Shatter: Leave Your Idols BehindSample

Day 3: Surrendering it to God

One of the most important lessons we need to learn in life is that we are powerless without God. If you have been a believer for a while, you have probably had this principle engrained in you since the beginning of your faith journey. For newer Christians, it might be a lesson you are still trying to wrap your head around. Regardless of how familiar this idea is, Christians of all spiritual maturities still struggle with this concept of God’s sovereignty. This struggle could look like never prioritizing God’s Word as an absolute authority over our lives. It could look like constantly trying to figure out our problems on our own. It could look like dismissing the power of prayer or neglecting to pray at all. But in our fight to leave our idols behind, we must fully surrender to God.

In James 5, we can examine the true power of prayer and taking our needs to God. This Scripture is extremely blunt about how we should pray. Verses 13-16 are just James repeatedly telling us, “If you have a problem, pray about it and get others to pray with you.” James uses words like “fervently” and “earnestly” in this passage to describe how we should be praying. We should be praying consistently, passionately, and intensely. When something burdens our hearts, it does not go away easily. When we have problems, we often think about them constantly. Rather than dealing with them ourselves, we need to pray immediately after those thoughts come up. If we look at the idols in our lives, these are things that we simply cannot give up on our own. We need to be fervent in our prayers. It will take an incredible amount of strength and discipline to resist temptation, and God is the only One Who can give us that strength and discipline.

James then goes on to give us the historical example of Elijah’s fervent prayer for there to be a drought, which God answered. There was a drought for three and a half years, and when Elijah asked for rain again, God granted him rain. Elijah was a righteous man and found favor in God’s eyes. He had incredible faith and surrendered fully to God’s sovereignty.

James 4:7-10 tells us that we need to have that same heart of surrender. We cannot be fighting God while simultaneously trying to depend on Him. This passage specifically calls out believers who are “double-minded.” This refers to believers who are worshipping anything other than God. When we have idols, our minds cannot focus on the things of the Lord. Once we realize that we have been serving another master, that we lack the faithfulness that God shows us, and that we are powerless without God—that is when we can fully and humbly submit ourselves to Him. This means we are no longer living for ourselves. We are no longer looking for the things of the world to satisfy our brokenness. It means we look to God for our direction and satisfaction. 1 John 5:14-15 affirms this, saying that when we seek after and pray for the things of God’s will, we will receive them.

Questions to Consider:

• Is there any part of God’s sovereignty that you are unsure of?
• Do you feel like you ever rely on yourself instead of fully relying on God?
• When was the last time you fervently prayed about something?

Written by Kyndra