The Heart of Worship

The heart of worship

is surrender

Surrender -

submission =

loser, defeated.

Modern world;

win, succeed,

overcome

Not; yield,

submit, obey

Surrendering is the heart of worship, “...because he first loved us”

1Jn 4:9-10

“Give yourselves to God… surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes.”

Romans 6:13

“So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us…offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer.” Rom. 12:1

Notice the first and last words of that verse are the same: offer .

Offering yourself 100% to God is what worship is all about.

Can I Trust God?

Trust is an essential ingredient to surrender. You won’t surrender to God unless you can trust Him - and you won’t trust him until you know him better.

Fear prevents us surrendering to God - and as perfect love casts out fear we need to know the evidences of God loving us.

God says he loves youYou’re never out of God’s sightHe cares about every detail of your lifeHe gave you the capacity to enjoy all sorts of pleasureHe has good plans for your lifeHe forgives youHe is lovingly patient with youPs 139:3, matt 10:30; 1 tim 6:17; jer 29:11; ps 86:5; ps 145:8

Romans 5:8

Admitting our LimitationsA second barrier to total surrender is our pride. The desire to be ‘in

control’ is one of the oldest

temptations. Surrendering is not

for cowards or doormats.

“the reason so many people are still troubled, still

seeking, still making little forward

progress is because they haven’t come

to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give

orders, and interfering with

God’s work within us.”

A. W. Tozer was a man known for his personal intimacy with God and for

inspiring in others that same intimacy. He authored over a dozen

books, and is probably best known for The Pursuit Of God and Knowledge Of

The Holy.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1897, he found the Lord at the age of 17. Tozer pastored a Christian and Missionary

Alliance Church in Chicago for 31 years before moving to Toronto where he served until he died in

1963.

What it means to SurrenderIt is not passive

resignation, fatalism, laziness,

accepting the status quo.It can mean

sacrificing your life or suffering on

God’s behalf.Surrender is not

for cowards!

Likewise, it does not mean giving up rational thinking. God doesn’t want robots.

And remember: God gave you your personality - surrendering it allows God to enhance it.

“The more we let God take over, the more truly ourselves we become-because he made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be...It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to his personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own”

Simon Peter modeled surrender in Luke 5:5, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But, because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Is your money surrendered?

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matt 6:24

Trust - do you rely on God?

Abraham trusted God that he would lead - not knowing where he would go.

Mary expected a miracle not knowing how

“Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”

Ps. 37:7

The supreme example of self-surrender is Jesus.

“Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.”

Mark 14:36

The Blessing of SurrenderSurrender brings peace:

"Submit to God and be at peace with him;

in this way prosperity will come to you.

Job 22:21

Surrender brings Freedom:

“...offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!”

Romans 6:17

“the greatness of

a man’s power

is in the

measure of his

surrender.”

William Booth served the Lord with unflagging zeal and devotion throughout his long life. He did so despite often vehement opposition from various quarters.

His ever loyal son, Bramwell, once asked him the secret of his strength. In response Booth revealed that as a boy he had knelt at a bare table in the schoolroom of a church. There he vowed that "God should have all that there was of William Booth."

Years later his daughter, Eva, added her perspective: "That wasn't really his secret. His secret was that he never took it back."

God uses surrendered people

“I am the Lord’s

servant, and I am

willing to accept

whatever He

wants.” Lk. 1:38

“So give

yourselves

completely to

God.” James 4:7a.

The Best Way to Live

Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works. All other approaches lead to frustration.

The King James version calls surrender “your reasonable service.”

Another version translates it, “the most sensible way to serve God.” Rom. 12:1 .

So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

2 Cor. 5:9

The greatest hindrance to God’s blessing in your life is not other people - it is you!

Your self-will, stubborn pride, personal ambition - you cannot fulfill God’s plans for your life while focussing on your own

For God to do a deep work in you you have to surrender...

...regrets, problems, ambitions, hurts, fears, dreams, weaknesses, hang-ups...

There is a moment of surrender, and there is the practice of surrender which is moment by moment and lifelong. The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, so you may have to resurrender your life 50 times a day. You must make it a daily habit.

I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Cor. 15:31

Jesus said, “If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up their lives daily to follow me.”

Lk 9:23

Are you ready to do inconvenient,

unpopular, costly, even

(seemingly) impossible tasks?

Are you ready to do the opposite

of what you feel like doing?

Bill Bright - founder of Campus Crusade

for Christ - 4 spiritual laws tract, Jesus

film, over 150 million come to Christ.

Why did God bless him so much?

“When I was a young man , I made a

contract with God...and signed my name

at the bottom. It said,

“From this day I am a slave of Jesus

Christ”

Point to Ponder:

The heart of worship is surrender

Verse to Remember:

"Surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes."

Romans 6:13b (TEV)

Question to consider:

What area of my life am I holding

back from God?