His Power = My Surrender | Todd Jones

Welcome, church. So good to see you this morning.

I want to welcome those of you on our online

location, wherever it is that you're watching

from, man. We're so glad that you're joining

with us this morning. Over the last two weeks,

I spoke at back -to -back summer camps, and I

spoke 19 times in two weeks. And, man, it was

a grind. Yeah, you can... Thank God that I'm

still standing. But man, after speaking 19 times

at multiple places, I'm always so blessed to

come back here. This is home. And not just this

church, but this is family. You are family. And

so it's so amazing. You are my favorite people

to be able to teach and to be able to open God's

word with. And so I'm so grateful to be here

with you guys. After speaking for that long,

I ended up flying and meeting up with my family

in Southern California and my in -laws took us

to Disneyland. And it was awesome. It was an

incredible experience. I always love going to

Disneyland and watching a bunch of kids lose

their mind and cry at the happiest place on earth.

You know what I mean? Like the parents are taking

their kids to the happiest place on earth. They

took out a second mortgage on their home and

they're like, you will have fun. And their kids

just crying and losing their mind at a different

location. It's great. When I'm at Disneyland,

man, my favorite thing to do is to stay busy.

Like you may have guessed this about me. I'm

not a sit in one spot kind of person, right?

Like I like to do stuff. And that means when

I go to Disneyland, I have a plan. And I'm like,

we will do this and we will do that. We will

get here and we will go there. And I will make

decisions to keep us moving. And I came to realize

that, yes, that might be my choice and my decision.

There's other things like sitting and watching

a parade that exists at Disneyland also. And

my kids like doing that. which is not what I

like to do. And so my kids decided we were gonna

go to the parade, but the problem is, is it wasn't

just like watch the parade, which the parade's

fine and all that, but they wanted to make sure

we had good seats at the parade, which means

that we were gonna sit there for two and a half

hours to find the right place to watch the parade,

because you gotta get the right seats. That means

sitting on the concrete for two and a half hours.

You wanna know how I realized I was old? Literally

the next day, I'm like walking like this. And

my kids are like, what happened to you? I'm like,

you, it's your fault. You made me do this. It

came to the point where I'm like, man, I want

to go do things. And I have a desire of what

I want to do here. I've got it planned out. I

want to do these things. And just because I want

to do them, though, I had to realize that I needed

to surrender to what they wanted to do. I had

to put aside my will and my desire in order to

do what they desired. And I had to surrender.

And I think in life, oftentimes, we live in this

tension of surrendering to God's will or doing

what we want to do. God, I want to do stuff.

I want to do these things, but I also kind of

want to surrender to you, and I'm not sure which

one I want to do. We live in this tension because

we want to trust God, but we still want the steering

wheel. We live in this place where we want God's

guidance without giving up our say. God, we want

a say in this. I'm like, okay, God, I get it.

Like you're God and all that. So we want the

comfort of God's promises and the security of

our own control. And we have to get to a place

where we can surrender to God. If you've been

with us over the last couple of weeks, we've

been going through the book of Luke and we've

been in this collection that we've called Who

You Are. And the idea is this, is that one of

the things that we hold dearly at heights, the

main thing that we hold in front of us is that

Jesus is a big deal. And so if Jesus is a big

deal, then we wanna know about Jesus. And so

as we learn about Jesus's life, that's who it's

about. That's who it's all about. And so it's

who you are, who Jesus is. Because when we understand

who Jesus is, it puts into perspective who we

are. And when he is in the right place in our

life, it allows us to live in the way that he

has called us to live. And we're able to surrender

to him. We're gonna be in Luke chapter five,

Luke chapter five, starting in verse one, it

says this. One day as Jesus was standing by Lake

Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him

and listening to the word of God. As Jesus is

teaching, people are listening to the word of

God. When Jesus speaks, it is the word of God.

I think sometimes we just go, yeah, there's Jesus

and then there's God. When Jesus speaks, it's

the word of God. There's authority in God's word.

And what Jesus says is God's word, right? Dad's

in here, it's Father's Day, right? We have a

script that we say, and it's consisted of all

the things that your dad said that you swore

you would never say. You know what I mean? When

your kids ask why, why, why? And you say, because

I, oh yeah, you've said it too, right? You've

said it too. And you're like, I will never say

that. You swore it off. And now it's your line.

