How do I Surrender to God

QUESTION: How do I surrender to God?

ANSWER:

When we hear the phrase "surrender to God" we might think that we are going to stop living. The truth is: we will start living! Surrendering to God doesn't mean living without a purpose. Instead, it means to start living with a purpose - the purpose that God has planned for us.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

God is saying that He has a plan for our lives! We can give up our selfish desires, put our futures in the hands of God, and He will take us far beyond our dreams!

The book of James suggests that we "submit" or surrender to God. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Once again, we see that God desires that we give our lives and plans to Him 100 percent.

James not only touches the point of surrendering to God, but he links it with the second idea: resisting the devil. These two ideas go hand-in-hand. Surrendering to God is not easy and there will always be the temptation of returning to our own self. Even Jesus was tempted to not surrender His life to God's plan! But what happened? He resisted and the devil fled from Him.

Surrendering to God gives us a weapon to use against our enemy, the devil. Even when we are tempted to do our own will and live our lives in our own way, once we surrender to God, He will empower us to resist the devil.