When Elisabeth Elliot was 12 years old she prayed the prayer written below. It was not just a one-time, fleeting prayer but, rather, this prayer was a banner over her life. It is a prayer of earnest, heart-felt, genuine surrender. Elisabeth came across this prayer, originally prayed by Betty Scott Stam, a missionary to China, and adopted it as her own.
It reads (emphasis added):
“Lord,
I give up all my own plans and purposes,
All my own desires and hopes,
And accept Thy will for my life.
I give myself, my life, my all,
Utterly to Thee, to be Thine forever!
Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit.
Use me as Thou will,
Send me where Thou will,
And work out Thy whole will in my life,
At any cost, now and forever!”
—Betty Scott Stam
This is a dangerous prayer as far as our flesh is concerned! It's drenched in confessions of complete surrender of her own plans for her life. That's what the world tells us, isn't it? This is MY life. Am I not free to do as I please? We are sold the lie, that it is our life, our body, our choice, our future, our money.
This prayer says otherwise. Bettie knew that the Bible has told those that have surrendered to Christ, just as Christ died to the will of His Father hanging on the cross, so we too are to die to our will on this earth.
Are we not to follow in our Savior's footsteps? We do after all call ourselves "Christ-followers." This prayer is a leap of trust. It is evidence of a confident faith in The One being prayed too. There is an understanding in this prayer, that the reward is in Heaven. Heaven is our home. Earth is not our home.
Denying self is so hard in the flesh because we doubt the goodness of The One we are entrusting ourselves to. He is The One who is good. He is The One who is loving. He is The One who is kind. He is The One who is sovereign. He knows the details. He has us safely in the palm of his hand. He will be with us. He is faithful.
Yet, though we confess these things in our Sunday praise, and in the quiet of the morning, Bible spread before us - still - we find ourselves questioning...
But Lord, can I really do this that you are asking of me, Lord?
I feel scared. What if X,Y, Z happens? What if X, Y, Z doesn't happen? What if I die doing this? What will my child grow up and think about this and how it affected her life? What if I hurt the ones I love as I obey your call? These are the type of questions filling our heads when He is asking us to hold his hand and jump into the scary *canyon of full surrender with Him!
*(Canyon of full surrender: a reference to the children's book Hind's Feet on High Places - on Amazon - I highly recommend this book! Caveat: creepy illustrations in it, but rich (rich!) words)
If we could only see from the Lord's perspective. Oh, ye of little faith! I believe he is whispering..."I've GOT you! I promise you, I will not abandon you in my calling. Walk forward and TRUST me. Jump!"
This is the life of faith. There are some seasons he will ask us to serve him in the mundane, day-to-day: laundry, meal prep, and grass cutting on repeat. There are other seasons he may ask us to do something that feels too big, too hard, too costly, too drastic.
What is he asking of you today?
Is he asking you to move around the world? Is he asking you to make amends with the friend who hurt your feelings? Is he asking you to cook the meal for the lonely, elderly neighbor? Is he asking you to serve your husband after you have felt hurt by him? Is he asking you to take your child to the scary part of town to serve the needy? Is he asking you to move your family to that side of town to stay?
Will we respond with the prayer that Bettie and Elisabeth prayed? Are you truly opening your heart to him? Are we even asking?
As Elisabeth Elliot opened her radio program for 13 years so I will close this blog post with these 2 verses that remind us we can pray these radical type prayers that may cost us with peace-filled hearts:
Jeremiah 31:3
He loves you with an everlasting love
and
Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is your dwelling place and underneath are His everlasting arms
In Christ, you are loved and safe. You are not home.
Remember that with me, dear friend, as you put your "yes" on the table in faith, whatever he is asking of you today or in the days ahead.
For further encouragement: Read Hebrews 11
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