Moving Beyond AnxietySýnishorn

The Prayer of Surrender

As anxiety increases among us, especially with the continued coronavirus crisis, we all need to know that there is an atomic bomb you can drop on all your worries. It has proven to be 100% effective in blowing up all possible vestiges of anxiety. It’s a surefire solution to all fear.

What is this atomic bomb? It’s called the prayer of surrender. Jesus practiced it during his most vulnerable moment on this earth.

Jesus experienced anxiety. In the Garden of Gethsemane, facing the reality of the horrific spiritual and physical pain of the cross the next day, he sweated drops of blood on his forehead. This is physical evidence of someone under acute stress. 

Jesus wondered if there was another option than the cross. Could there be another way? That was the question he asked his Father in heaven.

The Father’s answer soon came to Jesus. The cross was the Father’s will for his Son. Before the world was ever created, the cross was the Father’s predetermined plan for the salvation of all humankind. 

Coming to grips with this reality, Jesus dropped the atomic bomb of prayer on his anxiety. He prayed the prayer of surrender: “Not my will, Father, but yours” (Luke 22:42).  He gave up all to his Father’s will. When he did, he knew that he could face the cross with peace.

My wife, Marilynn, prayed this prayer during her most difficult trial. We had been trying to conceive for years, to no avail. Finally, one day on the beach, she buried all hopes for a child in the sand. She prayed the prayer of surrender. She said, “Lord, I know that I’ll never be happy with a baby unless I’m happy without one.” And peace flooded her heart (Philippians 4:7).

During your anxious moments, I invite you to pray the prayer of surrender as well. Give up your rights for anything. Bury your baby in the sand. Give the Lord everything. Find your sufficiency in Jesus and Jesus alone (2 Corinthians 12:9). Let nothing on this side of eternity control your emotions - especially anxiety! Relinquish all burdens to Jesus. Let him carry all your concerns (Matthew 11:28-30).

When you do, you’ll find the pathway to peace