wants, that is the heart of worship. That is how we love God.

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