“If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” —Matthew 16:24
Lord, I give up my own plans and purposes, all my own desires, hopes and ambitions, and I accept Thy will for my life. I give up myself, my life, my all, utterly to Thee, to be Thine forever. . . .Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, for to me to live is Christ. 1
Those words were written in the early 1900s by a young missionary named Betty Stam, who was soon forced to prove that she meant them. Nine years after writing this prayer, Betty was martyred, along with her husband, at the hands of Chinese communists.
We might not be called to serve exactly like Betty Stam, but we’re called to give up our own plans and embrace God’s will. God may be asking you to be faithful to a husband who’s difficult to love or to homeschool children or to mentor another young woman. Whatever it is, would you accept God’s plans— as Betty Stam did?
1 Betty Scott Stam, 1925, quoted in Elisabeth Elliot, Quest for Love (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 1996), 131.
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Seeking Him daily program
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible ®. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible ® and CSB ® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Make it Personal
Write your own prayer, expressing your heart’s intent to be wholly surrendered to God’s plan for your life.