Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: PHP
Program Code: PHP000017
00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:02 Please join us today on Pressing Into His Presence to learn 00:07 how we can walk in the power of surrender. 00:32 Welcome to Pressing Into His Presence. 00:34 This is a series that is teaching us how to have 00:37 a more intimate level of prayer with God. 00:40 And last week we began on the segment of supplication. 00:44 Today we will be continuing that, and we will learn how 00:48 we can walk through the steps of surrendering to God's control. 00:53 If you're following along in your companion book, 00:56 Pressing Into His Presence, we're starting 00:59 today on Page 143. 01:01 What does the word surrender mean to you? 01:06 You know, judging by audience responses that I've received 01:10 over many years, I think I can guess. 01:13 If you're a typical man, you'll most likely think of surrender 01:17 as a sign of weakness, of giving up, the war is over, 01:21 you're being taken captive. 01:24 And if you're a woman the word surrender might send a shudder 01:28 down your spine, accompanied by visions of someone 01:31 controlling your every action. 01:34 Is this along the line of your thinking? 01:36 For most people it is. 01:39 Yet we Christians tell the poor worldly soul to whom we are 01:44 witnessing that all they have to do is surrender to God. 01:48 How can we better explain this in a way that sounds inviting 01:53 to their carnal ears? 01:55 What steps do we offer as instruction? 01:59 You know, several weeks after God identified the obstacle 02:04 to my Christian advancement as a wall of self-preservation, 02:10 I still struggled with surrender. 02:13 Oh how I desired to fully submit my life to the Lord. 02:18 I just didn't know the way. 02:21 And one morning I was paraphrasing 1 John 2:6 02:25 and said, Thank You, Father. 02:28 Thank You that because I abide in Jesus that I walk 02:33 just as He walked. 02:35 Well, I knew I was calling things that are not as though 02:38 they already were, but my eyes were threatening tears because 02:43 it was so painful to recognize how little progress I'd made. 02:48 It was time to wrestle with the Lord just as Jacob did. 02:54 And just as Jacob prayed, I prayed, Oh Lord I'm returning 02:59 Your word to You. You promised it would not return to You void. 03:04 You promised to watch over, to perform it. 03:07 Please Lord, show me how to walk in surrender as Jesus walked. 03:12 I will not let You go unless You bless me 03:17 with a changed character. 03:19 Cause me to follow in Christ's footsteps. 03:23 And instantly, as I was praying, in my mind I saw this gigantic 03:31 elephant, and next to him was this very tiny little, teensy 03:37 weensy sugar ant. 03:39 You know, it's hardly visible. 03:41 And I thought, What does this mean? 03:43 And the Lord impressed this thought on my mind: 03:47 He said, Shelley, the greatest strength that you can muster 03:52 is like that of the tiny ant. 03:55 Whereas My power, by comparison, is like that of the elephant. 04:00 Why would you want to walk in your limited human strength 04:07 when I make all of My power available to you? 04:12 When I ask you to surrender, child, I'm asking you 04:17 to accept My power. 04:19 Suddenly Galatians 3:3 came to my mind. 04:24 This is where Paul said, Oh are you so foolish, 04:27 you foolish Galatians? 04:29 Having begun in the Spirit, are you now trying to perfect 04:34 your walk by the flesh? 04:36 Yes, yes I had been so foolish. 04:40 Trying my utmost to walk with God, I'd been drawing only on 04:45 my own sugar ant strength. 04:48 It was like that tiny little insect trying to roll 04:52 a boulder up a hill. 04:54 And now I realize each morning, every morning that I wake up 04:59 I face a decision, and that decision determines whether 05:03 I walk as a pitiful or a powerful Christian that day. 05:07 If I attempt to perfect my walk by the strength of my flesh, 05:12 I am to be pitied as I limp along hobbled by 05:18 self-destructive habits. 05:20 But if I choose to walk in the power of the Spirit, 05:25 I can run the race of faith with joy. 05:31 You know in 2 Corinthians 12:9, Jesus told Paul, My grace is 05:38 sufficient for you, for My power is made 05:41 perfect in your weakness. 05:43 Now I was receiving much the same message. 05:47 His grace, His divine assistance, His supernatural 05:52 power unto salvation; that's what I needed. 05:56 So I cried out and I said, Father Your word says in 06:00 Psalms 16:11 that You will make known to me the path of life. 06:05 And You will cause me to experience joy in Your presence. 06:10 And then I said, How do I walk as Jesus walked 06:15 in the power of surrender? 06:17 Suddenly this thought came to my mind: If you will to walk 06:23 as Jesus walked, you must follow the path of His passion. 06:29 Now these were the only words that the still small voice 06:32 of the Lord impressed upon me, but it made perfect sense. 06:37 The gateway to salvation is the crucifixion. 06:42 And when we use the word passion, as applied to our 06:45 Savior, it refers to His suffering of the Calvary 06:49 plan on our behalf. 