“Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Luke 23:46
When Jesus prayed to His Father, he drew strength from praying the Word of God. You will too. Consider the context of His prayer..
“In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed. In Your righteousness deliver me. Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; for Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me. You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit.” Psalms 31:1-5
Praying the Word of God honored the character of God, and released His will into the hand of God. It will do the same for you.
The 21st Century understanding of commit is more associated with a white-knuckled grip than a complete release. In the 1st Century the word did not mean an intensified effort to a difficult task. It meant releasing an impossible task into the hands of someone else. Commit referred to letting go of one’s life and property and placing it before another person who could be trusted to keep it and invest it. Letting go led to freedom. Holding on led to prison. Jesus held on long enough to the cross to complete the task God had given Him, but He let go of it when God said, “Enough is enough.”
“Our greatest contribution to that (revival) is to recognize the difference between what we can do and what God alone can do, so we pray. But as we wait and pray and work,” OS Guinness
Praying and releasing Himself into the hand of His LORD, Jesus trusted the character of His Father to be His keeper. Praying the Word of God affirmed God’s character as Jesus endured the worst trials of His life. His last agonizing moments upon the cross were filled thoughts of God as His refuge, deliverer, listening ear, strength, stronghold, savior, rock, fortress, leader and guide who would pull him out of the net set for Him.
Jesus turned to the Word of God in prayer to focus upon The Truth. Satan remains the father of lies. Praying the Word of God affirms The Truth, and exposes the liar. Pray!
Jesus prayed His way to the cross, and stayed on the cross to complete the redemptive plan of God. Jesus told His followers they must take up their own cross and follow Him. The power of the resurrection is unleashed in you by your own obedience to a very personal crucifixion.
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23
The Apostle Paul didn’t just point the early church down this path to a personal Calvary. He led the way.
“I affirm, brethren, the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” 1 Corinthians 15:31
Self-denial doesn’t mean denying yourself certain things. It means embracing your certain death. Denying yourself the right to live is not an inconvenient fast. It is a permanent death. Dying to self should not be confused with a one-time event. It is an ongoing exercise. Paul said he died daily. It may take more. Don’t settle for anything less.
Paul refused to underestimate his capacity to try and escape the cross of Christ by claiming his own rights. He prayed his way to the cross, and prayer kept him there until Jesus completed His work in him.
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will complete it, until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
In the early 1990’s before the fall of the communist regime in Romania, I remember listening to Pastor Tson speak on “The Theology of Martyrdom.” Exiled from his home country for preaching the gospel, he expressed concern about the use of the word “commitment” to describe the life of faith in the American church. He was unfamiliar with it, and distrusted it. In Romania the only commentaries available to him were printed prior to The 1917 Revolution. He knew the life of faith as “absolute surrender,” not personal commitment. He warned 10,000 Texas pastors gathered before him not to put their trust in their commitment. He told us to release ourselves to the cross of Christ and die. Commitment increases personal effort. Surrender releases the power of the resurrection.
“And when you do yield yourself in absolute surrender, let it be in the faith that God does now accept of it. That is the great point, and that is what we so often miss… be occupied with God… look up to God… remember there is a God present that takes note of it, and writes it down in His book…” Andrew Murray
NOTE TO SELF: There is a big difference between increasing your own effort and releasing yourself into the hand of God.
When you pray, Release Every Single Thing into the hands of Jesus. Find R.E.S.T. upon the cross, and die to self. Trust in the power of the resurrection to release in you the courage and the character of Christ, only God can provide. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
Dr. Gary Miller, www.talklesspraymore.com