Excerpt from
Forty Days of Total Surrender
Day 7: On My Negativism and Defeatism
The Holy Word of God:
Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)
The Confession: Father in Heaven, on this seventh day of my journey in total surrender to you, I confess that you are more intimately and strongly involved in my life now than ever before in my past. This is very comforting to me. I confess that being in your holy presence is my highest and most wonderful blessing! I confess, fully believe and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I confess that His precious blood has washed away all my sins. I am His and He is mine--- praise His holy name! O Father, I confess openly that I have entertained a lifetime of defeatism and negativism in my language and behavior. I confess that this is most certainly contrary to your holy word. I repent of this negativism and defeatism here and now in the strong name of the Lord Jesus, amen!
The Offering: O Lord, here and now I offer my life to you afresh and anew. I have made a “royal mess” out of it on my own without any help from anybody else. Now, I offer myself to you in such a way that I no longer claim ownership to my own life and destiny. I agree with the apostle Paul who, in the Spirit of Christ said, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own, for you were bought at a price.” (I Corinthians 6:19–20a). I am so glad that I do not own myself, but that you loved me enough to “buy” my life back from Satan and my enslavement to him. In Jesus’ holy name, I belong to you Father, and I offer myself to you with all my heart to cease and desist in the negativism and defeatist attitudes which I have most certainly expressed in my life, in Jesus’ name, amen!
The Surrender: Father I surrender the negative and defeatist attitudes which spew forth from my mouth while springing from my heart. I surrender fully to you the damage that I am doing by spreading poison to others through my own evil self-judgment in this area. I surrender all rights and privileges to pollute the atmosphere around me with negativism, fear, inferiority and unhappiness. In Jesus’ name, I admit freely that this is not just an inconvenience for me, but it is blatant and inconsiderate sin in my life!
The Commitment: Lord, I commit my attitude of sinful negativism and defeatism into your loving hands and oversight. How dare I think that for one minute I can hold onto this evil and live peaceably or freely in the holy presence of your mighty Holy Spirit. For this reason I make this full commitment with no change of my mind in the matter in the great, holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen!
The Sincere Repentance: I hereby notify everyone around me that I am aware of my own declarations of negativism and defeatism, and that this sin has no right or privilege of existing and operating in my life any longer--- from this day forth, in Jesus’ great name, amen! I repent for the fact that I have made a poor showing of the goodness, blessedness and grace of being a Christian. I repent of the fact that, without thinking, my negative language and mentality have told people that my God is not great enough or strong enough to bless, heal, strengthen, and give me happiness in my day. This is a personal disgrace for me, an insult to the Great God of Heaven, and a poor, sickly witness to others! I see the disgusting nature of my sin and practice in negativism and defeatist behaviors, and I fully repent and turn away from them in one, single day--- today in Jesus’ name, amen!
The Expectation: O Father, my expectations are very high! They are not high because I have the power or ability in my own self to walk out of this sin of negativism, but because you commanded me in your holy word to “Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3) Wow! Father! You have come to me here and now to “show me great and mighty things” in this area of negativism and defeatism. I expect to be through with this evil today, in Jesus’ name, amen!
The Rejoicing: Praise God, I rejoice that there is nothing too hard for you to do! I rejoice fully that I can peacefully and joyfully entrust all of my life, dreams and hopes into your blessed hands, and lie down to sleep knowing that the careful, loving oversight of my Heavenly Father is surrounding my sleep with His angels watching over me. I rejoice that my language and attitude are hereby directed to the God who teaches me that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
I sincerely believe that the confessions and proposed surrendering which will be presented to you for the next forty days will truly change your life. It is important for you to understand that there is no greater offering that you can make to God than to submit yourself in total surrender to Him. I use the word “total” here because many Christians see themselves as vessels who already surrender certain areas to God. These same Christians satisfy themselves that they are doing pretty well in their walk of humility and dedication. However, the people who will walk in the deepest victory and have the greatest power of God released in their lives will be those who surrender day by day, little by little, slowly but surely to the will and direction of God’s Holy Spirit.