Craig Groeschel - Dating Without the Drama
How many of you would agree that dating used to be way more simple in the old days than it is today? Raise your hand if you agree. Raise your hand. Online, you can type in the comments section, «I agree». It used to be way, way, way more easy. Like, back in the day when Amy and I were dating, back in the «Saved by the Bell» days. In the old days, it was really, really easy. For example, what I had to do to marry her is I actually called her on the phone. Back then, phones were used for talking and we would actually call someone, and I called her and I asked around on a date. and we went on a date and we fell in love and we got married. It was very, very simple.
Today, man, you practically need a committee to figure out where you stand in a relationship. Are we texting and not talking? Are we texting and talking? Are we exclusive? Are we exclusive but not posting? Are we exclusive with a soft launch, with a photo of our elbows next to each other in a coffee shop with a vague caption that says, «Thankful». If you’re like my age and you don’t know what I’m talking about, just thank God that you dated when it was easier because it’s very complicated. And then if you’re a Christian, it gets even crazier.
For example, if you’re a Christian and you’re praying with each other, do you pray side by side, holding hands, or do you pray face to face holding hands? And if you do, how close do you get together without it being tempting? Do you leave room for the Holy Spirit? How do you pray together? And how long can you pray before you’re actually too close, praying too long, and it goes from spiritual to physical? And if you’re attracted to each other, like I am attracted to Amy and was attracted to Amy. And if you’re really, really, really attracted, is that like a song of Solomon, God blesses an attraction? Or is it like a flee from sexual temptation attraction? How do we even know, right? And so the bottom line is dating can be very complicated. How many of you agree? Yes.
If we let culture define how we date and how we relate and how we actually marry and get along, it can be very, very confusing. The good news is, I want to tell you today that God’s word says, «For God is not a God of confusion, but a God of peace». Our God is not a God of confusion. And He did not mean for relationships to be confusing, but to experience the peace that goes beyond all human understanding. And I wanna talk to you about that today from a couple in the Bible. We’re gonna go back to Genesis 24 in the Old Testament, and we’re gonna look at the story of Isaac and Rebecca. Way back before there were apps. There were no DMs then. There’s no DTR conversations.
This was not a fairy tale story. This was a faith story. And as we look at it, we’re actually gonna see some timeless wisdom on how do we date in a way that honors God today. And so some context about this story is it takes place around the year 2000 BC. And Isaac, remember, last week, who did we talk about last week? Abraham and Sarah. This is actually their son. Isaac is their son. And he’s gonna marry Rebecca, a girl from Mesopotamia, which is in modern-day Iraq. Now, because the story took place back in the Middle East in this time, arranged marriages were kind of a normal thing, which would be scary to a lot of people today. If you think about like your parents picking your spouse, you’d be like, your dad’s gonna say, «Hey, I’ll trade you for a few goats and a firm handshake».
And you’re like, «I’m out». The reality is that in many cultures, that’s still a thing today. And some could argue that if you come from a really strong, God-centered, and principled family, that the families contributing to the wisdom of who you choose might not be a bad idea. But that’s for a whole nother conversation. We’re just gonna look at it today. And notice that whenever the parents, were gonna set this relationship up. They didn’t start with, like, «Hey, let’s look at playlist compatibility». That they didn’t look to see, are there matching love languages? They start actually with saying, «Do our faith in God align and are we spiritually compatible in a way that would build a foundation that would make this marriage strong for years to come»?
So let’s look at this story. A little unusual story. Your story’s not gonna be like that. But we’re gonna pull some principles out of it to help you date in a way that honors God. How do we do that? The first principle, very, very important, number one, is we’re gonna start with God’s standards. We’re gonna start with God’s standards. Genesis 24 tells us this, «Abram was now very, very old». He’s about 140 years old. «And the Lord had blessed him in every way. And he said to the senior servant in his household,» this is a guy, probably Eleazar, his chief servant. He says to Eleazar, «The one in charge of everything that he had, 'Put your hand under my thigh.'»
