The secret to a flourishing, blossoming and prosperous spiritual life • Deshen Daily

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24 ESV)

Dying to self showing an image of the cross

There are many keys in the kingdom of God as well as secrets to a flourishing spiritual life. For example, we teach the importance of consistently feeding on the Word and prayer to grow in the faith. However, there is a secret of all the secrets and a key of all the keys. It is an ancient secret that does not change with time. It is heaven’s most problematic area with human beings. It is what you and I probably dislike and detest the most, yet it is the one thing that will beautify our lives above everything else. What a paradox! That secret is surrendering our will to the Lord or dying to self.

Jesus said above that except a grain of wheat falls and dies, it will not bear fruit. In summary, surrender means being willing to do what God wants rather than what we want. It is that simple, yet it is the one thing we will struggle with the most. The Lord taught me how to surrender to Him by love. If you believe in His love, you know that whatever He wants for you is for your best interest. And if you truly love Him, you will do what He asks you to do, even when you do not like it.

The Lord also gave me a fantastic insight to help me surrender to Him. He taught me that His Spirit makes me willing to do what He wants, so I do not have to be frightened or anxious about how to do it(Philippians 2:!3). I continuously pray almost every day and ask the Lord to help my heart remain surrendered to Him. There is no greater secret to a flourishing spiritual life. Surrender and yield to the Spirit this year for our own good.

MEDITATE

Why is your will so important to God?

APPLY THE WORD

Surrender is the greatest secret to spiritual prosperity, yet you will not hear about it often. It is because we all probably dislike it and it is very uncomfortable. You will often hear countless sermons on sowing seeds, reading the Bible, fasting, praying, etc. for some breakthrough but not so much on dying to self. It is one of the most painful things we would do, yet it is THE MOST BLESSED AND WONDERFUL of all things we can ever do as believers. Please do not be worried if you can do it. Read Philippians 2:13, pray and ask the Spirit to help you surrender.