f we’re honest, we like being in control.
It can look different in each of us. You like having a plan, knowing what’s next; or maybe it’s feeling like if you just try hard enough, do everything right, pray just the right words, you can manage the outcome. But surrendering to God means releasing our illusion of control.
Romans 12:1 talks about offering our lives as a living sacrifice. Not a Sunday-morning version of ourselves; not just the polished, spiritual parts. Our whole selves, everything inside of us, that’s where surrender starts.
I picture it like hanging laundry on a clothesline. Taking out all the parts of ourself and seeing them in the sunshine, blowing in the wind, before God. Yes, even those parts.
That’s what makes surrender so deeply personal, we are vulnerable.
Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. That verse sounds comforting, until you actually try to live it, then it’s terrifying. Because not leaning on your own understanding means admitting you may not see the full picture. It means loosening your grip and saying, “God, I don’t get this… but I trust You,” choosing to let go when control feels safer.
Surrender doesn’t feel safe. But it’s not defeat.
It feels like losing at first. Losing control, certainty, what we think should happen or a version of the future we imagined. Jesus showed us on repeat that God’s primary desire is not that we follow all the rules and make things just right. It’s relationship that He wants; he wants our heart, all of it…all of us. Yes, even that part. And it’s only when we stop gripping so tightly the delusion that we have control, when we surrender, that our hands are finally open enough to receive.
In Psalm 63, David writes from a ‘dry and weary land’ and yet his soul thirsts for God more than relief. His surrender to the Father didn’t seem to be dependent on circumstances lining up. “My soul longs for You.” That sounds like relationship. It sounds like trust.
Like David in the desert, our genuine surrender doesn’t happen in the spotlight, it happens like a whisper inside you. Brennan Manning taught a breath prayer to center oneself in God’s love. On the inhale he began, “Abba,” and on the exhale surrendered, “I belong to you.” (I often use this breathing prayer when doing yoga).
Today, maybe surrender looks like simply admitting, “God, I don’t understand.” Maybe it’s letting go of an outcome or choosing to step aside when anxiety or pride tells you to step in. Whatever it is, offer it to God quietly. Abba, I belong to you. Offer it vulnerably.
Abba, I belong to you. Offer him all that is within you. Yes, even that part.
© Susan Landry, 2026
Worship Together:
Here I am to Worship - Hillsong
I Surrender All - Cece Winans
If We’re Honest - Franchesca Battistelli
Extra for kids:
Activity:
Supplies - three not see through cups. A coin
Say: Our emotions are this coin. When we are excited we want to show it to our friends. When we feel loved, we want to hug it close. But when we feel sad or angry we might want to hide it.
Place the coin under one of the cups and mix asking the children to find it.
Even when others can’t see the coin under the cup or when we think we’ve lost it, God will always know where to find it. No matter how hard we try to hide emotions, God sees it. It will be a lot easier to tell Him our thoughts and feelings instead of hiding it.
What are ways that we can tell God about our feelings?
We can sing about our feelings, pray about them, and talk to our parents!