All right, I tell my kids when they ask why,

I say, because I'm the boss. I'm the boss. What

I say goes. When Jesus speaks, it is the word

of God. And there's a lot of major world religions

that will claim that the Bible never says that

Jesus is God. And if you study Jesus's life,

that is just not true because there's multiple

instances where someone refers to Jesus as God

and Jesus does not correct them. There's multiple

instances when Jesus himself alludes to the fact

that he is God. And it says clearly that when

Jesus speaks, it is the word of God. And when

people listen to Jesus, what they're hearing

is the word of God. Verse two, he saw at the

water's edge, two boats left there by the fishermen

who were washing their nets. He got into one

of the boats, the one belonging to Simon. This

is Simon Peter that we see all throughout scripture.

And he asked him to put out a little from the

shore. And then he sat down and taught the people

from the boat. He hopped in a boat and he goes,

hey, I'm gonna take this out. Because we have

to realize that when you follow Jesus, yours

is his. When you follow Jesus, the thing that

you say is yours is actually his. Your stuff

is for the purpose of being used by Jesus. What

Peter didn't say, what Simon Peter didn't say

is he goes, no, no, no, that's mine. Jesus, you

can't take that boat. That's my boat. He didn't

say, hey, no, no, no. Those are my things. What's

yours is his. He owns it. At my house, when I

take anything that's my kids, if I grab it just

for a second and I use it, my kids gonna know

that's mine. And I'm like, bro, I paid for it.

It's all mine. You might think it's yours, but

it's actually mine. That's what we do to God

though. It's all his, but we go, no, no, okay,

God, no, no, no. Like, you don't understand,

God, that's my bank account. Like, yeah, you're

God and all, that's great, but God, that's my

bank account. God, like, that's my car. You know,

I saved up for it and that's my car. Like, it's

my car. God, I know you're good and I know you're

God and I know you're, you know, that stuff's

great and all, but it's my time. I need some

me time, you know what I'm talking about? Everything's

for everyone else, I need me time. God's going,

yes. It's my time anyway, what are you doing?

We have a list of things in our life that you

might go, okay, yeah, God, you're God, but that's

mine. What Simon Peter didn't do with his boat,

with his livelihood, with the thing that he used

because he was a fisherman and that was his job,

he wasn't gonna like, no, that's mine. Because

when you follow Jesus, what's yours is his and

all of your stuff is just a tool to follow him.

Everything that you have is just for him to use.

If you were with us a couple months ago, we went

through a collection. It was called Just Camping.

And the idea was, hey, we're just camping here

anyway. All the stuff that you have, it doesn't

matter. It's gonna be like a tent that's laid

flat and you're not even gonna be here. If you

weren't here for that collection, I encourage

you to go back and watch it. You can watch all

of it. Even if you were here for that collection,

I encourage you to go back and rewatch it. You

know why? Because it postures our heart and sets

up the idea of how we should view this world

that we live in. Everything you have, it's not

yours. If you're a follower of Jesus, it's his

and it's to be used to follow him. Peter understood

that. He goes, yeah, go ahead, get in my boat.

Verse four, when he had finished speaking, he

said to Simon, put out into deep water and let

down the nets for a catch. And Simon's going,

dude, you don't know what we've gone through.

And he answered him and he said, master, we've

worked hard all night. and haven't caught anything.

We've been out fishing all night and we haven't

caught a single thing. And then he says, but

because you said so, I will let down the nets.

What if that was our response? God, it doesn't

make sense. It doesn't make any sense at all,

but because you said so, I will do it. Guys,

I've done all the calculation and God, I know

that you've said to do this, but I've already

checked it out and it's not going to work. But

because you said so, I will do it. God, I've

planned it all out and I've tried everything,

but because you said so, I will do it. We have

to be willing to be obedient. We have to be willing

to make what God says more important than what

we want to do. We have to be willing to be open

-handed, not having all the right answers because

that's what faith actually is. If you have all

the right answers and you've had it figured out,

you don't need faith. But oftentimes that's what

we want to do. We plan our career. I planned

out my whole career. I planned exactly what it's

going to look like. I planned exactly what it's

going to do. We plan out when we're going to

get married. We plan out our kids, how many kids

we're going to have, when we're going to have

kids. We plan out our retirement. We plan out

our income. We plan out our relationships. We

plan out our daily life. And then we go, God,

I'm just living by faith. I got everything planned

out, God, but I'm living by faith. God's like,

you don't have any faith. You've planned it all.

You've left no room for me. What he's saying

here is he's going, hey God, because you said

so, I'm gonna do it. And I think oftentimes we

find ourself in a season of questions because

our plan doesn't go according to planned. And

we go, God, why? God, why is this happening?