06:51 So what I did was immediately immerse myself in Bible study, 06:57 determined to learn the mystery to walking 07:00 in Christ's footsteps. 07:02 Do you ever weary of the old three steps forward, 07:09 two steps backward routine in your Christian walk? 07:13 You know, the way to overcome this is to learn to walk in the 07:18 power of surrender. 07:20 And it is not that mysterious after all. 07:23 The Spirit's advice was to follow the path 07:26 of Christ's passion. 07:27 And I know Micah 4:2 says that He will show us His ways. 07:32 He said, He will teach us how to walk in His path. 07:38 You know, three great events along the path of Christ's 07:41 passion intrigued my interest, and highlighted symbolic 07:47 significance from my quest to surrender. 07:50 First we must come to that place where we are like Jesus in the 07:55 garden of Gethsemane. 07:56 Secondly, we advance to the point where our actions resemble 08:02 Christ's with respect to the hill of Calvary. 08:05 And finally, we embody and celebrate the power of 08:10 resurrected life as Jesus did the morning He arose 08:15 from the garden tomb. 08:17 Let's look at how these three steps teach surrender, 08:21 and the Scripture promises that we can plant in our hearts 08:25 to be transformed. 08:27 So step one: in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, 08:34 and this should be our prayer every morning, Luke 22:42. 08:45 The first step of surrender is to pray exactly as Jesus prayed, 08:50 asking for God's will to be done rather than ours. 08:56 When first learning the steps of surrender, I was quite humble 09:00 in my supplications. 09:01 But one day I became a little full of myself, 09:04 and I stepped out ahead of God, and I boldly said, Oh Lord, 09:08 I'm willing to do Your will. 09:10 And suddenly I heard just that still small voice, 09:14 and this thought was impressed upon my mind. 09:18 He said, No, you're not! 09:19 Startled, and momentarily silenced by His words, 09:24 I mulled this thought over in my mind. 09:27 And then I realized, I thought I was willing, 09:30 but I had an important lesson to learn. 09:32 If I were truly willing, I would already be walking 09:35 in perfect obedience to what God had previously taught me, 09:39 which I was not. So I cried out and I said, Oh Father, 09:45 I am willing to be made willing. 09:48 And He responded, That's all I ask of you. 09:52 Philippians 2:13 tells us this: 10:05 You see, we need God's power to even change our will. 10:11 For us to be willing, God first must do a work in our hearts. 10:15 And once that has been achieved, when we step out, 10:19 take that first step of faith, we can know that God will 10:22 infuse us with power to act in a manner pleasing to Him. 10:27 In Psalms 40:8 David prayed, Oh I delight to do Your will, 10:34 Oh my God. Your law is written within my heart. 10:37 And I always pray this when I'm seeking to surrender to God. 10:41 At first it was spoken in a spirit of faith only, 10:46 calling things that did not exist as if they did. 10:50 Because let's be honest, not everything God asks of us to do 10:54 appeals to our natural mind. 10:56 But as I prayed this affirmation, as I prayed God's 11:00 word back to Him, it did not return void. 11:02 He has truly performed a work in my heart 11:05 that makes His will a delight. 11:08 Now Psalms 143:10 is one of my favorites. David prayed: 11:25 This cry of David's is a powerful supplication that we 11:31 can include in our prayer of surrender each morning. 11:34 Just pray that God would teach you His will. 11:38 And then I loved the promise that is found 11:41 in Isaiah 30:20, 21 which says that our teacher will not hide 11:48 Himself, but our eyes will constantly behold our Teacher, 11:52 and our ears will hear a voice behind us saying, 11:56 This is the way, walk in it, when we turn to the left hand, 12:01 or to the right. You see, when we ask God to teach us His will, 12:06 we can count on Him doing just that. 12:10 Pray you will respond to the promptings of your Teacher. 12:15 And then Paul said this in Philippians 2:5-8. 12:23 He said, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ 12:27 Jesus, who made Himself of no reputation. 12:32 He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, 12:38 even the death of the cross. 12:41 We need to pray for the mind of Christ. 12:46 Christ loved sinners, but He loathed sin. 12:51 Sin was an abomination to His holy character. 12:54 We must despise sin and desire to avoid it at all cost. 13:00 There is a cost to doing this. 13:03 To walk in absolute humility like Christ, we must be willing 13:08 to die to self, which takes us to step two, 13:12 which is the hill of Calvary. 13:16 In Luke 9:23 Jesus... 13:30 How often? once a year, or when we're baptized, 13:34 or once a week when we come to church? No. Jesus said: 13:44 Have you ever heard this saying, Oh, we've all got 13:49 our cross to bear. 13:50 Bless her little heart; that no good man of hers is out running 13:54 around again drinking. 