Surrendering oneself to God

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Armyvet007

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Does anyone have any advice on learning how to do this? I ask because I am having problems doing it [pride and lack of knowledge/guidelines] in my struggles with my sins. Thank you.
 
You’ve come to the right place. Lots of us have lots of ways to do this. 🙂

Tell me more about yourself. Basically you have to trust that the Holy Spirit is in charge, and that everything that happens … and I mean everything … is allowed by the Holy Spirit, and in fact depending on how you want to look at it you might as well accept that the Holy Spirit in fact causes these things.

Even the past formed you the way you are. You cannot change the facts of the past, but you can go back and change your judgment from “cursed” to “blessed” and in fact will feel like doing just that once you do it.

It is kind of like trying not to think, or literally not caring if you’re right about something. It’s kind of like if you just gaze around, your peripheral vision does most of the work. When you drive a car your peripheral vision (and attention for the matter) do most of the detail work and even keep you alive while your focus is on who knows what from a conversation with a passenger to texting to scoping out other drivers. Similarly, the Holy Spirit will guide you through the low level stuff like anxiety and fear, so you can relax. Jesus and the Father have it all set up for us, so all we have to do is ask for these gifts.

Lord, I pray that Armyvet007 finds comfort and peace in his effort to surrender Himself. Please let Armyvet007 experience your embracing and unconditionally loving hand in a way unlike any time in the past. Thank you Lord, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Alan

P.S. Look into contemplative prayer, for sure. That should be non-negotiable (CCC 2708). 😉 and is talked about in CCC 2700-2724.
 
Thank you.

I’m the “read the instructions after I try to put it together” “I can do it myself” “I don’t need help” prideful type. I understand the general concept of surrendering oneself to God [though I would happily welcome any suggested works that go into greater detail on the concept]. My problem is that I can’t seem to “hand over the fight” to God. I have been trying for the last several years, but I keep coming up short [it’s my fight, I want to be the hero and fight it]. Despite my personal ecounter with God in Iraq, I still can’t let Him lead. In short, I need some sort of “kindergarten level” do step 1, then step 2, etc. plan approach that will train me into proprer behavior/willingness to not be the lead. I feel like I understand the concept and can “get it”/and not “get it” at the same time.

Sometimes I wished the Church had its own version of Army Field Manuals [for civies, said manuals explain how one conducts a particular task, and trains you to do the task].

I swear, it was easier developing a patrol matrix in Iraq then figuring something this simple [and I know it is simple] out.
 
Armyvet007 said:
Thank you.

I’m the “read the instructions after I try to put it together” “I can do it myself” “I don’t need help” prideful type. I understand the general concept of surrendering oneself to God [though I would happily welcome any suggested works that go into greater detail on the concept]. My problem is that I can’t seem to “hand over the fight” to God. I have been trying for the last several years, but I keep coming up short [it’s my fight, I want to be the hero and fight it]. Despite my personal ecounter with God in Iraq, I still can’t let Him lead. In short, I need some sort of “kindergarten level” do step 1, then step 2, etc. plan approach that will train me into proprer behavior/willingness to not be the lead. I feel like I understand the concept and can “get it”/and not “get it” at the same time.

Sometimes I wished the Church had its own version of Army Field Manuals [for civies, said manuals explain how one conducts a particular task, and trains you to do the task].

I swear, it was easier developing a patrol matrix in Iraq then figuring something this simple [and I know it is simple] out.
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I will try to be your corps-of-engineers rep from my own experience at engineering and how I’ve applied it to this problem. You can be manly-man and surrender all at once, and you get to be the hero both in the world and in the spirit.

What kind of activities do you find relaxing? Rewarding? Informative? How do you like to learn, and what sort of improvements would you like to see in yourself either emotionally, spiritually, or mentally, and be specific: e.g. you want to learn about “X” because it relaxes you; a certain person gets your goat, etc.

I’m asking to try to get you going on a line of reasoning that will expose the problems without your having to sacrifice dignity or sense of being a champion and warrior. I believe it can be done, and from your writing, I don’t believe it’ll take much to tweak you right toward the kingdom.

