Lord Whatever You Ask

I was driving to Syracuse early yesterday morning to teach a Homiletics course to a group of Burmese ministry students and I sensed God talking to me about 'the future'. I turned off the radio and just tried to listen. What I began to realize is that I had told God 'yes', with preconditions. My prayer sounded a little bit like this.

"Lord, I am willing to go wherever you send me

and do whatever you ask - within these boundaries."

Now, I was not saying it that plainly, I was explaining to God why He needed to understand my boundaries of where I was willing to go and what I was willing to do. I thought that my reasoning was really quite good. I really had myself convinced that I had committed all to God, and that God would totally understood my hesitation in a few areas. God could certainly learn to work around my preconditions.

Well, the longer I sat in that car and listened the more I realized that God needed me to be completely surrendered to his will whether it made sense at the time or not, whether it fit into my preconceived notions of where and what, or not. I would love to be able to say that this was a simple step for me to take and that within a matter of moments I had surrendered my will completely to God, but the truth is that I surrender and then I begin 'figuring it all out' again.

Later that day I was driving back home after teaching and I was going through the same process again - giving in, taking it back, giving in again - when the words of a song I have sung for years came back to me. "Whatever You Ask" was sung by Steve Camp in the 1980s.

Lord whatever you ask, I want to obey you.
To let my heart beat with a servant's heart.
Lord whatever you ask, I know
That you can give me courage to equal the task
Whatever you ask.

God make it plain that I would not have peace in my heart until I was willing to serve God with no strings attached. I have been in ministry for more than twenty years and it was quite humbling to realize that after all these years I still had strings attached to my call from God. I asked God for forgiveness and I had a great time of prayer after that, not about the future, but about who I need to be before my Creator, my Lord, my Father and my God.

I know that a few hours in a car and a song will not totally fix my tendency to 'figure it all out' for God. But I do know that God has made me aware that I was trusting him partially and he wants me to trust him completely. I am praying that this kind of willingness will be what guides me in these next few months of transition and for the rest of my life. Lord whatever you ask...

Therefore, I urge you brothers
in view of God's mercy
to offer your body as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God,
which is your spiritual act of worship.
Romans 12:1