13:55 You know, typically when someone says that type of thing, 13:59 Oh, we've all got our cross to bear, 14:01 it describes some kind of earthly burden 14:05 that doesn't seem fair. 14:08 But that's not what Christ referred to when He said, 14:11 Pick up your cross daily. 14:13 In 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul said, I die daily brothers. 14:18 I mean it. The apostle Paul understood what Jesus meant by 14:22 taking up his cross daily. 14:24 In fact every person to whom Jesus spoke knew that to take 14:28 up the cross meant that you were on your way to be 14:31 crucified unto death. 14:33 The secret of Paul's victorious walk with the Lord 14:37 is that he understood how to die to self daily, 14:41 and how to live for God. 14:44 I warn you in advance, this step is difficult. 14:47 It isn't achieved in an instant. 14:50 We so little understand the principle of dying to self. 14:53 Earthly things excite the lust of the flesh. 14:57 They excite the lust of our eyes, and the pride of life, 15:02 but their pleasures are only passing. 15:04 To be friends with the world, James says, 15:08 is to be enemies of God, and we break our Father's heart. 15:14 We must set our mind on things above, 15:17 not on the things of this earth. 15:19 This requires self-denial at every step 15:23 to walk this victoriously with God. 15:25 Who can do it? You know, Jeremiah 13:23 says, Can an 15:30 Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard change his spots? 15:35 Then may you also do good who are accustomed to doing evil. 15:39 We have no better chance of changing our carnal nature, 15:43 by our human strength, than the sugar ant has of rolling 15:48 a boulder up the hill. 15:50 But don't become discouraged. 15:53 God knows, and He is waiting for us to draw on His power. 15:59 That's His plan. In fact, Romans 8:13... 16:03 Just absolutely love this Scripture. 16:07 Romans 8:13 says: 16:27 Did you notice that Romans 8:13 clearly states, by the Spirit 16:34 working within us, we put to death our misdeeds. 16:38 See, when Jesus said to take up our cross daily, 16:43 He knew we didn't have the power to crucify our own flesh nature. 16:48 He knew we needed a coexecutioner. 16:51 We need the Holy Spirit. 16:53 It's a joint operation. 16:56 We must cooperate, cooperate with the Spirit of God, 17:01 counting on His power. 17:03 Our heart cry should be, Oh Lord, help me pick 17:06 up my cross today. 17:08 Help me die to self. 17:09 Case me, by the power of Your Spirit to put to death 17:12 the misdeeds of my flesh. 17:14 You now, Paul said in Galatians 5:24, 25, Those who are Christ's 17:22 have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 17:26 And if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 17:33 Paul knew the only way that we can keep in step with the Spirit 17:39 is if our flesh has been crucified. 17:41 Only then will we not lag behind Him, or run ahead of Him. 17:47 He also said in Galatians 2:20, he said, I have been 17:52 crucified with Christ. 17:54 It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. 17:58 And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith 18:03 in the Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself for me. 18:08 When Christ lives in us, we enjoy abundant life on earth, 18:14 and then we receive an inheritance that won't 18:18 fade away in eternity. 18:20 Now that's a life well spent! 18:23 And, finally, in Galatians 6:14 Paul said, God forbid that I 18:28 should boast except in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, 18:34 by whom the world has been crucified to me 18:37 and I to the world. 18:39 Do we find our boast in the Lord's salvation? 18:44 Is the world crucified to us, or do we still respond 18:49 to its siren song? 18:50 What profit is there Jesus said, if we gained the whole 18:54 world and lose our own soul? 18:56 Paul declared to fellow believers in Colossians 3:3, 19:00 He said, for you have died, and your life is hidden 19:04 with Christ in God. 19:06 Christians are to be dead to self, 19:09 dead to the lure of the world, and its decaying force. 19:13 Our true life is in Christ. 19:16 We are secure in His love. 19:19 And because He lives, we will live also. 19:23 The angel's message to the woman at the tomb was this: 19:29 Do not be alarmed. 19:31 You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. 19:37 He's not here. He is risen. 19:39 And that's what I'm telling you today. 19:42 Don't be alarmed at the thought of dying to self. 19:45 Christ didn't stay in the tomb. 19:48 He's alive and so, too, will you be. 19:51 More alive than ever! 19:53 Don't be afraid of dying to self, because there's a 19:58 better life to be enjoyed. 20:01 As Paul proclaimed in Philippians 3:10, He said, 20:04 It is once we are conformed to Christ's death that we can 20:09 finally know the power of His resurrection. 20:13 Which leads us to our third step of this surrender process. 20:17 And that is to arise with resurrection power. 20:22 How do we do that? 20:24 Well, Jesus gives us the answer in Luke 11:9-13. Jesus says: 20:54 You see, these verbs: ask, seek, and knock, here in verse 9, 21:01 they're linear verbs in the Greek language. 