Aug. 4, 2025

Life Of Surrender: Part 1

What does it look like to truly let go and trust God with every part of our daily lives? In today’s episode, host Lauren Alessi invites us to explore the profound theme of surrender—what it means to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and faithfully follow Jesus each and every day. As a community, we’ll reflect on how letting go of control, comfort, and even our deepest desires can open us up to God’s greater plans, and how this daily act of surrender can reshape our journey of faith.

Join us in prayer and devotion as we ask God to help us surrender more fully, trusting Him in every step, and growing closer together as we seek His will above our own.

Want to get resources related to this episode? Enter your info at https://www.mymorningdevo.co/newsletter/ and we’ll send it to your inbox!

Tap HERE to send us a text!

BECOME A FOUNDING "MY MORNING DEVOTIONAL" MEMBER

If you enjoy your 5 minute daily dose of heaven, we would appreciate your support, and we have a fun way for you to partner with the MMD community!

We've launched our "Buy Me a Coffee" membership where you can buy us a latte, OR become a founding member and get monthly bonus video episodes!

To donate, go to mymorningdevo.co/join!

Support the show

NEW TO MY MORNING DEVOTIONAL?

We're so glad you're here!

We're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in a church in Miami, FL, and we're so blessed to partner with the My Morning Devotional community and continue the great work done by the show's creator and our friend, Alison Delamota.

Join our Community

Subscribe to the show on this app
Share this with a friend
Join our newsletter and get additional resources
Follow Us on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠Facebook⁠
⁠Leave a review

Support Our Friends and Family

Connect with the original host of MMD Alison Delamota
Follow our family podcast The Family Business with The Alessis

Check out our Worship Music

Hear the new music project "Praise the Lord EP" from Metro Life Worship and Mary Alessi
Listen on Spotify
Watch on YouTube

WEBVTT

00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:09.839
You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1326. Today's episode is called Life of Surrender, part one.

00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:52.539
Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Hello, everyone, my name is Lauren Alessi and I will be your host for this week. I am excited to be your host for this week because I am talking about something that has kind of been near and dear to my heart recently. It's actually something I really feel that the Lord has been speaking not just to me, but also in the people around me lately.

00:00:52.539 --> 00:01:12.609
And I kind of love when God does that. But it's like when you can feel the Holy Spirit kind of speaking a common theme to you, to people around you. And I think when the Holy Spirit starts to do that, we need to pay attention to what God is trying to speak and we need to put actions behind what we hear God is trying to tell us to do.

00:01:13.170 --> 00:01:32.390
So anyways, this episode is called the Life of Surrender because I just truly believe when we follow God, we need to take up our daily cross and follow him in our everyday lives, in all that we do. So of course, after saying that our verse of the day is Luke

00:01:32.469 --> 00:02:10.180
23, and it says this, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me again. This has been something that I feel the Lord has really put on my heart, that it's really, really easy to follow God and then at the same time just kind of fall back into your daily practice of whatever life may look like for you. Going to work, going to school, you know, taking care of the kids. But maybe, or, or let's say going to work, going to school, taking care of the kids, focusing on your dreams, focusing on your desires, hustling.

00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:18.500
But maybe sometimes we forget this part, that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily in order to follow God.

00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:41.080
And I don't think God wants us to live a life of suffering or a life of, you know, terrible lives. I think God wants us to live a good life, one of full of faith and prosperity and a good full life. But I think sometimes we forget that healthy balance of whoever wants to be God's disciple. We have to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him.

00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:45.879
I love how Jesus doesn't sugarcoat the cost of following him.

00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:58.159
But when we follow him, we have to deny ourselves. We have to die to ourselves. So what does that mean, dying to ourselves? That means letting go of control. That means letting go of what's comfortable to us.

00:02:58.719 --> 00:04:40.310
That means everything that maybe even personal ambitions and things that we may strive for. That means dying to that every day. And you're allowed to want those things. You're allowed to naturally have that means of control because we're human. We're allowed to have that comfortability because that's how God made us. We're human. But it's the act of saying, God, I really want this in my life, but I die to it and I surrender it to you because I am a follower of you and I choose to follow you. And whatever you want to do with it, God, I surrender to you. It's yours. God, this is not a one time decision. A lot of times you hear people testimonies, I just prayed that prayer once and it was done. This is not a one time decision. This is a daily act. This is a daily prayer of surrender. And every day brings new opportunities to choose God's will over our own. When you are dropping your kids off at school and you're like, I really wish, I really wish I had a better car to take my kids in. I really wish my life looked differently, that I can drive a better car to take them to school in. Or if you go home every day and you're like, I really wish I lived in a better house. I was really wish this wasn't the house I came home to. Or if you're dreaming for a spouse to come into your life and you're like, I really wish my life didn't look like this. We're allowed to have those dreams and desires. God wants us to have those dreams and desires. But every day is full of choices we can make to deny ourselves and trust God in the process and surrender everything to him so that we can fully follow him and trust Him. Him. Let's pray. Lord, help us to deny ourselves today, God.

00:04:40.629 --> 00:05:02.079
Not that we have to live a life of suffering, Lord, but a life of following and surrendering everything to you. Show us, Lord, where we have held on to our own ways, where we have held on to control God, instead of following your way and your lead. And Lord, teach us how to follow you more closely. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:23.839
So there you have it, your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.