We have been chosen to a life of surrender and influence.

Watch Video 1 on The Surrendered Life.

1 Samuel 16, Psalm 78:70, Psalm 147:10

It was by God’s grace that David was chosen. It was not because he was better than the others, but purely by grace. God had a specific assignment for David and it would be experienced by his covenant love for David and his kingdom assignment to lead his people. However, David would only fully realize his intimacy and closeness to God, as well as his ability to fulfill his assignment through the personal journey of surrender and submission. As God brought him through that painful process, he was prepared to live into the call that God had for him. Similarly, we’re told that God has chosen us by his grace and has a purpose in our lives of both covenant intimacy and kingdom power. Like David, and ultimately like Jesus, we experience greater expressions of this calling by surrender and submission.

Scripture

Refer to 1 Samuel 16 together.

Psalm 78:8- “And not be like their fathers— A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.” (Amplified Bible)

Psalm 147:10- “He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might.” (New Living Translation)

Questions

1. What have you felt God speaking to you through David’s life and the example of surrender in this first session?
2. We are going to see in following sessions that David, as king, never confused himself as “THE KING” but learned a life of surrender.  When you think of the words surrender and submission, what thoughts come to your mind? 
3. Is there a place in your life that you aren’t allowing yourself to fully submit and surrender God? Would you be willing to share it? It can be physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, or vocational?

The Practice of Surrender and Submission

Surrendering Self

Lisa Morgan Moore wrote a powerful blog of a practice of 6 steps of surrender “our way” and choosing God’s way instead. Oswald Chambers in the classic devotional “My Utmost for His Highest” describes surrender and submission to God in this way:

“True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.“

Remember that Jesus will never ask you to surrender something that He has not already surrendered in his life on earth. 

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)

There are five different types of self–surrender: physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual and vocational. 

 Walk through this process alone, with another person, or in your group. (You may want to volunteer to walk through the process in community).

1. Write down Romans 12:1-2.  Choose an area of self-surrender:  physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual or vocational.
2. Converse (Wrestle) with God. What area of self is God revealing to you? We are not perfect. It is okay to communicate with God what you are feeling and it is normal to struggle with surrendering to what God is leading you to do. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and lead you. 
3. Consider the Cost. When God asks you to do the audacious, you need to take some time to consider the cost. Luke 14:18 says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”  This isn’t determining if God can do what He has asked you to do, but it is deciding if you are willing to pay the personal cost of accomplishing God’s will.
4. Being afraid. God says over and over in scripture not to be afraid.  But some of the things God asks us to do are costly. Many of the people of the Bible wrestled with the same thing. It’s ok to admit that you’re afraid.
5. Choosing to surrender and submit to God’s will for your life. Like love and forgiveness, surrender is a choice, not a feeling. It is choosing to lay down your will and take on God’s will. Declare and remind yourself of these verses as you choose to surrender. (Remember this is about repenting and believing so it involves a step of accountability.)  “I am not my own; I was bought at a price.” 1 Cor. 6:19-20 “I delight to do Your will.”  Psalm 40:8 “…not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 “For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.”  Phil. 1:21 ” I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Jesus Christ now lives in me.” Galatians 2:20.

Do it even though fear may still be present and trust God with the outcome.

No matter what happens when you choose to surrender to God’s will, you know that you have done what God has asked of you and you have been obedient. You leave the outcome in God’s hands, knowing that He is faithful and true. Trust him with the outcome! Surrender is the only way to walk closely with God.

I surrender to you today with all my heart and soul. Please come into my heart in a deeper way. I say, “Yes” to you today. I open all the secret places of my heart to you and say, “Come on in.” Jesus, you are the Lord of my whole life. I am repenting and believing in what you are revealing to me today. I hold nothing back.

Holy Spirit, bring me to a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ. I surrender all to you: my time, my treasures, my talents, my health, my family, my resources, my work, relationships, time management, successes and failures. I release it and let it go. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.