I had it all planned out. God, I figured it out

and it's not going the way that I had it planned.

And I think that when we find ourself in a season

of questions, we actually need to be in a season

of faith. God, I trust you. God, because you

said so. Not because I figured it out, not because

it will go according to plan, but because you

said so. You need to let down the nets when it

doesn't make any sense. In 2013, that's where

I found myself. I was called into the lead pastor's

office at the church that I was working at and

he let me go. He said, I don't think that you're

called to. I think you need to question whether

or not you should even be teaching or speaking

or doing anything in ministry. And I was let

go. And it was one of the most difficult days

of my life because it sent me into this place

where I started questioning, God, did you really

call me to this? I started questioning, like,

God, am I even supposed to do this? Like, I was

just told this is probably not what I'm supposed

to do, but I feel like you've called me to do

this. And there was confusion inside. But not

only that, I was left with no way to support

my family. I went into... months of depression

of just trying to figure out what in the world

is going on. God, I had it all planned out. God,

I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And God,

this isn't going according to the plans that

I had. What do I do now? And I was in a season

of so many questions until God started speaking

to me and going, yeah, you may be in a season

of questions, but you need to be in a season

of faith. And yes, it's not going according to

your plans, but you still need to follow what

I've said because I said so. And I had to get

to a place where I said, okay, God, because you've

said so, I'll let down my nets. Even though I've

done all the work, I've done all the things.

I've already been fishing and I didn't catch

anything. But because you said so, I will let

down my nets. Verse six, when they had done so,

they caught such a large number of fish that

their nets begin to break. So they signaled their

partners and they're like, hold on, you gotta

come check this out. And the other boat came

and helped them. And they came and filled both

boats so full that they begin to sink. Can you

picture this for a moment? They didn't catch

anything all night. All of a sudden, Jesus is

like, hey, no, we're gonna go fish. Okay, because

you said so, we're gonna let our nets down. They

fill their boat up, they fill up the next boat.

I can't help but chuckle. Can you imagine being

in a fishing competition against Jesus? Right?

I found out this information. I feel like you

need to know this. Pastor John has been in fishing

competitions. Some of you are like, wait, the

gray haired guy that wears sweatshirts? Yeah,

that guy. Doesn't look like it, but he's been

in fishing competitions. Can you imagine Pastor

John in a fishing competition? That in itself,

you can't imagine that. But just play with me

for a second. If you imagine Pastor John in a

fishing competition, but then he comes home from

the fishing competition and his wife goes, hey,

how'd you do? He goes, well, I didn't win. She's

like, why? Did you not catch anything? No, I

caught like 20 fish. Were they small? No, they

were big. Why didn't you win? Well, there was

this other guy in there that caught 3 ,000. Like,

can you imagine how that conversation went? Jesus

does things that absolutely blows our mind. And

the truth is that I think oftentimes we limit

the power of God and we don't understand how

God, how powerful God truly is. If you're taking

notes, write this down. God's power is mind blowing.

I wanted to put like the little emoji on there

with the mind blowing emoji, just like. Because

that's what it should do to your mind when you

think about the power of God. But I think oftentimes

we limit God's power. This is not possible without

God's power. The things that happen that we see

in scripture are not possible without God's power,

but they're not limited to scripture. The things

that happen in our life today are not possible

without God's power. God is omnipotent. That

means he is all powerful. That is one of the

characteristics of God. And there's no other

being that shares that characteristic. There's

not another being that's like, well, they're

all powerful too. There's only one that shares,

that has the characteristics of being omnipotent,

all powerful, and that is God. God is all powerful.

All right, and I think we limit that and we go,

okay, yes, I know God is all powerful, but then

there's other stuff in my life. And we separate

the fact that God is all powerful from the real

life that we have. But you need to understand

that all powerful means all powerful. That means

that God is more powerful than the government.

That means that God is more powerful than world

politics. That means that God is more powerful

than your addiction. That means that God is more

powerful than your anxiety. That means that God

is more powerful than your decisions and your

desires. That means God is the most powerful.

