In my own life and in my work with others in helping them grow in their relationship with God, I have discovered that two decisions can be made that will help people discover the peace they long for and grow in their relationship with God. Some people need a lot more time to reflect and grasp this, but eventually we hope that they will understand that taking these steps is best for them and will seriously improve their lives.
The two decisions that we can make are to surrender to God and invite the Holy Spirit to participate in our lives and lead us in everything going forward. Both of these are able to help you deal with everything in life whether it’s in the past, present, or future. Le me explain what I mean and then I’ll give you two prayers that you can say everyday to take these steps.
First, surrendering to God allows you to detach yourself from situations, possessions, and desires, whether good or bad, in order to give God full control in your life. By letting go and granting God authority over you, you give God your permission for Him to work in your life. You actually want God in charge because He will choose what is absolutely best for you without being influenced by what is most comfortable for you or easiest to obtain as you would be.
God knows you better than anyone, He knows what you can handle and what you cannot. Therefore, when a tough struggle comes your way, you can be sure that God has allowed it because He has something that is absolutely amazing for you on the other side of the struggle. Surrendering everything to God is approaching life with this in mind ahead of time. This allows us to better view the past, present and future events in our lives as it reminds us that God is with us in everything and only allowed what will eventually lead to our good.
The second decision that significantly helps in life is to invite the Holy Spirit to participate in your life and guide you through it. You can do this by simply saying to Holy Spirit that you invite Him into your life. In this you will begin to cultivate a deeper relationship with God. You will begin to notice His presence more and more which will help you increase your trust in Him.
By becoming aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit and trusting in Him more, you will have more peace about present and future struggles in your life. God will be your traveling companion who encourages you, comforts you, and leads you. The relationship is filled with a confident trust that God will adequately guide you. Your confidence will grow as you will see that you can trust God more and more.
Both decisions need to be made more than once in your life, even daily, so that you continue to show God that you are unwavering in making Him your choice over everything. This is like lifting weights in that we need to excercise our will, our choosing, over and over again to grow in our relationship with God. To help with this, I have included below two prayers that can be said about once a day to surrender to God and invite the Holy Spirit into your life.
Both of these prayers are good, however, if you would rather say your own version, that is fine too. The point is that you are making these two important decisions. It is by surrendering to God and allowing Him to lead you that you will discover the peace and joy for which you were created. Check out the prayers below and let us know how they have helped you in the comments or by emailing us at info@zenithministries.com.
Daily Surrender Prayer
Dear Jesus, You are all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. You know all things, can do all things, and love me tremendously. You did not even spare your own life for my salvation, and so I know that you will only allow what is best for me to take place in my life if I entrust it to you. Knowing this, I know that I can entrust everything to you, Lord Jesus.
I surrender everything to you Lord right now. I give you my thoughts. I give you my words. I give you my intentions. I give you my actions. I give you my family and my marriage, and all of my relationships. Everything that belongs to me, including all of my finances, I give to you Lord. Please do with these things what you want.
I only ask that you return to me those things that you want for me: your peace, your grace, your joy, and your goodness. You are amazing Jesus and I believe that no one that has trusted in you has been disappointed. Jesus, I trust in you, lead me to the life you want for me. Amen.
Invitation to the Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit! I invite You to dwell with me. Fill my heart with Your presence. Let my life be a living sign of Your goodness and strength. Breathe into my soul so that I may remain confident and still in the face of all difficulties. Like the wind is seen in the rustling of leaves on the trees, let your love be seen through my daily way of life. Like the rains shower over the many plants and flowers, shower into my mind your wisdom and understanding so that I may grow in my awareness of how you want me to see things. I ask for all of this in the Name of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