Now, that sounds weird, and it is. We’ll come back to why they did this in a minute. «Put your hand under my thigh». And he says to a servant, «I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife or my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I’m living, but will go to my country and my own relatives to get a wife for my son Isaac». So Abraham’s probably 140 years old. Isaac, his son, is around 40 years old and he’s not married yet. So if you’re like 28 and you’re going, «The clock’s still ticking». He was way older than that. And you can only imagine, he’s perhaps going like, «Okay, God, when am I gonna get to get married? When are you gonna bring the right person to me»?
And if you feel that way today, I understand, it is not easy. But I want to tell you very, very clearly that it’s better to wait for the right one than to marry the wrong one. It’s way, way, way better to have high standards and to wait. And there are about 12 people clapping here that may be able to testify and you don’t want to hear their story. 'Cause they’re gonna tell you right now, «Listen to me, young party, that you don’t wanna marry the wrong one». And so Abram tells his servant, «Hey, what I want you to do is put your thigh under, put your hand under my thigh». And that’s kind of where, «Why are we doing that in this business deal»? This actually was not an unusual way of making a covenant. And I don’t even know how to say this.
Listen all, can we all be adults for a minute? Sure. Let’s all be adults. Hey, basically what happened is you’re putting your hands near the reproductive parts. They’re saying, «We’re actually thinking about generations to come. We’re making a legacy covenant promise. We’re thinking about generations to come, and I’m making this promise based on propelling our faith into the future that you are not gonna get a wife from the Canaanites, but you’re gonna go to my people». Now you say, «Okay, is he discriminating»? This wasn’t about ethnicity, this was about a shared faith. He’s saying, «Go to the place where people worship Yahweh, the God that we worship, so that we can be unified in our faith in worshiping and serving God together».
Which raises the question. Some of you may say, «Well, if I’m a Christian, do I have to marry a Christian? If I’m a Christian, do I have to marry a Christian»? And the answer is no, you actually don’t. You don’t. In the same way, you don’t have to wear a parachute if you jump out of a plane, but you would be wise to do so. Like, do you have to marry a Christian? You don’t. You don’t have to, but it’s not the best plan. And you may say, «But, Craig, you’re being judgemental». I mean, there are a lot of non-Christian people that are great people. Yes, there are. There are non-Christian people that are great people. But the problem is, if your foundation is different, if you’re going in different directions, it’s really, really, really hard to have a God-honoring life when one person doesn’t honor God.
If you’re going in one direction, like you genuinely want to pursue Jesus and your spouse doesn’t believe in Jesus, how are you going to agree to raise children that serve Jesus? And what happens when you say, «I want to tithe and give 10% of what God trusts us back to God,» another person is not, «I don’t believe in God». You got a problem there. And what if we want to be different with our time and serve with our gifts to make a difference? And the problem is that marriage isn’t just about love. It’s about building a life and a ministry together. And if you’re not building on the same spiritual foundation, then what you’re trying to build is gonna have a hard time standing. And that’s why the apostle Paul said this. He said, «Don’t be yoked together with unbelievers».
In other words, if you’re pursuing Jesus, don’t just partner up and be joined with and try to do life together intimately. Yes, we’re gonna love non-believers. And yes, we’re gonna serve non-believers. And yes, we’re gonna be friends with non-believers. And yes, we’re gonna be involved in the lives of non-believers. But we’re not gonna marry them. If we truly wanna honor Jesus, we wanna go in the same way. Why? Because we wanna go to God for guidance and we wanna go to God to honor God. And you can’t go to God for guidance together if one of you doesn’t go to God at all. Yes. You guys are being quiet in here today. Now, perhaps one of the reason is because some of you right now might be in a marriage that is unequally yoked.
Some of you right now, you are way more passionate about serving and honoring God than maybe the person that you’re married to. What do we do with that? Well, let’s just start by acknowledging that that’s not easy. And it can be really, really sad. I mean, literally, for both people. Because you want to be moving in the same direction with the same values and the same heartbeat and the same motives and the same calling in life. And when you don’t have the same values, the same spiritual direction, it can be very, very painful for both of them. So if you are one who is trying to honor God and you really genuine, you know, you’re coming to church and you’re trying to raise your kids in a way that would be Jesus honoring, and your spouse doesn’t seem to care that much, let me just acknowledge that it is very, very hard. It’s sad, but it does not mean that you are without hope.
