How to Surrender to God Completely: 3 Steps to Find Rest

Are you feeling burdened, weary, heavy hearted and needing rest? Jesus can help you and wants to walk with you in whatever you are going through. He loves you so much and sees you. He understands how you are feeling and experienced feeling this way too. 

Learning how to surrender to God completely is how you can find rest in this life. The problems you are facing may not subside, but with Jesus you are not alone. He will help you get through it. He will lead you and guide you on how to navigate this. 

No problem or circumstance is too difficult or too large for him to help you with when you are in a relationship with him. He has rest for your weary heart. You don’t have to carry this on your own. Daily living surrendered to him is the key to finding it. 

What Does It Mean to Surrender to God?

Surrender to God, meaning, giving it to God, is when you know you can’t do things on your own and instead let go and let God take over. You give him control rather than trying to work it out on your own. Being in complete submission and following him is needed on your part. 

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’” (Matthew 16:24-25, ESV) 

Deny yourself; don’t think you know best. Instead, go to him—giving it all to him—to find rest and not be heavy weighted anymore. You can’t carry it all and don’t need to. You should surrender it all to God.

Why Is It So Hard to Surrender to God?

It’s not easy to surrender to God or surrender to the will of God because this means you are living differently than society expects of you… but the benefits of surrendering to God are so great for you. You will find the rest you desire from the heavy heartedness that the things of this world cause. Some additional reasons you may be finding it hard to surrender to Jesus can include:

• Struggling with pride 
• Having self-seeking desires or ambitions
• Wanting recognition or approval from others

You need to recognize what is keeping you from surrendering to God and then counter it by humbling yourself before the Lord. Seek his will above your own interests. Aim to bring glory to him, not yourself. 

Remember that you can’t do it on your own. You are fighting the world, the flesh and the devil. The world tells you to do one thing that goes against God, the flesh wants you to only think about yourself (seeking to gain money, power, etc.), and the devil is fighting you to do what you want to do, too, to draw you away from God. He wants you to do evil and not good. He doesn’t want you following God. 

Related: You Don’t Have to Do It on Your Own: Characteristics of Humility in the Bible

You have a divided heart, so you need to be on guard. Surrendering to God doesn’t come naturally because you are in the flesh. You have to remember though, that you are a new creation. You can fight these desires of the flesh, to give them to God, so you don’t end up feeling burdened and heavy weighted anymore. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV) 

You have been made new and can fight the thought that you can take care of all things on your own; you can learn and implement how to let go and let God.

How to Surrender to God Completely

Maybe you have been trying to surrender to God and you feel like it’s just not working. Your heart just feels so burdened and heavy, with more than 10 things to surrender to God. 

You can take heart, because the Bible shows you how to surrender to God completely to find rest. You can learn how to totally surrender to God by following these 3 steps in the book of Matthew. 

Prepare your heart beforehand by humbling yourself: acknowledge you need God, that you can’t do anything without him and his help. Remember who he is. He is the God who can do it all, and he wants to carry this for you. 

Step 1: Go to Jesus

Jesus loves you so much. He sees your pain. He knows what you are going through and is asking you to come to him to find rest. 

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28, ESV) 

When you do this, he will give you rest from everything you are carrying in your heart. You need to accept his invitation by humbling yourself before him and going to him in prayer. 

Pour it all out to him in prayer and receive rest from it all, knowing that Jesus will partner with you. He will show you how to work out all things to find rest. 

Don’t hold back about anything; be honest. Pray by individually—one by one—giving everything that is on your mind and heart to the Lord. He is with you and will never leave you or forsake you. The rest is for you now and in eternity too. You don’t have to feel this way any longer.

What do you need to surrender to Jesus today?

Step 2: Live as Jesus Calls You To

You may be in this world but you are not called to live like others—this leads to feeling heaviness and weariness when hardships come. 

The world asks you to acquire things and seek after goals that are meaningless and don’t give deep long lasting fulfillment, peace, or joy. That also makes you feel burdened, weary and heavy hearted all the time. 

This world expects you to keep working and working, trying to do all things on your own for money or success that fades and leaves you unfulfilled. But as a child of God, instead of living like that, you are to follow Jesus’s commands in the Bible. Invest in your relationship with him, knowing you are not alone, leaning on him, and surrendering to God in all ways. 

You must seek his will and do what he wants you to do, which is possible with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29, ESV) 

Learn from him through the Bible and imitate him in all ways to find rest. He came as a humble servant and followed God. When you remember this, you will go to him and do what he wants you to do instead of going along with what the world wants to do. 

For example, stop complaining, following your feelings, and wavering in faith… but trust him. Live as he wants you to, being like him in all ways and obeying him. No matter what you are going through right now, he is with you, helping you.

What is one thing in your life you need to change in order to live for Jesus?

Step 3: Seek the Purposes of Jesus

Living as Jesus calls you can be difficult, but it is the only life that is fulfilling. It is the best way to live because being in a relationship with Christ leads you to find everything that you ever desired: love, joy, peace, etc. He is worthy of it all and he is so good and loving. 

This is why you can find rest: you will see he will be with you in all things and take care of things as you give them to him. He is in it with you. He will partner with you when you choose to walk according to his will and he will lead and guide you. This is taking on his yoke, which is light, not burdensome. Following Christ leads to a blessed life and is not heavy because he is always with you, carrying the weight. 

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30, ESV) 

As you live as he calls you to, you will then learn to live according to the greatest commandment. This in turn will allow you to change your heart to seek his purposes, which include bringing glory to him in all ways. Bringing about his kingdom on earth by sharing the gospel in word and deed and doing his will on earth. 

This is light hearted and brings rest not by doing things for yourself but for the good of the kingdom. You will find rest living according to his will and his purposes and not your own.

Are you seeking any goals that aren’t aligned with God’s will?

When you feel burdened, heavy hearted and weary by life’s problems, remember how to surrender to God completely. The steps of surrendering to God include going to Jesus, living as Jesus calls you to, and seeking the purposes of Jesus. Living in this manner according to the Bible brings rest. Jesus is with you in this and will help you always. You are not alone.