Has anyone here completely turned their life over to god

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shannin

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Can anyone here tell me what it’s like to completely turn your life over to God? Does all doubt and worry cease? What happens after we do?

At this moment I feel that I am giving God all that I have to give to Him and I pray for His help in allowing me to give even more of my life as well as to love Him more than I already do. I am a worrier by nature.

Blessings,
Shannon
 
I think turning our lives over to God is by its very nature a life-long process. With our souls damaged by sin, it is often difficult to break the bad habits we get into. St. Paul describes our lives on earth as a race, and I think that is very accurate. We have to continue striving to do good. I don’t think there’s ever a point during this life where we are granted perpetual peace (God’s saving that for Heaven!).

However, that’s not to say that our lives should be one constant worry! Anxiety is rightly named a sin because it is an act which doubts to power of God. We need to remember that God’s plan as a whole, as well as for each of us, is to lead us to perfect happiness. We need to constantly remind ourselves that God is in charge, and that, in the words of St. Julian of Norwich, “All will be well and all will be well and every manner of thing will be well.”
 
I think that turning your entire life over to God is incredibly rare and a very difficult life-long process. Every time you feel like you’ve given God everything you could possibly give, he shines a light on something else that needs to be given over to him (and, to me, it sounds like He’s telling you to give Him your doubt and your worry). Don’t worry because the doubt begins to subside once you begin to see the grace of God working in every aspect of creation and once the doubt is gone, the worry isn’t too far behind.
 
I feel the same way shannin. It is sometimes frustrating that I can’t seem to completely give myself to God. I sometimes feel like I’m doing all I can do, but then there are still many times during the day I don’t even think of God, or He’s in a far corner of my mind.

I always feel that there is something more I could do or a better way to pray or something I should do but don’t want to because it’s inconvenient or frightening. I sometimes worry that my faith and love is not as sincere as I think it is.

I wish I could help, but I think St. Augustine put it best:

“You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee”.
 
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shannin:
Can anyone here tell me what it’s like to completely turn your life over to God?
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Yes, I can honestly say Yes I have.

But later I realized that the complete 100% turn-over to God was really only 75%. I still held on to some. As I was able to give God that other 25% making it back to 100%, I realized that I have this sinful habit, which meant that I had really only given him 80%. As I prayed and experienced the sacraments, God was able to free me from that particular habit, but in the meantime, I realized that there were three more things that I really had not give to God. …

I’m kind of generalizing here, but this is sort of how it works I think. Conversion is an ongoing, daily process. The closer we get to God, the more we see our flaws and sinfulness. But that doesn’t mean that we are not giving ourselves to God. It is a one-step-at-a-time process.

Sometimes with God’s divine assistance, we can make great strides, but most of the time, it seems, it’s baby-steps we take. And when we fall down, which happens. Conversion is getting back up, dusting yourself off through reconciliation, and saying yes to Jesus once again!
 
I am reminded of a quote from Brother Lawrence that I once heard/read in speaking of a woman who was genuily seeking God but impatient with her progress…

“She would go faster than Grace.”

…I think this applies to many of us, especially in a modern society that delivers everything NOW! Baby Steps is what someone else said, and that’s the way it really works.

I try to keep this in mind (can’t recall who said it)…

“Trust that your sanctification wholly depends on God, and work as if it depends entirely on you.”

Bit by bit, that seems like the normative way for most of us.
 
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CatholicGeek:
Yes, I can honestly say Yes I have.

But later I realized that the complete 100% turn-over to God was really only 75%. I still held on to some. As I was able to give God that other 25% making it back to 100%, I realized that I have this sinful habit, which meant that I had really only given him 80%. As I prayed and experienced the sacraments, God was able to free me from that particular habit, but in the meantime, I realized that there were three more things that I really had not give to God. …

I’m kind of generalizing here, but this is sort of how it works I think. Conversion is an ongoing, daily process. The closer we get to God, the more we see our flaws and sinfulness. But that doesn’t mean that we are not giving ourselves to God. It is a one-step-at-a-time process.

Sometimes with God’s divine assistance, we can make great strides, but most of the time, it seems, it’s baby-steps we take. And when we fall down, which happens. Conversion is getting back up, dusting yourself off through reconciliation, and saying yes to Jesus once again!
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Jesus even commented that we should ‘be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect’. Yet, sin always gets in the way. That is why St. Paul says to be persistant and just keep going. I have had bouts of doubts on how will I ever get through many situations in the last three years. However, I am learning too, that God allows sitiuations to test our Fatih and then to allow God to work things out for us. As God gives Himself to us, we in turn give ourselves to Him.
(Two way street).

Go with God!
Edwin
 
I have always wanted to abandon myself completely to God, but there is a nagging fear – fear of what? I have no idea!

I have the following prayer all ready for the “abandonment,” and I’ll pray it one of these days!

