Surrender My Agenda

General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, served as the first General from 1878-1912 and was once asked to reveal the secret of his success. After some hesitance, tears came to his eyes, and he said, "I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I have, men with greater opportunities, but from the day that I got the poor of London on my heart and caught a vision of what Jesus could do with them, I made up my mind that God should have all of William Booth." This statement led Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, the questioner, to remark, "I learned from William Booth that the greatness of a man's power is the measure of his surrender."

‌One of the wisest actions we can take is surrendering our agenda to the Lord. This step is so significant that Jesus taught and modeled it for His followers. He also included this practice in the prayer that He gave to us. Matthew 6:9-10 says, "This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' "

‌Notice that Jesus said we should pray for God's rule in our life to be the same as it is in heaven, meaning that we live in fellowship and obedience with Him. Whether it's a conscious effort or not, we sometimes get this verse mixed up and pray for our will (agenda) to pass. Thankfully, God is gracious and patient with us.

‌Knowing this, let us be like General Booth and surrender our agenda to serve the Lord's purposes in our generation.