SURRENDER

 

SURRENDER

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46

As a man, Jesus struggled mightily before He went to the cross. He knew that His crucifixion was very close. He knew all that He would have to go through in order to become our Savior. He knew that He didn’t want to do it so He went to the Garden of Gethsemane with a few of His disciples to pray. He took along His disciples so they could be there to support Him as He wrestled with His reluctance to go through with it. He knew He had to die, but like most of us, He fought to live.

Jesus prayed. It was His way of life. He regularly got alone with God and prayed. Prayer for Jesus was as necessary as the food He ate. He always stayed in close fellowship with God. But, what awaited Him required more intense praying than He had ever prayed before. He was at war within himself. He prayed that God would somehow spare Him from the suffering He was about to endure. He knew that His suffering was going to be intense, both physically and spiritually. I believe that He knew that there was going to a time in which He would even be unable to be in touch with God.

Jesus turned to the disciples for support, but they could not stay awake to pray. Three times He turned to them, and they let Him down each time. Jesus prayed that if it were possible that God would find another way to save us. He prayed so intensely that it was as if sweat drops of blood poured from His body. He prayed until He was ready for what lied ahead, until He had surrendered His will to live to God’s will for Him to die.

Have you ever been in a spiritual battle while you prayed? Have you wrestled with God over your will? Has God led you to do something you didn’t want to do, but you knew you had to in order to obey Him? Have you ever prayed until you had surrendered your will to God’s will for you?

It’s a constant battle, isn’t it? We often want different things for us than God does. We are prone to resist His will when it conflicts with our own. Yet, surrendering is the only pathway to peace and victory. It is impossible to live in close fellowship with God without a surrendered heart. Have you given your all to Jesus? Is He Lord of all your life? If not, pray. Pray until you can say, “All to Jesus, I surrender. All to Him I freely give….”