Have you ever faced a really difficult situation and your immediate response is to try to control everything? When we feel challenges outside of our control, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed.
Letting go of control and giving it all to God is really scary. There is a lot of uncertainty when we place our full faith and trust in God. We can’t control or foresee the outcome.
It is a process to learn how to let go of control and give it to God. You have to dig in and learn to let go so God can do His mighty work in and through you. But surrendering and letting go brings us into the freedom and abundance God has for us.
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Why Letting Go of Control is So Hard
There are certain things that have strongholds over our lives – relationships, the past, illness, anger, bitterness, jealousy, or conflicts. Most of which we try to control when we actually don’t have any control over them. The enemy will use those to instill fear, doubt, and worry into our minds. He wants us to rely on our own strength and wisdom. The devil wants no room in our lives for God.
Giving it over to God means allowing him to take it completely from you. This is an active choice of surrendering things that are not in your control.
As you hand over more things to God, you will experience the peace that surpasses all understanding. You can rest in His promises and know that he will fulfill them.
Bible Verses about Letting Go of Control
We can turn to the Bible to learn about who God is and how his faithfulness continues to show up. Trust and believe that God is with and for you. He loves you. Even when things get hard, he is working out everything for your good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
Isaiah 43:18-19: Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Hebrews 12:1: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Matthew 6:34: Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
1 Peter 5:7: Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Philippians 3:13-14: Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus is our greatest example of giving it all to God. He knew what his destiny was (the cross) but allowed God to steer the ship. He didn’t try to change or control the situation. Jesus knew that God was orchestrating a plan that was for the greater good of His children.
**All Bible Verses are from the English Standard Version.
5 Ways to Let Go and Let God
It’s an everyday choice to let go of control and let God reign. Like every discipline, we must learn to let go and let God into every area of our lives. Here are five tips that are effective and will help you let go of control and give it to God.
Read Your Bible
As mentioned above, reading your Bible will help you recognize His authority and control over our lives. The same God who created the universe created you too. God is sovereign and all-knowing. We must put on the armor of God by reading our Bibles. This will allow us to combat the enemy and let go of control.
Keep a Prayer Journal
A prayer journal has been a super effective way for me to track prayers and answers by God. It helps me surrender to him and ask him for help to release my fears, doubts, and worries. Let God know what you are grateful for so you can focus on what you have versus what you don’t.
I constantly see God’s faithfulness and remind myself that God shows up in unimaginable ways when I let go of control and let God do his mighty work in our lives.
This Let Go and Let God prayer journal will help you identify the things you need to relinquish control of, meditate on them and ask God to take the wheel. This 37-page prayer journal provides a list of Scripture to pray over the different areas of your life that you need to surrender. There is also a 3-page workbook (with prompts) for identifying your struggle, praying to ask God to take it, and journaling about the blessings that come once you’ve fully surrendered it to Him
Meditate to Let Go of Control
Another way that I have found to be super helpful to give it to God is to meditate. I repeat bible verses or characteristics about God when I am feeling anxious or out of control. This helps me pause, calm my mind and renew my perspective.
Continually surrender your worries to God by taking time to pause and breathe. We can clear out the clutter and focus on coming back to our breath and the present moment. So be still and know that God is in control.
Affirmations to Let Go of Control
We can literally rewire our brains to help us focus on surrendering and letting go of control. When your mind starts to race, think about positive, biblical affirmations. Surrender your thoughts to God!
God will always provide (Philippians 4:19).
God gives me peace (John 16:33)
God can do things beyond my imagination (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God loves you beyond measure (Romans 5:8)
God never changes (Malachi 3:6)
God works all things for my good and his glory (Romans 8:28).
Spiritual Help to Give it to God
If this is an area that you are really struggling with, seek spiritual help to learn ways to let go of control and give it to God. Sometimes our emotions and worries can be the root of something deeper that you need to talk through with some guidance. Maybe what you need is spiritual help to overcome and join in victory with Jesus Christ.
Letting Go and Letting God
I am a total control freak so when I found out I was pregnant it was a very anxiety-ridden time for me. I never knew I wanted to be pregnant or have a child until I saw the positive pregnancy test. The love and want for a child not yet met grew and grew each day.
I had to focus on the things I could control like what they tell you not to do but I literally had no control over if the baby would survive. Nor did I have control over the body changes and natural weight gain that comes with pregnancy.
Worry wasn’t going to do me or the baby any good for 40 weeks. It could be so easy to turn away from God and rely on my own strength. But I had to give my pregnancy up to God knowing that whatever the outcome I would be okay no matter what happened. This was a moment-by-moment choice of surrender. I know God is strong and powerful to carry me through.
My lack of control brought light to our need for a good, good Father. I asked God for wisdom to help and give me wisdom! He is a good God who delights in giving to us generously precisely what we need to overcome whatever we are facing.
It meant going straight to the Father in prayer and His word every day to learn about His character and good design. The freedom of letting go and letting God created peace and comfort in my heart.
Prayer about Giving it to God
Like I said above, one of the things about trying to seek control is that it doesn’t allow us to be in the present moment. This hinders us from spending time and listening to God. The Lord speaks to us in the quiet moments.
“Dear Lord, I am worried and anxious right now about [enter reason, ex. Finances, relationships, work, illness, etc.]. Help me to understand who you are so that I can trust you more. Lord, I want to run to you in all things and let go of control. Reveal the areas that are keeping me from having full faith in you. Thank you for always keeping your promises. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
What are you holding onto that you need to let go of control and let God? What tips have you found helpful to completely give it to God?
I’ve been working on this. I recently lost my journal, but I have been brain dumping into the notes in my phone. Every time I begin to get anxious or my brain begins to race, God tells me to dump it. It is definitely a process.