And if God is all powerful, then it has implications

for our life. But oftentimes we dumb down God's

power in our life. We have to realize that God's

all powerful. That's mind blowing. That's insane

to understand that the only reason you can even

comprehend God's power is because he had the

power to give you the power to understand his

power. Is anyone confused yet? It should blow

your mind when you understand God's power. And

it should change the way that you live. There's

a response that comes when we understand God's

power. When Simon Peter saw God's power, it says

in verse eight, when Simon Peter saw this, he

fell at Jesus's knees and said, go away from

me, Lord. I'm a sinful man. For he and his companions

were astonished. Their mind was blown. at the

catch of fish that they had taken. And so were

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's

partners. See, when we encounter God's power,

our response should be humility. Do you catch

his response here? To an all -powerful God, to

a mind -blowingly powerful God, his response

is humility. So I think we have oftentimes the

wrong response to God's... If we truly understand

God's power, oftentimes we miss the response,

right? And oftentimes our response looks more

like this, which makes no sense. We live in the

Grand Canyon State, right? It's on our license

plate. We know that. And if you've ever been

to the Grand Canyon, the giant hole in the ground,

it's one of the wonders of the world. It's amazing.

Nobody has ever gone to the Grand Canyon and

stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon and looked

over everything and stared out at it and said,

wow, I'm impressive. Like nobody's done that,

right? And you would laugh when we say that because

nobody's done that. But here's the truth is that

oftentimes the God, the all powerful God in our

life, we look back at him who has all power and

we go, God, I'm a big deal. Look at me, gold

star. Look what I've done. But when you encounter

God, the true God, and we realize how big he

is, we're finally free to stop pretending that

we're a big deal. You're finally free to stop

pretending that you're big. when you understand

how big God truly is. All right, the brighter

God's goodness shines, the more clearly we see

our need for him. Just like Simon Peter, he's

like, God, I'm not good enough. Like he falls

at his knees, he's like, get away from me, man,

I'm a sinful man. We have to have this posture

of humility to God to go, when we understand

his goodness, we understand his power. God, you

are a big deal. And when you understand that

you're a big deal, a response, when you understand

that God is a big deal and you are not, then

our response is what flows from that. Verse 10,

it says, then Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid.

From now on, you will fish for people. If you're

taking notes, write this down. God's power gives

me the confidence to tell others. God's power

gives me the confidence to tell others. What

Jesus said to him is, hey, I want you to go fish

for people. which is a weird thing to say, right?

He's not like throwing nets on people randomly,

like, gotcha. Like, that's not what he's doing.

What he's saying is this, is the thing that you've

done since you were a kid, the job that you've

had, that you've trained to do, that has been

your livelihood, that you are talented in, that

you spend time in, that you spend energy in,

that you put your effort towards, all of that,

I want you to now make it about people. And I

now want you to spend your talent. I want you

to spend your time. I want you to spend your

energy. I want you to spend all the things that

you were putting into this thing called fishing.

And now I want you to just fish for people. I

want you to use all the things that I gave you.

And I now want you to reach people for Jesus.

And the charge that he gave to Simon Peter right

there going, okay, now that you've recognized

my power, I want you now to then fish for people.

is not just given to him. That is the purpose

that was given to each one of us. If you are

a follower of Jesus, if you have submitted to

his power, your purpose is to reach people for

Jesus. That's why you're here, right? That is

your purpose. Now your job, the purpose, you

didn't know you're coming to church today to

get your purpose answered. Here we go. Your purpose,

tell people about Jesus. Okay, how you do that,

God has called you specifically to do that the

way he's called you to do that. God has not called

all of you to do the same thing. Your purpose

is the same. How you do it is that God has specifically

called you to. He has not called all of you to

do what I'm doing right now and step on stage

and talk. And that's a good thing. God has not

called us all to do the same thing. We can all

praise God almighty that he has not called me

to be on the worship team. People would leave

church. Be like, I'm finding a new church. If

that bald guy's singing, I'm out. We can praise

God that I'm not on the tech team. You know why?

Because you wouldn't hear anything. I would just

be pushing buttons. I'd be like, that one's shiny.

Boom, boom. They'd be like, get out of here.

They don't even let me back there. They're like,

please leave right now. You're gonna mess something

up. We're not all called to do the same thing,

but you've been called to do something. God has

called you to do something to fulfill your purpose,

but it requires surrendering to his power. It

requires you to surrender to God's power and

go, God, I understand because of your power,

because of your call, I'm surrendering. It's

not me holding my will, I'm surrendering to your

will. Simon Peter understood. He said, because

I follow you, because I've seen your power, I'm

surrendering to you. And verse 11, so because

of that, they pulled their boats up on shore

and left. everything and followed him. They pulled

their livelihood on shore, their boats. That's

what they did to work. And they left it right

there. Not only did they leave what was there,

but what was in the boats, remember there was

two of them filled to the brim with fish. That

would have probably set their family up pretty

nicely. And they left it. That would have probably

been really nice to be able to bring home the

paycheck of all the fish that were in there and

they left it. They left everything. See, following

Jesus requires complete surrender. And what they

didn't do is they didn't hold on to what they

wanted. They followed him. They didn't go, okay,

God, yeah, I'm gonna follow you. But like, those

are my boats. If you own a boat, you know, that's

your baby. You know, I gotta hold on to my boat.