Incidentally, the whole goal of all this ego reduction and surrendering is to allow God to renew our minds and hearts by letting God’s will replace our own, and when that happens our problems solve themselves through us, and we become strong.

Also, you will begin to have the feeling that you have experience in things you don’t. (In the Bible they call this “sowing where you did not reap”) It’s kind of like a permanent de ja vu. Also your dream life and your awake life will rejoice in harmony. At least I say I hope you get all these; others can go make up their own story – this is just one of many I offer you to choose by selecting the “agree” option in your mind it is so prayed and you can quit reading my blather now.

Lord, I pray that his eyes will open and he will clearly see the armies of angels and chariots of fire you have allocated to his leadership. Amen.

2 Kings 6
11 Greatly disturbed over this, the king of Aram called together his officers and asked them, “Will you not tell me who among us is for the king of Israel?”
12 “No one, my lord king,” answered one of the officers. “The Israelite prophet Elisha can tell the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
13 He said, “Go, find out where he is, so that I may take him captive.”
Informed that Elisha was in Dothan,
14 he sent there a strong force with horses and chariots. They arrived by night and encircled the city.
15 Early the next morning, when the servant of the man of God arose and went out, he saw the force with its horses and chariots surrounding the city. “Alas!” he said to Elisha. “What shall we do, my lord?”
16 Elisha answered, “Do not be afraid. Our side outnumbers theirs.”
17 Then he prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes, that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw that the mountainside was filled with fiery chariots and horses around Elisha.

Alan
 
Alan-

I’ll have to respond back tomorrow morning. It’s late here and I have kids to watch in the morning.
 
AlanFromWichita said:
I will try to be your corps-of-engineers rep from my own experience at engineering and how I’ve applied it to this problem. You can be manly-man and surrender all at once, and you get to be the hero both in the world and in the spirit.

The “manly-man” and “hero” archtypes I can do without. I’ve never really viewed “manly-man” as being what a man should be [Christ, St. Francis, and Mr. Rogers weren’t “manly-men”]. As for the “hero” thing, God let me try that route for the first 30 years of my life and it didn’t really work [some things one has to learn the hard way]. I’m perfectly happy/content being the follower/“sidekick”, I’m just having issues letting go of the “hero/leader” aspect of myself and in my thinking.

What kind of activities do you find relaxing? Rewarding? Informative?

I’m an introverted nerd, so reading [both educational and entertainment works], computer games, doing stuff on my own/by myself. I’m most relaxed when I’m alone.

How do you like to learn,

I learn best by doing, behind that is by seeing [by example], behind that is by reading/lecture.

and what sort of improvements would you like to see in yourself either emotionally, spiritually, or mentally, and be specific: e.g. you want to learn about “X” because it relaxes you; a certain person gets your goat, etc.

Due to my personality/military background, spiritual self-discipline is at the forefront of what I want to learn. Following this would be learning how to be a perfect, or as good as I can be, follower. I figure everything else will “fall into place”/become more clear once I get a good handle on these two items. A poor analogy would be that I’m looking for a spiritual version of what the Army does at basic training. Take a bunch of unskilled, poorly disciplined no-nothings and turn them into disciplined, motivated skilled followers/leaders [every soldier is both, which one they are is situational dependant].
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After reading Caussade you could read Lehodey’s Holy Abandonment. They are both excellent books!
 
Armyvet,

First, thank you for your service! 👍

You may want to look into the Spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius.
As a former soldier, he understood the need for sturcture & discipline in one’s prayer life.
It was actually one of the things that turned me off when I first learned of Ignatian spirituality, yet the more I learned, the more it spoke to me. I did the 19th Annotation a couple of years ago, and now incorporate the Exercises and many other Ignatian principles into my life.
I am a better person, and a better Christian because of St. Ignatius and his Exercises. :getholy:
 
Oneofthewomen said:
Armyvet,

First, thank you for your service! 👍

You may want to look into the Spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius.
As a former soldier, he understood the need for sturcture & discipline in one’s prayer life.
It was actually one of the things that turned me off when I first learned of Ignatian spirituality, yet the more I learned, the more it spoke to me. I did the 19th Annotation a couple of years ago, and now incorporate the Exercises and many other Ignatian principles into my life.
I am a better person, and a better Christian because of St. Ignatius and his Exercises. :getholy:
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An excellent idea. I’d supplement reading SE with Margaret Silf’s Inner Compass: An Invitation to Ignatian Spirituality. She walks you through them.
 
