Radical Relinquishment: Embracing God's Will

Fervent Prayer

After one has given up their life to God, it is time that they begin to search for God's will in their life. 

One must first understand that when they live in absolute surrender to God, God's will often is revealed to them. 

The great David Livingstone from the time of his salvation had a deep passion for spreading the word of God. After prayer and deep conviction, he knew God wanted him to be a missionary. Only... to China. Wait, but David Livingstone went to Africa. What changed his mind? Well, it was when Livingstone was preparing to go to China when the Opium War broke out keeping him from going into the country. Greatly discouraged, he began to pray and ask God why He closed this door. 

It was shortly after this that at a meeting, Livingstone heard the missionary, Robert Moffat. Moffat began to speak of the needs, heathenistic culture, and lives of the people in Africa. It was then that Livingstone became captivated, and God revealed where He wanted him to go. 

God may close doors. They may be big, or they may be small, but God always closes a door to open an even bigger one. 

God says in His word specifically in James chapter one that if one lacks wisdom, they should ask God for it, and God will give generously without condemnation. Right after this, it says how one should ask. It says, ask in unwavering faith. 

If you need wisdom whether that be to make a decision or to understand God's will, you need to pray. You need to ask God for wisdom in unwavering faith. 

As long as there is faith, you can move mountains, but you need to believe God will fulfill His promise. 

There is an incredibly underappreciated value in prayer. It is that the prayer of a righteous man, one in surrender to God, has great power. The modern church has completely discredited prayer by calling it simply a way in which we talk to God. 

The church forgets the witness of George Muller. Muller was a man who gave everything of value he owned away to the poor to follow God. God called him to open orphanages, but he had no money. He is most popular for the true story in which one night, Muller was informed that there was no food for the next day's breakfast. Muller spent the night in prayer that God would provide food. The next morning in the four different houses that held orphans, children began to sit at the table waiting for a meal when a Christian baker brought in enough bread to feed every child. The baker told that as he went to bed the night prior, God had impressed on him to make bread for Muller and the orphans. 

Not much later a knock on the door signaled the local milkman whose cart broke down in front of the orphan homes. He inquired if the orphans could use the milk that as unloaded for him to fix his cart. In this God provided. Muller over the course of his life never told others of his needs, yet always lived off of the donations of others. Muller stewarded over $7 million dollars in donations (worth over $250 million dollars today). This was all done through prayer. Fervent prayer. This is evidence that there is power in prayer. 

If we pray, God will answer. View prayer as it is. A direct line to the God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt. If one asks Him to reveal His will in unwavering faith, He will. Possible not in their timing, but in due time, God will reveal it. How God's will is revealed will be the topic of the next chapter.

The more we follow God in complete surrender, the more obvious His will becomes.