A prayer of surrender to Jesus is calling by Christine Brown, read by Leah Martin.

Then calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said,

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way.

Take up your cross and follow me.

Mark 834.

Sometimes my life feels like a back and forth battle with control.

One day I'm easily relinquishing my own way in favor of God's plan.

Other days, I have to keep surrendering over and over,

because the pull of being in control is just too strong.

Give up your own way.

Those five simple words Jesus spoke to the crowd, maybe the ones I wrestle with the most.

I get attached to my own way of doing things.

Soon self-sufficiency rises and I start making decisions in my own strength, trying too hard

and wearing myself out.

I end up exhausted instead of welcoming the peace Jesus offers.

Surrender.

It's a hard concept for us to grasp, because God gave us the will to choose.

Surrender means to give up complete control, to yield to the power of another.

Surrender is an amazing gift offered to us.

When we rather hand over control of our lives to the one who holds power over all things,

then why do we struggle to surrender when Jesus calls?

God designed us to hope, dream, create, and build.

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