There are two major forces that seem to most directly control me:

1.) the Holy Spirit.
2.) the ego.

I’m finally to the point my ego is sufficiently damaged so the Holy Spirit occasionally shines through and causes me to act.

“Cause” really isn’t the best word, though, maybe. It’s more like the future just pulls me into it, as opposed to the “normal” feeling I’ve had all my life that the past and present are real and I’m always pushing off of them. That the ego, is trying to push. The Spirit is more like a pull, afa I can tell.

The nice thing about the Spirit is that it’s effortless. Many lecturers I’ve seen have attested to it. It’s so easy to go against the Spirit, but there is some mental effort involved – that effort is being fed via the false self and is originating from false self energy centers of 1) power/control, 2) affection/esteem, and 3) security/comfort. The Holy Spirit takes into account that we need a certain measure of these things, but the ego clings to them with anxiety or fear of loss, and sometimes craves these things and thus drives us toward destructive ends at times.

The Spirit asks, “will you come with me?” and you may go or not. The invitation is always open. 🙂

Alan
 
Splagchnizomai said:
An excellent idea. I’d supplement reading SE with Margaret Silf’s Inner Compass: An Invitation to Ignatian Spirituality. She walks you through them.
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👍 This is a great book!!
Also, check out “The Gift of Spiritual Intimacy” by Monty Williams, SJ.

A word of caution though about the Exercises. The actual Spiritual Exercises, as written by Ignatius of Loyola, are not meant to be “read” like a book.
It’s more like a “field manual” for the one making the exercises and their director.

If you want a great, introductory, easy to read, funny and deeply moving glimpse into the world of Ignatian spirituality, read “The Jesuit Guide to (Practically) Everything” by James Martin, SJ. 😃
 
Thank you all for your help. I’m going to get my hands on the works you all suggested; as well as looking into St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises [which for some reason I didn’t even think of].

Oneofthewomen-
I actually have The Jesuit Guide book, but set it aside because I couldn’t confirm if Father Martin’s views/writings are “in line” with the Church [this based off of a half remembered article I read and my lack of complete understanding regarding the relationship between the Church and the Jesuit Order]. His appearance on the Cobert Report also hasn’t helped my doubts. If it’s a “safe” work I’ll read it while I wait for the other ones to come in the mail.
 
FWIW, I love Fr. Martin- I have all of his books!! 😃
“Safe” I guess is really a matter of personal opinion,
I think that he has a interesting perspective, and his writing has helped me greatly.
Armyvet007 said:
Thank you all for your help. I’m going to get my hands on the works you all suggested; as well as looking into St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises [which for some reason I didn’t even think of].

Oneofthewomen-
I actually have The Jesuit Guide book, but set it aside because I couldn’t confirm if Father Martin’s views/writings are “in line” with the Church [this based off of a half remembered article I read and my lack of complete understanding regarding the relationship between the Church and the Jesuit Order]. His appearance on the Cobert Report also hasn’t helped my doubts. If it’s a “safe” work I’ll read it while I wait for the other ones to come in the mail.
Click to expand...
 
Armyvet007 said:
Does anyone have any advice on learning how to do this? I ask because I am having problems doing it [pride and lack of knowledge/guidelines] in my struggles with my sins. Thank you.
Click to expand...
I don’t have much advice as I am still learning both what this exactly means and how to put into practice on daily basis. The one thing I can suggest without reservation is to make a point of praying on a regular basis, include asking for some guidance/help from God on how to completely surrender to Him.

Also have read a few books that have shed some light on this issue too
Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation
Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline
Dallas Willard has written some interesting stuff on this too
 
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