The man or woman who is wholly and joyously surrendered to Christ can’t make a wrong choice – any choice will be the right one. –AW Tozer

Every Prayer – Part 3

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2

(Today’s artwork is supplied by my dear friend, Susanna April. She is a beautiful person and a wonderful letterist. Check her out at susannaapril.com)

In Luke 11, Jesus is talking about prayer. He ends the passage with, “If imperfect parents know how to lovingly take care of their children and give them what they need, how much more will the perfect heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit’s fullness when his children ask him.” Luke 11:11-13 TPT

Richard Rohr says, “The answer to every prayer is the same: it's the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now that might not be healing Grandma instantly. But where there is an influx of Spirit, God has answered the prayer.”

For us modernists who are used to getting things instantly, or are so desperate for answers, or can Google and access information in seconds, this idea around surrender and prayer can be daunting. Doesn’t God hear individual prayers? Can’t he answer them? Won’t he give me what I ask for?

Here’s the thing. I believe God hears every single prayer. All of them. From everyone. I believe God loves us all and hates our suffering probably more than we do, like a mother does her child. But I know people who have prayed for healing, provision, answers, and more, and have gotten none of the specific things they have asked for. I know others who have experienced miraculous healing and provision and wonders…

What's the deal with that?

I don’t know.

But I do know that in answer to every prayer, God sends his Spirit, which Jesus says is the “Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a friend just like me—and he will never leave you. The world won’t receive him because they can’t see him or know him. But you will know him intimately because he will make his home in you and will live inside you.” John 14:17.

At first, this idea of God’s answer may seem like a cop-out, like giving up. A surrender not to freedom, but to confusion. Shouldn’t we fight? Be fervent? Storm heaven? But let it sit with you a while. If you need a black and white rule as to why God answers some prayers, you will also need to acknowledge the other side: why God doesn’t seem to answer other prayers.

But if you can lift your level of understanding up with a little trust and faith and surrender, and let this sit with you a while, I think you’ll find it a most satisfying answer. It’s not giving up. It's not losing. It can feel like it; it can feel like letting go, but as you move to the rhythm of God's grace and dance his dance of love, you’ll discover that it's a grand awakening and a wonderful “finding”.

This is surrender at its most fluid. It's not a loss, it's not giving up or caving in, or casting away. But it's the decision to love, trust and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit, who leads us in truth as we breathe it all in and then out again.

AW Tozer said, “He (God) wills that we are as free as birds to soar and sing our Maker's praise without anxiety. God’s choice for us may not be only one but rather any one of a score of possible choices. The man or woman who is wholly and joyously surrendered to Christ can’t make a wrong choice – any choice will be the right one.”

I believe that more than perfection, moral fortitude, more than fame and fortune and glory, our highest calling and the greatest way to live a life of love to the Divine is through surrender. It’s the end game. The goal and the prize. And if he answers our every prayer by sending us his Spirit, then we have all we need. That's something I want to surrender myself to daily.

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