Prayer of Relinquishment

by Guideposts
DESCRIPTION
What is one dream you desire to accomplish? Stop trying to succeed on your own and offer God a prayer of relinquishment.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20, NLT

For many years, I wanted to write a novel. As someone who grew up loving to read, I thought there could be nothing cooler than getting published. There was a huge obstacle, though: I have no degree in literature or creative writing. Instead, I read books on the writing process and attended writers' conferences. Once I realized how hard getting a book published would be, I focused on writing magazine articles. The publication of a book eluded me for many years.

Over time, some of my friends started to get their books published, and I felt the same as I had in fourth-grade kickball…I’ll always be the last one picked. For a long season, my prayer times were more like whining sessions. Other times I’d just pout. Didn’t God realize that if I was published I could point many people to Him through my words?

My thinking of this changed after one writers’ meeting I attended. The speaker shared how God launched her career only after she relinquished her writing desires to God. That sounded like a great idea to me, so the next morning I got on my knees. The only problem was, even as I prayed words that sounded good, I knew they didn’t come from my heart. If I was going to do this, I had to give Jesus everything—my hopes, my dreams, my longings.

Ephesians 3:20 speaks of God “who is able, through his mighty power at work within us.” It wasn’t about me and what I could accomplish. It was about what Jesus could work within me as I let Him.

Jesus wasn’t concerned about me being a great writer. What He desired (and still desires) is that He has access to every part of my life. The more of myself I surrendered to Jesus over the years, the more He’s done the work. And through Him, I’ve accomplished more than I could ask or even think. Today, I have enough books to fill a bookshelf. More importantly, I walk through life depending not on my own strength, but on Jesus who is at work within me.

FAITH STEP: What is one dream you desire to accomplish? Say a prayer of relinquishment to God. Tell Him you’re tired of trying to accomplish your dreams in your own strength, and ask Him to work within you, for His glory.

Written by Tricia Goyer