by Helen Grace Lescheid
** Are you feeling hopeless? We have mentors who would love to talk with you. http://thelife.com/experience/talk-to-a-mentor/
Listen to this devotional read aloud online: http://thelife.com/blogs/experience/kindle/2008/10/07/kneeling-on-both-knees-4/
“…‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment’” (Matthew 22: 37 & 38)
I met a man -whom I shall call Dave- who showed me what full surrender to God will do for a person.
Dave was different from the kids at school: he could never catch up in learning or in sports with his peers. He was teased as being “dumb” and was picked on. The teachers lectured him to apply himself but his mind froze when they asked him the simplest question. He just couldn’t do it and nobody seemed to know what was wrong with him.
Getting a job was another problem. When he did have one, the anxiety of keeping it caused him to turn to alcohol to steady his nerves. Soon Dave became addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs, which he was taking for a bipolar disorder. He acted irresponsibly at work and had several serious accidents. The boss said, “You’re a menace at this job,” and let him go. Feeling completely hopeless, Dave attempted suicide several times. Once he was unconscious for seven days. When he awoke, he found his family at his bedside praying fervently for his recovery.
Dave began to pray on his own. He said, “I had always prayed on one knee telling God that I wanted His help so that I could be in control of myself. But this time, I dropped on both knees and wept before the Lord. ‘I’ve made a terrible mess of my life,’ I said. ‘If you still want me, I give you all there is of me.’”
“My life has made a 180 degree turn around,” Dave concluded. “I haven’t been on alcohol for six years. I start each day with a prayer of surrender and a gratitude journal. I feel more hopeful than I have in many years. I’m reconciled with my family. In fact, my wife and I are trying to write my story thinking it might help someone else.”
Listening to Dave’s story, I thought, how often do we pray to God with the attitude: “God, if you’ll help me, I’ll do better.” Dave called it praying on one knee, which means I want some control myself. But before God can do anything for us, He must have all of us. We must pray on both knees.
Permanent devotional link: http://thelife.com/experience/devotionalforwomen/kneeling-on-both-knees/
~Lord, Please help me to give You all of me today. May I hold nothing back as I give You complete control. In Jesus’ name I ask this, amen.
Questions: Is there something in your life you need to turn over to God completely? It may be your job or your children or your spouse. In surrender and acceptance we open the door for God to come in and work.
About the Author: http://talk.thelife.com/experience/devotionalforwomen/authors/helen-lescheid/
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