Mini-Magazine | Don't Stop Praying

God is Working—Even in the Waiting

Friends,

Prayer is a profound expression of faith that calls us to surrender, trust, and persist—even when the answers seem distant. Today we explore the act of relinquishing control to God, finding peace in His presence even when prayers seem unanswered, and discovering the power that comes from praying without ceasing. No matter where you are on your journey, be encouraged to let go, lean into God’s timing, and trust that His heart is always for your greatest good. He hears you, He loves you, and in His perfect time, He will respond.

Encouraging you in His truth,

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A Prayer of Relinquishment

By:  Lori Ann Wood

Following graduate school, my husband and I had a dream. 

We wanted to open our own accounting practice together, raise children in a small town, and grow old in a tight-knit community, closer to extended family. So, we set aside time in the early mornings to pray. And we prayed hard. We were near the top of our graduating class at a large university. We applied for positions in smaller firms to get our foot in the door, to establish ourselves before putting out our own shingle. We had all the right motives. We got several offers from the Big Eight national firms, but we got few bites from the smaller ones. Finally, we snagged an offer from a local office, just under market value. It was still a bit low, but it was in the area we wanted to live and someday build our practice. 

We breathed a sigh of relief until the interviewer said, “That’s for the both of you,” indicating he was pricing us as a set. I remember looking at my young husband and wincing. Just like that, our expected salaries had fallen in half.

Well, needless to say, we weren’t okay with that. 

After months of praying, we weren’t sure what to do. The clock was ticking on accepting a job. Should we stop praying? Or should we pray even harder? 

I’ve always embraced the Pit-bull-approach to prayer—Get ahold of it and never release until you get the result you want—because God honors desperate, determined petitions, like Hannah’s for her long-awaited son Samuel. Or the parable’s widow, pestering the judge.

So, I latched onto this career vision and I had a tough time letting go. But looking back, it may have been the right time to voice a prayer of relinquishment.

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Spiritually, relinquishment yields to circumstances just as they are, with God as Overseer. When we relinquish...We agree to stop asking for what we assume is God’s best will. We agree to be okay with what we can’t fully grasp.

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WHAT IT IS 

The dictionary says “relinquish” means “to voluntarily cease to claim; to hand over willingly; to consider the situation, and make a decision to stop pushing forward.”

Spiritually, relinquishment yields to circumstances just as they are, with God as Overseer. When we relinquish, we agree to be satisfied, we agree to give up our quest for change. We agree to stop asking for what we assume is God’s best will. We agree to be okay with what we can’t fully grasp.

I don’t understand it, but I accept it. Because I trust You, God, I’m okay with setting this request aside.

Jesus prayed a prayer of relinquishment in Gethsemane. He knew the burden of desperate prayer. And He knew about letting it go. Others in Scripture knew what relinquishment felt like, too: faithful Abraham relinquishing his plans for raising Isaac, guilty David relinquishing his infant son’s life, teenage Mary relinquishing her known future. 

Relinquishment is different from resignation. 

Resignation hunkers down in fear and steels itself for the worst. 

Relinquishment looks fully at the painful situation, releases demands, but clings to hope.

Relinquishment is bigger than surrender. 

Surrender is stepping back, laying down weapons, and admitting defeat. 

Relinquishment is letting go with expectation, pressing forward with a new vision.

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