And I would encourage you to keep loving as you’ve been loved, keep praying faithfully, keep living your faith. And remember that God can work in and through you in ways that you never ever imagined. In fact, in the New Testament, Paul asked this question. I like this. He said, «How do you know, wife, whether you’ll save your husband? Or, how you know, husband, whether you’ll save your wife»? In other words, if you are faithfully a light that shines in the dark places, perhaps God might use you to reach the person that you love desperately. And you can be united in a marriage that truly seeks to put God first. Your faithfulness might be the very thing that God uses to reach the one that you love. So how do we date in a way that honors God?
The first thing we’re gonna do is we’re gonna look for someone who is pursuing Jesus with everything in them. We’re gonna start with God’s standards. The second thing that we’re gonna do is we’re going to pray before we pursue. What do you do? You pray before you pursue. And I’m gonna show you the first part of this next verse before I show you what it says completely. This talks about the servant. And the text says this, then he did what? What do you think he did? If you are smart, you’ll probably figure it out because I’m leading you with praying. But what would we typically do? Nowadays, you might think, «Okay, hey, I’m looking for somebody, so how am I gonna find a spouse»?
And so you, like you DM three exes just to check in. He didn’t do that. You might make a pros and cons list of the new person that comes to life group. And if the pros outweigh the cons, you ask him out. You might make a deal and say, «Hey, if she makes eye contact with me and listens to life church worship, I’m gonna take that as confirmation that this is the one». Okay, this is what we do, but this isn’t what’s always wise. What do you think the servant did before he pursued a spouse for Isaac? The Bible says, then he did what? Say it with me. Then he prayed. Prayed. Type it in the comment section. What did he do? Type it in there, «Then he prayed». Before the servant pursued a potential wife for Isaac, he actually prayed.
So what do you do? Let me make this clear. I’m not giving you a formula. Sometimes people say married people, like, almost mean to single people. Like, «Well, all you gotta do is just like surrender and just like pray and just don’t care anymore, and then God’s gonna bring you the right person». He may do that, He may not. This isn’t a formula. This isn’t about getting everything right so that God finally goes, «Okay, now you’re sincere, presenting Mr. So-and-so to you». And that’s not that at all. What it is is it’s saying, «I’m genuinely pursuing the heart of God».
Here’s what scripture says, «Seek first». Jesus said that seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, do that first, and then everything else will be added unto you. We seek first the kingdom of God. We’re not seeking romance, we’re not seeking a spouse, we’re not seeking someone to snuggle up to and watch Netflix with. We are seeking God and with all of our heart. God, I want your heart. God, I want your will. I wanna glorify you. I want your timing. And I’m gonna tell you my story. And when I tell you my story. I want it to be clear, this is my story. This is not your story. It should not be your story. This is just my story. In college, before I was a Christian, I don’t like to say it, but I was ungodly. This was my fraternity party. Nobody here was sober.
You say, «Where are you, Craig»? I am the guy in the back. For some reason, there are two hands on my head. I do not know whose hands those were. When I became a Christian, I had never seen how to date or pursue marriage in a way that was God-honoring. And so I’m a brand new Christian and I wanna honor God. And I genuinely want one day to have a marriage that truly, truly, truly is God-honoring, and I didn’t know how to do it. So what do you think I did? Here’s what I didn’t do. I didn’t go start dating.
What I did is I actually stopped dating. And for two years, two long years, on most Saturday nights, I would stay at my place and I would listen to something called cassette tapes. You can look it up. Google it. It’s the thing. And I would listen to cassette tapes on Christian marriages, how to have a God-honoring marriage. And I would read books on how to have a god honoring marriage and how to be a man of God and how to treat someone. And then I literally, I would drink near-beer 'cause I was trying to get off of drinking real beer. So drinking near-beer and prayer and all this stuff. It worked. You know, that’s best I could do. And I wrote notes to the one who would be my future wife. I had this whole shoebox full of love notes. I’m praying for you today, God. But I list all these kind of things.
And for two years, that’s what I did. Until one day, someone started making fun of me and making fun of Amy and saying, «You’re weird, she’s weird. You, guys, should find each other». Okay, we’ll do that. And that’s how I ended up meeting her. That was my story. It was that for a lot… It wasn’t seeking, I’m out looking for a spouse. It’s, I’m seeking God, so you will do in me what you need to do in me. And so I would say, not in a formula way, but in a spiritual way, «God, I want your will. God, I wanna seek you». Before you pursue, you actually pray. And we’re gonna see the servant do this when he prayed, «Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today and show kindness to my master Abraham». God, direct my steps so that I can honor you in what I do.
