Dear Jesus, I want you in the center of my life and commit through your power, to serve and obey you – anytime, anywhere, at any cost, to do anything.
Wow. That is a stunning prayer. Some people might call it extreme or radical. Every part of this prayer is rooted in the Word of God. We’ve unpacked the prayer for you below, so you can see where we got it.
“Dear Jesus, I want you in the center of my life…
Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4).
A close bond with Jesus is where The Life begins. The Savior of the world wants to be your friend – how incredible is that? He invites us to make our relationship with Him our most important one. He wants to be the Person we stay deeply connected to – the one we go to first with all our questions, needs, fears, and dreams.
and commit through your power…
Jesus promised his disciples, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8).
It’s hard to wrap our heads around, but it’s true: God sends His own Spirit to live inside each of us. It would be impossible to accomplish anything good for God on our own. But when we allow God’s Spirit to guide us and to change us from the inside out, we receive the power to love, to give, and to participate in the amazing things God is doing in our world (Romans 8:1-18; Galatians 5:16-22).
to serve and obey you…
Jesus doesn’t just want to be our friend. He also wants to be our Lord – our Commander-in-Chief. “You are my friends,” he said, “if you do what I command” (John 15:15).
What does Jesus command us to do? Three things:
- Love God with everything you’ve got (Luke 10:27).
- Love the people around you as much as you love yourself (Luke 10:27).
- Help people everywhere discover and follow Christ (Matthew 28:18).
Anytime, anywhere, at any cost, to do anything.
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it ” (Mark 8:34-35).
“Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Luke 14:33).
Loving God, loving people, making disciples – these are not supposed to be afterthoughts in our lives. They’re supposed to be the main thing. Jesus makes it clear that being His follower means giving Him everything. Our time, our money, our plans, our relationships, our energy, our life. Everything.
The Life Commitment is for every believer.
The Life Commitment isn’t Christianity 2.0 – some upgraded version of life and faith meant for “super-Christians” only. It’s what being a Christian was always meant to be – an all-encompassing shift in loyalty – from a life centered on me, and what I want, to a life that’s about Jesus and what He wants.