Prayer of Abandonment

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

*Venerable Charles de Foucauld *

'thann
 
When ever, I have said something was moer important than God all I could hear was laughter. That; that is more important, ha, ha, ha… His laughter keeps me on the straight and narrow path.
 
TO THANN:

I can relate to what you say about wanting to turn your life over completely to God but then there’s a fear. I experience that fear too and I don’t know where it comes from either.

Thank you so much for the Prayer. I will copy it and pray it often. Padre Pio said that if we ask God to give us the ability to love Him and trust Him more that he cannot deny us.

Your answers to this mean so much to me.

Blessings to All,
Shannin
 
I have given my self to God I leave everthing in his hands but because we are all born sinners we cannot possibly be perfect but only to strive to be perfect.We are on this earth and are tempted by so many worldy things. I believe we become more conscious of our sins the closer in union we are with God. If our will is to be with God he will help purify us, taking out all the bad weeds and we can hope that we will be worthy enough for his presence. It’s an endless battle, our soul wants to be with God, it reaches out to him, we fall again.

God Bless
 
well I have tried, making total consecration, renewing it etc. No all doubt and worry has not ceased, they are part of the human condition. What has ceased is mindless anxiety, the kid that keeps you awake at night worry about things you can’t possible help, that are only vague future possibilities, worst-case scenarios etc. Now if I worry it is only briefly, and only to the extent that it helps me focus on planning or making decisions about the actions within my realm to deal with the problem at hand (not a future problem, not an imagined problem, not somebody else’s problem). That has dramatically eased my overall stress (which I can prove by improvement in medical conditions that arise from stress).

Sure I have doubts about a lot of thing, but I can respond to those with logic and reason, and put them in perspective. Before I would say, I don’t understand the Immaculate Conception, Oh I am an evil person, I am going to hell dah dah dah. Now either I research the issue if I have time, or just trust the Church. Odds are in the Church’s favor that she is right, since she has a solid 2000 years of teaching by thousands of theologians and fathers. My track record is less impressive.

When I do have doubts they are about my own abilities and effectiveness. Since those were only C-average at the best of times, I have learned long since that by myself I just churn the water, make a lot of noise and a big mess and accomplish nothing. When I turn the project or problem over to the Holy Spirit it either fails quickly because it was a bad idea to begin with, or more usually, it prospers, people come forward to help, and it succeeds well.

I make my morning offering with my morning prayer, and dedicate every project, class, problem, decision to the Holy Spirit, and things tick along pretty well, punctuated with what can only be miracles.

I am not well, I am depressed at times, in pain often, and phyically am merely a collection of rusting, deteriorating body parts. I boast of my weakness because my strength is in Christ alone. I have been crucified with Christ: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
 
This is a good question to reflect.

All I can say is in my daily prayers, I repeatedly ask God in his mercy to keep me away from sin, to always keep me in the center of his will, to help me love him more and more. I sincerely want to carry out God’s will to give him my total obedience. I pray whenever I can. I examine my conscience and go to frequent confession. I don’t have many worldly desires. I have detachment from most material things. My thoughts are always on God. I honestly think about heavenly things much more than earthly things. Nothing interests me more than things to do with God. I serve as much as I can in the church. I stay long in front of the tabernacle and pray. Sometimes I am even afraid to be seen by the priests, lest they should think I am crazy. Once I consulted with my spiritual director who is also my confessor a question of some inner feelings I experienced, he said “This is normal for you, who always want intensely follow God’s will.” I feel the Holy Spirit is constantly holding my hands running toward a higher ground. I often experienced interior “Passovers” in my heart.

With all that said, can I say I have completely turned my life to God? No, I dare not to say that. Reading Brother Lawrence and St. Faustina, I know I am far, far away from the heroic virtues they have. Like other posters said, this is a process, a constant battle, a daily surrender, a lifetime struggle. Yes, I sensed some subtle fear in my heart, and I know exactly what that fear is. I am afraid my complete obedience will bring sufferings that originally won’t be sent.
 
puzzleannie said:
well I have tried, making total consecration, renewing it etc. No all doubt and worry has not ceased, they are part of the human condition. What has ceased is mindless anxiety, the kid that keeps you awake at night worry about things you can’t possible help, that are only vague future possibilities, worst-case scenarios etc. Now if I worry it is only briefly, and only to the extent that it helps me focus on planning or making decisions about the actions within my realm to deal with the problem at hand (not a future problem, not an imagined problem, not somebody else’s problem). That has dramatically eased my overall stress (which I can prove by improvement in medical conditions that arise from stress).

Sure I have doubts about a lot of thing, but I can respond to those with logic and reason, and put them in perspective. Before I would say, I don’t understand the Immaculate Conception, Oh I am an evil person, I am going to hell dah dah dah. Now either I research the issue if I have time, or just trust the Church. Odds are in the Church’s favor that she is right, since she has a solid 2000 years of teaching by thousands of theologians and fathers. My track record is less impressive.