Now, notice what the servant didn’t ask God to do. Hey, bless whoever I pick. Bless the one that’s the best looking. No, what he’s saying is make the direction clear. And so I would just say to you, don’t ask God to bless a relationship that you know doesn’t honor God. And it’s really, really common to rationalize who you’re going out with. Well, you know, is he a Christian? Well, I don’t know. I mean, you know… I mean, like, his parents go to church and he actually has a cross necklace that he never wears. And so maybe he is, you know? And if you know you’re dating someone who’s not a Christian and you are moving in with someone and you know you shouldn’t move in and you know they’re distracting you from God, don’t ask God to bless a relationship that’s not honoring God. You start with his standards, you pray before you pursue, and you let God direct your steps.
Don’t play with fire. We’re gonna start with God’s standards. We’re gonna pray before we pursue. And then what are we gonna do? We’re gonna pay attention to patterns, not just potential. When you are getting to know someone, don’t just say, «Well, he’s got such great potential, even though he is still unemployed and no one likes him, and he lives at home and his mom doesn’t even like him». Don’t, don’t, you know? But he’s got potential. Don’t try to talk yourself into something. Look for patterns, not just potential. And I want you to watch as the servant looks for patterns in the life of the woman that he’s looking at. The servant says, «Hey, God, whenever I ask her for a drink, if she offers water, not just to me, but to the camels too, then I will know that she’s the wife you picked for Isaac».
And here’s what the Bible says. «Before he had finished praying, Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder. The servant hurried to meet her and said, 'Hey, please give me a little water from your jar.' And she says, 'Drink, my Lord, ' she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands to give him a drink». What I like about this is a servant wasn’t just going, «Is she hot? Is she a babe»? No, he wasn’t just looking for outward beauty, which you do want to be attracted. That’s a good thing. But he wasn’t just looking for outward beauty, he was looking for inward character. Because what someone does tells you way more about who they are than just what Someone says.
Watch what they do. Watch how they live. Watch how they treat people. Watch if they keep their word or not. Watch if they have integrity. Watch how they spend their time. Watch how they spend their money. Watch how they treat people who serve you at a restaurant. Watch how they treat their parents. Watch what they do because what they do tells you who they are more than what they say. I told my kids all the time, «Character is revealed in patterns, not promises». What do you see over and over again in their patterns? If you’re dating a guy and he says he’s a Christian and none of his close friends follow Jesus, not a single one, that is probably a clue that what he says is different than what he really does. If her playlist, yeah, I love Jesus, and her playlist is full of profanity and not worship, pay attention. That might be a pattern you wanna pay attention to.
If she lies all the time to her friends, and, oh, you know, how is this and this and is, making stuff up and exaggerating and say, if she’s lying to them, she’ll likely lie to you. If he says he’s a Christian and wants to honor Jesus in his life, then pushes you to have sex with him, that dude cares more about his desires than honoring you and pleasing God. And you need to let his actions speak to you clearly. Doesn’t matter what he says, it matters what he does. And thank you for that little golf clap 'cause you guys are sitting there, being all kind of quiet today. I’m telling you right now, pay attention, pay attention.
Now, it’s just what they say, how they live. Because you won’t marry who they claim to be, you’ll marry who they really are at their core. You’re not looking for promises, you’re looking for patterns about what the way that they live. Their behavior, their life, their friendship, their testimony will tell you what they really believe inside and who they really are. Right. Someone said this. Someone said, «Hey, if other people show you who they really are, believe 'em». Yeah. If you’re dating someone right now and they are showing you who they really are, and who they really are isn’t someone you wanna try to honor God with, believe what they’re telling you about who they really are.
So Rebecca gives the servant the water. Not only does she give the servant the water, but verse 19 says this, «After she’d given the servant a drink, she said, 'I’ll draw water for your camels too until they’ve had enough to drink.' So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels». What did we see? Besides the fact that she’s athletic. Right? She’s running there and she’s carrying these things. But besides that, look at what her actions say. And this is so important. Please, please, please, please hear this and apply it. Look for what their actions say about their character. The servant looks on and says, «Wow, she’s kind. She’s served a stranger. She took initiative, meaning she did more than she was asked to do. She was generous. She didn’t just care for me, a stranger, but she cared for the animals of a stranger as well».