I know I'm gonna follow you. What they didn't

do is go, okay, God, like I get it. I'll leave

my boat, but I'm gonna take all those fish. Like

that was. Insane catch. I gotta take my fish.

They're like, no, I'm gonna follow you. What

they didn't do is go, okay, yeah, I wanna follow

you. And I understand that. That's great. But

I gotta take care of some stuff first. And let

me wait. When it's convenient for me, then I'll

follow you. I just got some stuff going on in

my life. So no, no, no, go follow me. They left

everything to follow him. Following Jesus requires

complete surrender. And I wonder how many of

us in here today are still holding onto something.

I wonder how many of us would go, yeah, okay,

God, I know your power and I'm willing to give

you partial surrender. But there's something

that you're holding on to today. I don't think

anyone came to church today to get this bit of

information that I'm about to give you, but maybe

you've heard this before, maybe you haven't,

but I'm gonna teach you right now how to catch

a monkey, okay? So I know a lot of you were wondering,

how do I catch a monkey? Well, guess what? I'm

gonna tell you. I don't know how they discovered

this, but here's what they discovered is that

when someone went to catch a monkey, it was very

difficult because monkeys apparently are very

evasive. I've never seen one in the wild. I've

been to the zoo, but other than that, I don't

know. But apparently if you're going to try to

catch a monkey, they're going to try to escape

from you. And so what they discovered is that

they took a jar and they tethered this jar to

either a tree or to the ground or something.

And then they put in this jar something that

the monkey would want. What the monkey would

do is he would be attracted to what was in that

jar. And so he would slip his hand into the jar

and grab whatever was in the jar, but then could

not pull his hand out of the jar. And as the

hand was stuck on what they were holding, someone

could come and capture the monkey. The monkey

could get away free. There's a free path to get

away from whatever is coming for them, but they

would then have to release what they're holding

onto in order to do that, to get their hand out.

And they go, what I'm holding onto is so important

that I would rather be stuck than find freedom.

Because of what I'm holding on to. I think some

of you are monkeys today. I think some of you

are holding on to something that's preventing

you from finding freedom today. I think some

of you are going, yes, I wanna follow Jesus and

I understand that the path to freedom is only

in him, but I'm holding on to something in my

life that I'm unwilling to let go of in order

to fully surrender to follow Jesus. And I think

that sometimes the thing keeping us from following

Jesus isn't what we're running toward. It's what

we're refusing to release. Write this down. God's

power is the reason I can live surrendered. God's

power is the reason that I can live surrendered.

God's power through Christ's love is what compels

us to live this surrendered life because God

is all powerful. Because he sent Jesus and this

is what he did through his love for us. We're

able to fully surrender to him. So what does

it look like? How do you fully surrender to Jesus?

First, we have to surrender to him. If you're

gonna live a fully surrendered life, you have

to actually surrender to him. And surrendering

to him is admitting that his power is stronger

than mine. Like I can't do this on my own and

I have to admit his power is stronger than mine.

And I'm gonna surrender to his power. Surrendering,

admitting that his power is stronger than yours

is accepting the gospel. And surrender is required

to accept the gospel. What is the gospel? The

gospel is that you couldn't do it. You were not

good enough and you cannot be good enough to

make a way to have a relationship with God. And

so God had to send Jesus on your behalf to die

in your place on the cross. And admitting that,

surrendering to his power, surrendering to him

to say, I've tried everything. My plans do not

work. I've been fishing all night and I've caught

nothing, but I'm gonna surrender to you. I'm

gonna accept what you've done for me on the cross

and putting your faith and trust in Jesus is

surrendering to him. And if you've never surrendered

to Jesus, the first step in following him is

surrendering to what he's done for you on the

cross. And for those of you who've done that

before, this is a daily decision. It's an every

single day to remind yourself, I've surrendered

to him. Because you can't follow him if you're

holding on to trying to do it your way. If you're

gonna surrender to Jesus, because of his power,

you can live surrendered. It starts by surrendering

to him. Next is surrendering to his purpose.

