Surrender

Hello, friends.

Let us pray.

Oh Heavenly Father, you bring us life after death. You are all-knowing and all-loving. Please give me words for you and allow those words to help other people in any way that suits you. Thank you for the time you give me and all the things you’ve let me live through.

Thank you, God.

Amen.

It’s a simple prayer, but I’m trying to say it (or something like it) every time I need spiritual guidance for what I write or speak. It’s a daunting position to be in, knowing other people will read your words and might even look for advice in them. Luckily, if I write correctly, the words will not be mine. They will be God’s.

It is my place to recognize I am only a mouthpiece and I can only do what I do because God allows me to.

When I first began singing in church, I don’t think I fully understood this concept. I thought I was singing for God, but in reality, I was singing to hear myself sing. It wasn’t good. It didn’t sound bad, but I felt nothing when I did it. It was just something I did on Sundays.

God wasn’t too crazy about my lack of enthusiasm. So He struck me with a wave of spirit, and since that moment I fully believe God touched my heart so I would actually sing with passion. Most Sundays now, I won’t be fully aware of what I’m singing, but it doesn’t matter because while my body is on autopilot, my soul is resting in the arms of God. There is no fear of judgment or singing the wrong pitch, it’s just me and God up there. I’m fully immersed in worship.

None of us are innately great. Sure, some might be born with a talent or gift, but at the end of the day, God is the greatest being in the universe. Only He can make me great and powerful through Him. So let us get off our high horses and realize how weak we are.

God can only improve us when we surrender ourselves to be improved by Him.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 – “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.”

With love,

Ann Livers