Because actions reveal character. Watch what they do, not just what they say. And again, I’ll tell you a story about what I saw in Amy early on. Again, the way I met her was a girl was making fun of me. You’re weird. You’re overboard for God. And she had just heard about Amy. Amy was at another school. She’d never met Amy. She said, «I heard about her. She’s weird like you, she’s overboard for God. You, guys, would be perfect for each other». So I called Amy, never met her, never seen her. And I’m talking to her on the phone, like, «Hey, I heard you’re overboard for God, so am I. Are you overboard for God»? She says, «Yes, I am». I said, «Great». So I said, «Hey, why don’t we get together and meet next Tuesday night»? And she said, «That’d be, oh, I forgot. I serve at a junior high girls life group on Tuesday night. I can’t».
So, okay, how about we get together on Wednesday night? She goes, «I’d be, oh, I forgot. I have church on Wednesday night». I said, «Well, how about Thursday night»? She goes, «Oh, I’m getting together with a friend who needs prayer. We’re gonna have dinner and pray together on Thursday». I said, I’m getting a little bit worried right now. I said, «How about Friday night»? And she said, «Oh, oh yeah, I’ve got young adults at my church on Friday night». I said, «Okay, I’m getting it». All you have to do is tell me four times you’re busy, and I get it. And then she said, «How about you come to my Bible study on Tuesday night»? And I said, «How about we do that and we see Jesus together on Tuesday night»?
And what I want you to notice is one conversation and what could I determine about her? A girl I never met, never even seen before. She’s committed to Jesus. Yeah. I mean, her schedule is full of Jesus things. She keeps her word. She was actually a little bit excited to meet a guy who’s on fire for God. And she could have said to her, hey, her friend, «Sorry, Thursday night, I’m not going out with you. I met this guy». She kept her word. She’s the heart of a servant. She’s serving junior high girls on a Tuesday night when she’s in college. Who does that? And the most important thing, she was willing to bring me to her girls' Bible study. And that showed it to me, okay? Pay attention to patterns. The actions tell you who they are.
So the servant prayed, «God show me». And God directed him and he chose Rebecca for Isaac. And here’s what kind of cool is. You can kind of say, God set him up. And little did they know that they would actually give birth to Jacob, who had become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. And knowing that just when they were like hoping to have maybe a marriage, God was actually planning a legacy. God’s plans are generally bigger than He ever realized. So it can be complicated. I hear a lot of people say, «Well, there’s no good men out there».
I see 'em all the time. I see imperfect men being perfected by the word of God and change to become more like Jesus. I see men willing to lay down their lives, to serve Jesus, glorify Him, die to their flesh, and be a man of God, leading people into a legacy of faithful ministry. I see women all the time being conformed to the image of Christ, letting God’s word, change who they are to be a servant, to be a partner, to be in ministry with someone else for the glory of God. And so what I want just to remind you is that God is not a God of confusion, He’s a God of peace. And the same God who brought Rebecca and Isaac together is the same God who brought us together, and is the same God who brings couples together every single day.
So no matter the season that you’re in, you’re single and frustrated, single and excited, married and blessed, married and miserable, divorced, widowed, full of hope, or maybe feeling hopeless, I want you to understand that God cares about you. God sees you exactly where you are. God knows the intimate details of your life, and He wants to be involved directing your steps if you will pursue Him, if you’ll pursue Him. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Seek first the kingdom of God. Pursue Him, pursue Him, pursue Him.
So if you’re single, keep pursuing Him, keep pressing into Him because God knows the desires of your heart. If you’re dating, keep pursuing Him. Pursue Him together. Keep your standards high, your eyes open, and let God direct your steps as you pursue Him. If you’re married, keep pursuing Him. If you can pursue Him together, pursue Him together every single day.
God direct our steps. God guide us. God empower us. God, draw us closer to you and keep fighting for each other and fight to put God first in your relationship.
