May I pursue You with all my heart, seek to know You with all my mind, chase after Your presence with all my soul, and willingly run after You and Your ways with all my strength. Amen.
O God, I wrote this sentence last year as the introductory prayer in my book on Pursuit. Words I truly meant as I typed them on my computer, yet words I find so difficult to actually live out on a daily basis. That tiny word “all” continually convicts and challenges me. Only 3 letters, but 3 letters which encompass everything. A word which You, LORD, take so seriously. Again and again in Your Word, You declare how You desire “all” of me, not just the parts I am willingly to yield over to Your lordship.
You long for me to:
- Love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Luke 10:27)
- Trust You with all my heart. (Proverbs 3:5)
- Submit to You in all my ways. (Proverbs 3:6)
- Obey You with all my heart. (Psalm 119:34)
- Serve You faithfully with all my heart. (1 Samuel 12:24)
May 2019 be the year I chose to go “all in” with You. Holy Spirit, reveal to me the areas of my life where I am still clinging to my self-centered desires instead of surrendering all of myself to You. Grant me the courage to let go of my fears and embrace You with all that I am. I don’t want to miss Your good plans for me because I am unwilling to wholeheartedly yield to Your transforming power in every aspect of my life. Each day may I wake up with the goal of “all in” living with You, not just trusting You as savior of my sins, but as Lord of every nook and cranny of my heart, soul, and mind.
In the name of Jesus, the one who gave His all for me,
Amen.
For further prayer and meditation:
On a scale from 1-10, consider how “all in” you are with God in every area of your life—how you spend your time, your money, etc. Who or what takes precedence in your heart and mind? Who or what do you love more than God Himself?
“Anything less than the complete surrender of our lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ is robbing God of the glory he demands and deserves. It’s also cheating ourselves out of the eternal reward God has reserved for us.
We won’t come alive, in the truest and fullest sense, until we die to self. And we won’t find ourselves until we lose ourselves in the cause of Christ.
It’s time to ante up.
It’s time to go all in.
If Jesus is not Lord of all, then Jesus is not Lord at all.
It’s all or nothing.
It’s now or never.”
Mark Batterson, from his book “All In”
“All In” performed by Matthew West, written by Matthew West, Jason Houser, A.J. Pruis
