We are less than two weeks into the new year, and I hope your resolutions and intentions are still strong. However, from my experience, I know that even the best intentions can falter without God’s grace. Here’s a universal truth: no matter how hard we try, our most intense self-efforts cannot compare to what God can accomplish through a willing vessel. The challenge lies in getting ourselves into that “willing vessel” state.
At the start of this year, I committed to surrendering to God’s will above all else. I’ve realized that, as believers, our greatest purpose is to learn from and trust in His love and then actively reflect that love to a world yearning for the true Jesus. Living a surrendered life is genuinely transformative; it frees us from the anxieties of self-preservation, enabling us to genuinely love others without obstructing their path. Let’s embrace this calling and become the hands and feet of the love others desperately need.
Last year, a dear friend gifted me a remarkable nine-day prayer guide called “Novena of Surrender to the Will of God” by Fr. Dolindo and Dr. Greg Bottaro. This powerful resource has been a source of inspiration for me over the past year. As we embark on our journey to deepen our trust in God and reduce stress in 2025, I’m excited to share one of these transformative prayers each day for the next nine days. Let’s dive into day one together:
Day One:
Jesus to the soul: Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations. Even though you can’t see how everything will turn out, I can, and you can trust me.
Repeat three times: “Jesus, I surrender myself to you. I trust you to take care of everything.”
Prayer:
Loving Father, I surrender to you today with all my heart and soul. Please come into my heart in a deeper way. I say yes to you today. I open all the secret places of my heart to you and say, “Come, Jesus.” Jesus, you are the Lord of my whole life. I believe in you and receive you as my Lord and Savior. I hold nothing back from you. Holy Spirit, bring me into deeper conversion to the person of Jesus Christ. I surrender all to you: my health, my family, my sexuality, my resources, my occupation, my skills, my relationships, my time management, my successes, and my failures. I release these things and let them go. I surrender my understanding of how things ought to be, my choice, and my will. I surrender to you the promises I have kept and the promises I have failed to keep. I surrender my weaknesses and my strengths to you. I surrender my emotions, my fears, and my insecurities.
Holy Spirit, inspire my mind right now with whatever else I need to surrender.
(prayerful silence)
I especially surrender this to you.
Lord, I surrender my entire life to you – the past, present, and the future. In sickness and in health, in life and death, I belong to you.
Take, Lord, and receive all my freedom, my memory, my intellect, and my will. You have given me all that I have and I return everything now to you. Dispose of me according to your will. Give me only your love and grace, for with this I am rich enough and have no more to ask. Amen
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