A Prayer That Changes Everything

Jan 25

What are you desperate for? What do you truly long for? What is the desire of your heart? What needs are you quietly waiting to be filled? What are you hoping for and dreaming about in the year to come?

Some of our goals and longings can be fulfilled simply with more striving. A workout plan. A food journal. A checklist. Closer care of our calendar. But some require a reorientation, an overhaul in the way we approach life.

When Ordinary Resolutions Aren't Enough

Pastor and theologian John Wesley sensed this reality and it led him to change the way he approached the New Year. At the beginning of each year John Wesley would lead Covenant Renewal Services. This was a time to set aside the things in their lives that had led to a comfortable faith and to embrace something more meaningful.

They began with the prayer of another pastor, a Puritan named Richard Alliene, and they expanded it and adapted it. Today I want to invite you into a moment like the one John Wesley would have led - a prayer that has been changing hearts and lives for hundreds of years.

The Power of Prayer in Positioning Our Hearts

Before we get to committing, I want us to get to praying. Why? Because prayer positions our heart. In fact, prayer is an indicator of who and what we trust. Pastor Faith Eury Cho said it this way: "The root of your prayerlessness may not be a discipline issue. It's more likely a hopelessness issue."

There is value in personal, unscripted times of prayer, but there is also something to be said for praying prayers that stand the test of time. Here's the prayer from John Wesley's beginning of the year services:

I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, Praised for you or criticized for you. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service. And now, O wonderful and holy God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine, and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it also be made in heaven. Amen.

Breaking Down This Life-Changing Prayer

"I am no longer my own, but yours." We start here because we acknowledge God's role as Lord in our lives. When we say YES to God we give up ownership, laying aside striving, and begging God to complete the good work he has begun in us. For many of us, this is the most difficult thing we will ever pray, giving up our own sense of control.

"Put me to doing, put me to suffering." We tend to pray for productivity and peace, and to avoid what it might cost. This line holds all of that together. God I'm yours…whatever the cost!

"Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you." There are seasons of preparation, seasons of waiting, seasons of work, seasons of productivity. And God is present in all of them. Listen up: the measure isn't what you produce, but in your faithfulness.

"Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing." This uncomfortable idea comes from the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:12 (NLT): "I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little." These words are freeing. It's the release of fear and a declaration of contentment.

Surrendering to a Higher Way

When we "freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service," we're acknowledging what God said to the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT): "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are your ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Thank God, because of this, it's not all resting on us or counting on us. We don't have to be God, because we have a God.

Putting It Into Practice

This moment of worship is an acknowledgement that this isn't possible in our own power. We place our trust in God for what we cannot do on our own. Praying this prayer and making this commitment shapes your inner life, but you'll need practical steps to shape your outer life.

The question is: will you walk in this way? Will you choose to live like this? Consider praying this prayer regularly, allowing it to reorient your heart toward God's purposes rather than your own striving. Remember, as Psalm 37:5 (NLT) reminds us: "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you."

Ryan Schreckenghaust

My name is Ryan Schreckenghaust and I’m the Lead Pastor at The Summit Church. Lee’s Summit is my hometown and I love connecting with people to tell them about who Jesus is.

I am a graduate of William Jewell College and, after changing my major countless times, felt God’s nudge to invest my life in the work of the local church. I graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Psychology. I then attended Rockbridge Seminary where I earned the Master of Ministry Leadership degree.

I was licensed to the Gospel Ministry in 2003, ordained as a Pastor/Elder in 2013, licensed as Local Church Pastor in the United Methodist Church in 2019, and completed the United Methodist Course of Study in 2021.

I have worked at several churches over the last 20 years where I served in roles such as Student Ministry Pastor, Creative Arts Pastor, and Executive Pastor. I’ve also worked professionally as a social media strategist in the marketing department at a Fortune 500 company.

I’ve been married to my wife Rebekah for more than 20 years. Rebekah is a school counselor at a local middle school. Together we have two boys, Jackson and Camden, and a Weimaraner named Poppy. I love time with my family, reading and watching my favorite sports teams!