When I do have doubts they are about my own abilities and effectiveness. Since those were only C-average at the best of times, I have learned long since that by myself I just churn the water, make a lot of noise and a big mess and accomplish nothing. When I turn the project or problem over to the Holy Spirit it either fails quickly because it was a bad idea to begin with, or more usually, it prospers, people come forward to help, and it succeeds well.

I make my morning offering with my morning prayer, and dedicate every project, class, problem, decision to the Holy Spirit, and things tick along pretty well, punctuated with what can only be miracles.

I am not well, I am depressed at times, in pain often, and phyically am merely a collection of rusting, deteriorating body parts. I boast of my weakness because my strength is in Christ alone. I have been crucified with Christ: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
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I think God finds the gift of our weakness more pleasing than any other.
 
Beautiful thread…

Is it possible to know if we have completely turned our lives over to God? I try to seek His will in all things, but I hardly know myself well enough to be certain I have followed Him and not my own will.

My answer is: I hope I am, and I hope I always will.
 
Honestly, I know this sounds like a cop-out, but I not only do not have the time to turn my life over to God, I hardly have the time or energy to pray.

Up at 5:00AM to begin my 1.5 hour + journey to work. Work till nearly 7:00 so as to dodge the rush hour traffic which would make my commute 2-3 hours. If I wait until 7:00 it is only 1.5 hours.

I have a highly analytical job that forces me to take my work home and think about it all the time.

Weekends, is catch up time for everything else.

I hope and pray to shorten my commute but the housing market seems to be prohibiting it. The one thing I think of and hope for is more time to ponder God and to pray. But as of now, the best I can do is mass on Sunday.

I find I get a bit resentful of the common conception (or mis-conception) that there is something I can do about this. “you have vacation time coming to you just insist on taking it”, “your family and God is more important then your work”.

Well OF COURSE it is. However, without my work my house would be taken away, my daughters tuition payment would not be made and my hope for any retirement would disappear. So, I go on with my 60+ hour week and hope things someday can change. 🤷

Yeah, it’s 6:10 and I am waiting for the traffic to thin out. Hence my being here.
 
I think when I was sick and faced mortality, I did turn what was important in my life over to God. Not something I was completly able to maintain as I recovered, but a part of me will never be able to reclaim as my own what I gave up. Tim
 
Mijoy2 said:
Honestly, I know this sounds like a cop-out, but I not only do not have the time to turn my life over to God, I hardly have the time or energy to pray.

Up at 5:00AM to begin my 1.5 hour + journey to work. Work till nearly 7:00 so as to dodge the rush hour traffic which would make my commute 2-3 hours. If I wait until 7:00 it is only 1.5 hours.
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Traveling long hours to work is tiring. However, you may utilize that time to pray. I always pray while driving, I never listen to the radio. Usually I can finish at least one Rosary on my way to work and one back to home. Sometimes I pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or just engage in a heart to heart conversation with the Lord.

I like the intimacy with God in the car, just God and me. If you don’t drive but take the train or other transportation, you still can pray, or you may read your Bible or other spiritual readings. Prayer, the communication with God, will enlighten you. It will give you inspiration to do a better analytical job.

Want to give it a try?
 
Mijoy2 said:
Honestly, I know this sounds like a cop-out, but I not only do not have the time to turn my life over to God, I hardly have the time or energy to pray.

Up at 5:00AM to begin my 1.5 hour + journey to work. Work till nearly 7:00 so as to dodge the rush hour traffic which would make my commute 2-3 hours. If I wait until 7:00 it is only 1.5 hours.

I have a highly analytical job that forces me to take my work home and think about it all the time.

Weekends, is catch up time for everything else.

I hope and pray to shorten my commute but the housing market seems to be prohibiting it. The one thing I think of and hope for is more time to ponder God and to pray. But as of now, the best I can do is mass on Sunday.

I find I get a bit resentful of the common conception (or mis-conception) that there is something I can do about this. “you have vacation time coming to you just insist on taking it”, “your family and God is more important then your work”.

Well OF COURSE it is. However, without my work my house would be taken away, my daughters tuition payment would not be made and my hope for any retirement would disappear. So, I go on with my 60+ hour week and hope things someday can change. 🤷

Yeah, it’s 6:10 and I am waiting for the traffic to thin out. Hence my being here.
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That’s okay. God knows you have to work. It’s impossible to focus on God all the time anyway. Our human intellects are too weak.

Here’s my suggestion. In addition to your morning offering, set your watch alarm for every two hours. When it goes off, pray simply, “God, these next two hours of my work are offered to you for your glory.”

Before bed, pray, “God, I offer you this night, every breath I breathe.”

I hope you get a chance to relax soon.
 
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