21:04 This means that they are a continuous action. 21:06 We are to ask and keep on asking, 21:09 to seek and keep on seeking, to knock and keep on knocking, 21:14 not because we're begging the Lord, 21:17 but as a result of our constant need. 21:20 How do we receive resurrected life after we have died daily? 21:26 It is the Spirit who gives life. 21:30 We ask for the Holy Spirit daily. 21:34 We earnestly seek the Lord to pour out His Spirit on us. 21:40 We knock on the door of heaven, in acknowledgment of how much 21:47 we need the Spirit. 21:49 Ephesians 5:18 commands us, and in the Greek it's very 21:55 obvious this is a continuous action. 21:57 It's saying, ever be filled, ever be stimulated 22:02 by the Holy Spirit. 22:04 Like I said, in the Greek this verb, to be filled, 22:10 means it's a continuous action. 22:13 It's a continuous filling that we need. 22:17 We need to be baptized, to be immersed in His Spirit daily. 22:24 It is the Spirit's power that causes us to bear the fruit 22:30 of love, joy, and peace within our hearts, and to develop 22:36 the patience, kindness, and goodness toward mankind, 22:41 and to express faithfulness, humility, and self-control 22:46 in our walk with the Lord. 22:48 That's the fruit of the Spirit. 22:50 Scripture tells us, it's actually Romans 5:5, 22:56 that God pours His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. 23:02 And only those who are led by the Spirit are God's children. 23:09 The Spirit is our teacher. 23:12 Without Him we cannot understand the things of God. 23:18 It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that God works in us 23:24 to will and to act according to His good purposes. 23:27 And it is by the Spirit that we are sealed 23:32 for the day of redemption. 23:33 Without His power at work within our lives, we are nothing more 23:39 than sugar ant substitutes for Christians. 23:42 Our hour of triumph will come when we understand that we 23:49 cannot save ourselves, recognizing that the glory 23:54 of our salvation belongs to God. 23:57 You know, Acts 5:32 tells us that the Spirit of God is given 24:05 to those who obey Him. 24:08 Only one man ever walked this earth who was given the fullness 24:12 of the Spirit without measure, and that was Christ Jesus, 24:16 who walked in perfect obedience. 24:19 The more we obey, the more we are emptied of self, and the 24:23 greater the measure of His Spirit that will be given to us. 24:27 Our responsibility is simply to surrender to God, 24:31 to open up our hearts and let the King of glory come in. 24:36 This is the most important supplication that you and I 24:42 can make in our daily prayers. 24:44 Each morning when we get up we should make earnest 24:49 supplication for the Holy Spirit as our source of power 24:53 to walk in. We should pray to walk in the power of surrender, 25:00 to run with endurance, to be a light bearer to the world. 25:05 We need to seek God early. 25:08 This is absolutely the greatest pursuit of day. 25:13 Please hear me! Praying for the Holy Spirit morning by morning, 25:18 is the greatest pursuit of the day. 25:20 The cause of God is crippled in our lives when we lack 25:24 passionate, personal prayer, and knowledge of His promises. 25:28 We need to pray for an unquenchable desire to read 25:33 God's inexhaustible word. 25:36 We need to cry out to be sanctified by His word. 25:41 It is by the word of God and the Holy Spirit, that we develop 25:47 and intimate oneness with God. 25:50 Contemplation of His love for us should awaken our awe. 25:56 We cry out, Abba Father, and with faith we believe that 26:02 He will hear our supplications, and that He will maintain 26:08 our cause as each day may require. 26:12 Faith in His faithfulness is essential to prayer. 26:18 You know, supplication is a time of presenting our personal 26:28 requests before God. 26:30 We've had praise, repentance, affirmation, intercession when 26:35 we're praying for others, and now supplication. 26:39 We don't know how to pray as we should, but when we come to God 26:48 and with an earnest heart, the Holy Spirit will come to our 26:53 aid, and He will teach us how to pray. 26:58 Having pressed in this manner into His presence, 27:03 and supplication, going before the King of kings, now God is 27:11 ready to hold out His scepter of love, and He bids us, 27:16 Come a little closer. 27:18 And as we hear His command, and this is His command, 27:23 Be still and know that I am God. 27:27 Now we are prepared to stand in His presence. 27:34 I hope that you will join us next time as we begin 27:38 considering how the Bible says God speaks to His people. 27:44 We're going to identify ten different categories, 27:48 ten different manners in which God speaks to His people. 27:53 And now that we've pressed in this far into His presence, 27:57 we're ready to step into the Holy of Holies. 28:01 Our prayer for you today is that the grace of our Lord and 28:04 Savior Jesus Christ, the love of the Father, 28:07 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit will be with you always. |
Revised 2015-01-29