In my prayers I often ask God to reveal in me where I need to change. I pray King David's prayer from Psalm 139. The main issue God has been dealing with me in the area of surrender.
I know there have been hundreds of articles and songs written on this subject, so I am going to keep this very short and simple. One of the dictionary.com definitions of surrender is: "to give oneself up, as into the power of another; submit or yield." This describes exactly what I am striving to do: to yield my will to the Power of God and His Holy Spirit. I want to give Him all of me and be molded into His image. I pray that God empties me of me and fills me with His attributes.
The night I heard God audibly tell me that I needed to learn to surrender to Him, I immediately went to prayer with a list of items I was having difficultly letting go of. It has really helped me whenever any of these issues pop back into my mind, I simply remind myself, "I have surrendered this issue to God," and I think of something else. I am not 100% successful, but I am making progress I never thought I could make.
Today I decided to write this list down and in a few days I will (safely) burn it as a symbol of truly letting these issues go (Mel is also going to write a list to burn with mine).
I feel like God wants me to share my letter with my readers (leaving out the private stuff since it's only between God and me), so you can use it as an example to write your own letter. It is unpolished as I just wrote from my heart and not from a "technical" point of view.
Dear Jesus,
I surrender my will, my plans, and the need to have my own way. The following list is of all the things I need to let go so that there is nothing standing between me and You. I want to serve You with my whole heart and give You all of me. I releases all anger, bitterness, confusion, jealousy, frustration, pride, and any other non-fruit bearing attitudes I may have toward You and the following issues:
(My list here, ending with: )
* And anything I may not be aware of.
I hereby release all of these items to You, the Holy of Holies, The Lord God Almighty, Who Was and Is and Is to Come. Only You are worthy! Only you are capable of helping me to let go of all my negative issues. I praise Your Holy Name!
Amen!
