Five Powerful Surrender Habits

Small Daily Practices That Open Our Hearts to God’s Leading

By Mary DeMuth

In the past few years, I have struggled with control.

Can you relate?

I clung to expectations, my way of doing things, and a desire to succeed. And then I wondered why my spiritual life stagnated.

Enter Lent.

Every Lent, I paint Bible verses that have had meaning to me, but last year, I decided to paint prayers of surrender instead. I hoped that painting them would serve as a reminder to surrender what I clutched.

Below are five areas of surrender I practiced. May each help you grow your trust in this next season of life.

One: I Surrender Splash

We live in a gigantic culture, always trying to up each other, going bigger and better. Spectacular is what we chase, and in that pursuit, mundane slips into the background. Yet Jesus tells us “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10).

How we approach seemingly small obedience flourishes our growth. Growth doesn’t come by knowledge only. We can study theological truths, be well-versed in Scripture, yet miss Jesus because we don’t obey the little we know. To obey in small ways is an act of surrender—of our time, our desires, our laziness.

Jesus told the Pharisees an alarming statement, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:35-40). To know Jesus, we must surrender our time, stop our doom-scrolling, set aside the siren call of media so we can spend time with Him.