Because when you put God first in your relationships, you’re not just building a marriage, you’re building a foundation for a legacy that will live for years and years to come. Do not let the devil lie to you. God is a God of peace. God is a God of love. God is a God of healing. God is a God of restoration. And God has good plans for you. No matter your relational status, God wants your life full of His goodness, full of great, meaningful relationships. And God wants you to have a ministry that makes a difference all around the world. So what do you do? You seek Him first. You keep seeking Him. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added unto you.
So Father, today, that’s what we do. We are seeking you. Not the perfect relationship, not the dream life, not the Instagram-worthy posts. God, we’re seeking you above anything else.
And what I wanna do is just ask today a question, kind of reflecting. For those of you that are Christians, you genuinely are a follower of Jesus. I wonder how many of you want to live in such a way that it truly reflects what you say you believe. Meaning, you want the patterns to show loud and clear. No one’s gonna say, «Oh, I had no idea. You’re a Christian». They see it, they feel it, they know it everywhere you are. If you’re a follower of Jesus and you want your life to truly, obviously, and boldly reflect what you claim to believe, would you lift up your hands right now? Lift them up. Yes, I’ll praise God. Hands all over the place. Online, just type in the comment section, «I want my life to reflect Jesus». Just pray this, just pray this out loud. Just pray.
Heavenly Father, I’m seeking you first I’m seeking you first. Above anything else. I want to know you. I want to do your will. I want to glorify you. I’m seeking you first. Now, Father, as we seek you, as we call out you, as we cry out you, as we draw near to you, thank you that you draw near to us. And God, I thank you that as we seek you, you will empower us to live a life that reflects who you’ve called us to be.
As you keep praying today at all of our different churches, there are some of you’re gonna go, like, you know, if we just had a real honest talk and I ask you, does your life reflect a life that honors God? You say, «No». If you’d asked me back in college, does my life… I thought I believed in God. I went to church and all. Does your life, Craig, did it reflect one who’s truly pursuing God? Are you living a life that would be worthy of someone like Amy of a relationship like that? My answer would be, «No, no, no, no, and no because I would’ve claimed Jesus with my lips, but my life did not reflect Him».
If that’s you today, can I just just speak to you as simply as I can? There is a way better way. There’s a way better way. There is a way higher calling for your life than you could ever imagine. And you don’t get there by being good enough or earning your way there. You actually get there by being humble enough to be forgiven by the God that loves you. And I wanna tell you that right now. No matter what you’ve done, no matter how broken you are, no matter how bad your behavior might be, no matter how far you feel from God, God loves you. He loves you exactly as you are. And he loves you so much that he sent Jesus, His Son, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the perfect one who came, not for the righteous, but He came for the sinners. That’s what He said. He didn’t come for the healthy, He came for the sick. He came for the broken people who needed hope and healing and forgiveness.
And so what do you do? Well, Jesus did it for you. He was perfect and died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. And God raised Him from the dead, defeating death, hell on the grave, so that anyone, and this includes you, who humbles himself to say, «I need a savior. I need forgiveness». You surrender your life. It’s a prayer of submission and surrender to make Him the Lord of your life. And when you do, God forgives your sins and makes you brand new. Today, in all of our churches and online, there are those of you. You may kind of claim God, but you don’t know Him. You may even look like you’re far from God, but you’re being drawn to Him today. What are you gonna do? Just step away from your sin. Call on the name of Jesus, surrender your life. God will hear your prayer and you become new, forgiven, and transformed.
At all of our churches, those who say, «That’s me by faith today, I step away from my old life. I step away from my sins. I give my life to you, Jesus. Save me. I give my life to you». That’s your prayer. Lift your hands high right now, all over the place. Lift them up and say, «Yes». Right back over there, god bless you, in there as well. Others today say, «Yes, Jesus». Right back up here, and over here as well. Right back there, God bless you. Come on, church, let’s give God some praise today. Others who say, «Yes, Jesus, I surrender. Be the Lord of my life». Online, type in the comments section, «I’m surrendering my life to Jesus». Just type that in there. And then today, wherever you are, would you just pray with those around you? Nobody prays alone. Pray:
Heavenly Father, I give you my life. Forgive all of my sins. Jesus, save me. Be my Lord. Fill me with your spirit. So I could know you. So I could reflect your love. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. God, thank you for new life. You have all of mine. In Jesus' name, I pray.