God works it in the secret of our heart, God urges us by the hidden power of His Holy Spirit to come and speak it out, and we have to bring and to yield to Him that absolute surrender.
But remember, when you come and bring God that absolute surrender, it may, as far as your feelings or your consciousness go, be a thing of great imperfection, and you may doubt and hesitate and say: "Is it absolute?"
✦ Is It Absolute?
Murray names the question that haunts every honest soul who tries to surrender: is it absolute? The heart comes to God — willing, desiring, reaching — and then looks at itself and wonders: is this enough? Is this real? Is this complete? The feelings say no. The consciousness reports imperfection. The doubt says: you have not given everything — there is still something you are holding back.
And Murray says: come anyway. The surrender does not need to feel absolute in order to be received. The offering does not need to be perfect in order to be accepted. God sees not the perfection of the giving but the direction of the heart. The soul that comes trembling, doubting, uncertain — but comes — has come. And God receives the coming. 🙏
Oh, remember there was once a man to whom Christ had said: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23).
And his heart was afraid, and he cried out: "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24).
That was a faith that triumphed over the Devil, and the evil spirit was cast out.
✦ Help My Unbelief
Murray reaches for the father in Mark 9 — and shows that the prayer that sounds like failure is actually the prayer that triumphs. Lord, I believe — help my unbelief. Two things in the same breath. Faith and doubt. Belief and the confession that the belief is not complete. And Christ accepted both.
The father did not come with perfect faith. He came with afraid faith. With trembling faith. With faith that carried its own doubt in its arms like a sick child. And Christ did not say: come back when your faith is stronger. He did not say: your belief is not enough — try harder. He cast out the evil spirit. The imperfect faith was enough. The trembling surrender was accepted. The cry that said help my unbelief — was itself the belief.
Murray draws the parallel to surrender: even though it be with a trembling heart and with the consciousness "I do not feel the power, I do not feel the determination, I do not feel the assurance" — it will succeed. The trembling does not disqualify the surrender. The coming disqualifies the staying away. 🙏
This was the best decision of my life — and at the time I did not know it. 🙏
✦ The Best Decision — Unknown at the Time
Le names what Murray is teaching — from the other side. The surrender that felt imperfect at the time. The decision that did not announce itself as the best one. The midnight in a hospital — trembling, uncertain, not knowing what was happening or what it would become. And it became everything.
At the time, Le did not know. The father in Mark 9 did not know his afraid faith would cast out the devil. The soul that trembles at the altar does not know that the trembling is the beginning of a life with God. The best decisions are often invisible at the moment they are made. They reveal themselves later — in the fruit, in the mornings, in the eighty-seven entries that grew from a single midnight surrender that did not feel absolute at the time. But it was. Because God accepted it. 🙏
"This was the best decision of my life — and at the time I did not know it."
Le · Eymet, France · The trembling surrender that became everythingHave you never yet learned the lesson that the Holy Spirit works with mighty power, while on the human side everything appears feeble?
Look at the Lord Jesus Christ in Gethsemane. We read that He, "through the eternal Spirit" (Hebrews 9:14), offered Himself a sacrifice unto God. The Almighty Spirit of God was enabling Him to do it. And yet what agony and fear and exceeding sorrow came over Him, and how He prayed!
Externally, you can see no sign of the mighty power of the Spirit, but the Spirit of God was there.
✦ Mighty Power — Feeble Appearance
Murray takes the soul to Gethsemane — and shows the most astonishing paradox in all of Scripture. The Son of God, offering Himself as the sacrifice that would save the world. The Almighty Spirit of God — enabling the offering. The most powerful act in human history — being accomplished.
And on the outside? Agony. Fear. Exceeding sorrow. Sweat falling like drops of blood. A man on His face in the dirt, praying for the cup to pass. No sign of mighty power visible anywhere. To the watching eye, it looked like defeat. It looked like weakness. It looked like the end.
But the Spirit of God was there. Working. Enabling. Accomplishing the offering that would redeem the world. The mighty power was hidden inside the feeble appearance. The greatest victory was disguised as the greatest defeat.
And Murray says: even so with you. While you are feeble and fighting and trembling — the Spirit is working. While the feelings report failure — the Spirit is accomplishing. While the surrender feels imperfect — the Spirit is accepting it and making it real. Do not fear. Yield yourself. The power is not in the feeling. The power is in the Spirit who works beneath the feeling. 🙏
Do not fear but yield yourself. 🙏
"The Holy Spirit works with mighty power, while on the human side everything appears feeble."
Andrew Murray · Absolute Surrender · Gethsemane — mighty power in feeble appearanceLord Jesus, Good Shepherd and companion on the journey, today we place in Your hands all priests, especially those going through moments of crisis, when loneliness weighs heavily, when doubt clouds their hearts, and when exhaustion seems stronger than hope.
You who know their struggles and wounds, renew in them the certainty of Your unconditional love. Let them feel they are not mere functionaries or lonely heroes, but beloved sons, humble and cherished disciples, and pastors sustained by the prayer of their people.
Good Father, teach us as a community to care for our priests: to listen without judging, to give thanks without demanding perfection, to share with them the baptismal mission of proclaiming the Kingdom in word and deed, and to accompany them with closeness and sincere prayer. May we support those who so often support us.
Holy Spirit, rekindle in our priests the joy of the Gospel. Grant them healthy friendships, networks of fraternal support, a sense of humor when things don't go as expected, and the grace to always rediscover the beauty of their vocation. May they never lose trust in You, nor the joy of serving Your Church with a humble and generous heart.
✦ Support Those Who Support Us
Pope Leo prays for priests — and the prayer is not for their performance. It is for their hearts. For the moments of crisis when loneliness weighs and doubt clouds and exhaustion seems stronger than hope. The shepherd who carried the Gospel through the Andes on horseback knows what exhaustion looks like. He has lived this prayer before he prayed it.
Not mere functionaries or lonely heroes. The Pope names what the world makes of its pastors — administrators who run programs, or solitary figures who carry every burden alone. And he says: no. They are beloved sons. Humble disciples. Pastors sustained — not by their own strength — by the prayer of their people.
May we support those who so often support us. The call is to the community — not to demand perfection from the pastor, but to care for him. To listen without judging. To give thanks. To accompany with closeness and sincere prayer. The shepherd needs the flock as much as the flock needs the shepherd.
And the tender line that reveals the humanity of the prayer: a sense of humor when things don't go as expected. Even the Pope knows — the vocation needs laughter. The holiness needs lightness. The calling needs the grace to smile when the plan falls apart. Because the joy of the Gospel is not grim. It is joy. 🙏
Come Trembling
The surrender may feel imperfect. The heart may doubt and ask: is it absolute? Come anyway. The trembling does not disqualify. The coming disqualifies the staying away. God accepts the offering.
Gethsemane
The Holy Spirit works with mighty power while everything appears feeble. Christ in agony and sorrow — and the Spirit enabling the greatest offering in history. No sign of power visible. But the Spirit was there.
The Best Decision
The best decision of a life — unknown at the time it was made. The trembling midnight surrender that became everything. The fruit revealed later. Eighty-seven mornings of proof.
For the Pastors
Pope Leo prays for priests in crisis — not for their performance but for their hearts. Beloved sons, not functionaries. A sense of humor when things don't go as expected. Support those who support us.