I Surrender All

Facing Giants With Prayer

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I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He heard me and He delivered me from all my fears. Psalms 34:1-4

When anybody mentions King David, probably the first story that comes to their mind is when he fought and beat Goliath with a only sling. But the main reason behind David’s victory was not just his courage. There were many courageous soldiers in the army of Israel but they lacked something one thing that David had. What was his secret? David’s victory in battle was because, long before he knew how to fight, he had learned how to pray. He had the confidence to face Goliath, and later rule a kingdom and maybe most important of all; find forgiveness when he had sinned, because he had cried out to God in prayer God all his heart! Here are just a few of the treasured truths we have today, because David sought the Lord:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts Psalm 28:1

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51:1

Today’s video leads us through that attitude of surrender and praise that will help us face whatever giants that we are facing in our own lives. This session includes I Surrender All and My Jesus I Love Thee

What Have I Surrendered?

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And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 ESV

It is important to be careful of what we sing in church because not only God is listening but also some of our friends! For example one day after singing “I Surrender All” for our little nursing home group I launched into a short devotional about surrendering to God. Just I was just beginning to warm up one elderly lady sweetly interrupted me and asked; “What have you surrendered?” For a moment I was speechless. I had no idea what to list as to any kind of real suffering I had been through. Her question got me thinking. Sure I had surrendered plenty for the sake of my family; but what had I ever given up because of my faith? Now after many years I confess that I still don’t have a perfect answer but it helps me to remember that even people like James, Stephen and Paul who were martyred also had jobs, family relationships to deal with and bills to pay. They died for their faith in Christ but they also lived a lifetime of surrendering in small details that no one saw but Jesus.

And though most of us may never have to choose to die at the hands of our persecutors we do have a daily choice to make. Will we choose to say every day, “I Surrender All” because no matter what Jesus has surrendered all for us!

The Price Tag

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I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels. Psalm 22:14 KJV

As a teenager I always loved the Christmas presents I got from my stepmother Amy. She bought me beautiful expensive clothes, but she always left the price tag on! It wasn’t that she minded spending the money, but she wanted to be sure that I treated her gifts with special care! In some ways God is a lot like Amy. God loves lavishing us with His grace but He wants us to know the cost. When we are singing “It is well with my soul” we should humbly remember the price of that verse.

In the garden Jesus said that His soul was sorrowful unto death. He agonized in prayer in order to accept the suffering of the cross. He asked if there were any other way and then sweat ran down His face like great drops of blood. Just hours after He had finished praying, Jesus was nailed to the cross. The Bible tells us that He was poured out like water. Last, the spear pierced His side and the last drop of the lifeblood of Jesus flowed down to the ground. What a price He paid for us!  Today when you bow your head to thank God for His blessings take a look at the price tag still attached. We will treasure more greatly the gift when we remember the price that He paid.