His purpose in your life, the mission that you've

been given is to fish for people. It's to reach

people. That's what he has called you to do.

That is what he has told you to do, is to fish

for people. people. How do I know that? Because

it says it all throughout scripture. Matthew

28, 19, therefore go, right? Not therefore gather,

not therefore stay, not therefore just sit and

learn, therefore go and make disciples of all

nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It says in Acts

1, 8, but you will receive power when the Holy

Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem. and all Judea and Samaria into

the ends of the earth. You will be my witnesses

in Prescott and Prescott Valley, in Chino, in

Dewey, into the ends of the earth. You have been

put on mission. Listen, the people that you come

in contact with, those are your mission. If you

are surrendered to his purpose for your life,

then you see the people around you as an opportunity

to surrender to his mission and to tell people

about Jesus. and I'm gonna step on some toes

right now, but if you're someone who's going,

but I don't know anyone who's not a believer,

I've built a nice little bubble for myself where

I don't have anybody in my life who's not a Christian.

You're not living into the purpose that God has

given you and you need to put yourself in a place

where you can be around people who don't know

Jesus. And I know that made some of you mad and

you can write me an email and you can get all

mad about it, but listen, it's not what I'm saying,

it's what Jesus said. Your purpose is to fish

for people. And if you're not around people that

you can tell about Jesus, you need to get around

people that you can tell about Jesus because

that's why you're here. As you have been given

a purpose, we have to surrender to his purpose.

But then we have to get to a place in our life

where we surrender to his call. Because yes,

you've been given a purpose, but surrendering

to his call is finding out what specifically

God has called you to do. God has called every

single one of you to do something. but it requires

surrender. You can't hold your plans and what

you want and also say, God, I'm surrendered to

you. You have to surrender to the call that God

has put on your life. Man, I remember packing

everything we owned. Packing everything we owned

and leaving the people that we loved, people

that we had built deeper relationships with,

anyone that we'd ever built relationships with,

man, we loved them. And we were packing up to

move to Prescott, Arizona. I'd never heard of

Prescott before. To Heights Church. I'd never

heard of Heights Church before. But God said,

this is what I've called you to do. I'm saying,

God, but I don't want to do that. I want to do

what I want to do. And he said, no, because you've

surrendered to me and because you've surrendered

to my purpose. I need you to surrender to my

call because I'm calling you to do this. And

what I realized in this time that I was processing

with God, God, I don't wanna do that because

I have plans and I don't wanna leave the people

that I love. God was saying, yeah, you may have

had those plans, but what you've missed is you've

departed from your first love. And that's the

mission that I've given you. And if you're gonna

be surrendered to me and you're gonna be surrendered

to my purpose, then you need to be surrendered

to my call to do what I've called you to do.

And I think for all of us, we have to be attuned

to the Holy Spirit to go, God, what have you

called me to? Because if I'm surrendered to you

and I'm surrendered to my purpose, then I'm surrendered

to your call. God, what are you calling me to

do? What divine appointment have you given me?

What talents have you given me? What interests

have you given me? What things have you put in

front of me to use my surrender to you and my

surrender to the purpose to find the call that

you've put on my life? You will surrender. The

Bible says that you will surrender. It says in

Romans 14, 11, it is written, as surely as I

live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before

me. Every tongue will acknowledge God. Listen

to me, you will surrender. When will it be? When

will it be? Because every person that's ever

walked the earth will surrender to God. It's

not a matter of if, it's a matter of when you

will surrender. So when will you? Surrender.

What is holding you back from complete surrender

to God? What do you need to leave behind in order

to follow him? What do you need to adjust in

your life, in the way that you're living your

life? What do you need to adjust to live into

your purpose and surrender to your call? Because

God's power is worth. to. Let's pray. God, thank

you that your power is worth surrendering to.

God, thank you that your ways are higher than

our ways. And God, even when we have plans and

we have things that we want, God, your ways are

better. God, I pray for your strength for some

people to do what you've said and put their nets

down. God, I pray for those in this room that

are holding on to things, that they would release

them, that they would let them go so that they

can follow you. God, I pray for those in this

room that need to surrender to you for the first

time in their life. They need to surrender to

your saving work on the cross because of your

power. God, you are the only one powerful enough

to save us and you did it through Jesus. And

I pray for surrender to Jesus today. God, we

love you. We're asking for your strength for

surrender. We praise you, Jesus. We pray this

in your name. Amen.