Lori Ann Wood shares her story of More Than Giving Up as she walks us through her story of heart failure.
My heart failure is getting worse. I am now being considered for transplant—something I’ve begged God to avoid. We are approaching a decade of prayer for my healing. Maybe you have an ongoing petition with God like that?
After years of praying, I’m starting to wonder if we should stop praying. Or maybe it’s time to pray even harder? Perhaps differently?
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’ve latched onto a vision of how my life should go, and I’ve had a tough time letting go. But actually, it may just be the right time to voice a prayer of relinquishment.
What It Is
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 ok with what we can’t fully grasp.
I don’t understand it, but I accept it. Because I trust You, God, I’m OK with setting this request aside.
It’s not saying “I no longer believe You can.” But rather, “If You choose not to, I still trust You.”
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.
When To Do It
Sometimes the calendar or circumstances call for us to relinquish: the job is filled, we get past childbearing years, our “ex” remarries, the casket is closed. But other times, there is no resolution in this realm. And our tendency is to keep asking.
But perhaps the Spirit urges us differently sometimes.
Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time to give up, not on God, but on searching.
Searching for a wholeness, a healing, a homecoming.
Searching for the issue to be resolved OUR way.
Sometimes what we are pursuing is hurtful or destructive, even though it started out differently. Sometimes we have placed our identity in the idea of this pursuit, instead of in God. Sometimes where we are headed is simply outside of God’s best for us, mysterious as it may seem.
Relinquishment is not an everyday prayer. It is not the first prayer we pray, but it might be the last. It comes only after we’ve petitioned tirelessly. We have to get to the point past desperation. We have to be prepared to give up the very thing we value most for God’s greater planned good. When we do, a settled peace arrives as the desperation lifts.
Why Do It
When we find ourselves bent in two over the weight of our continuing request, we may be at the point of relinquishment. I have come close to this point with my chronic illness. And I’ve reached a new level of intimacy with God.
Doug Groothius has nursed his wife (and his own war-torn faith) through the dark tunnel of dementia. He has reached relinquishment with her incurable disease, “Rather than feeling like I’m always beating God with my fists, now I feel more like I’m resting in His arms.”
For those of us who take comfort in calling the shots, it’s a challenging charge. Sometimes it seems our faith depends on our perceived power to move the needle of suffering.
Still, as difficult as it is, relinquishment runs deep in our faith. Setting aside self is the core of the gospel message. And that same gospel hinges on hope. Our acceptance of His sometimes-meandering way never precludes ultimate hope. To pray an honest prayer of relinquishment, we must first trust that God’s road never ends in disappointment.
Getting Okay With It
For now, I still pray every day for healing. And, as you might expect, I pray hard. But it’s possible that someday I may stop asking. At that point, I would fully anticipate something even better, as my request steps aside. Now, maybe for the first time, I can imagine my intense petition shifting one day to a prayer of relinquishment.
When that day comes, I hope I will finally be able to say,
Because I trust Him, I am more than ok with that.
(Adapted from the book, Divine Detour: The Path You’d Never Choose Can Lead to the Faith You’ve Always Wanted,” by Lori Ann Wood)
Meet Lori Ann Woods
Lori Ann Wood lives with her husband in an empty nest in beautiful Northwest Arkansas. Having discovered a serious heart condition almost too late, Lori Ann writes and speaks to encourage deep faith questions along the detours of life. Lori Ann writes for various print and online sources, including the New Zealand-based Devoted Collective. She also serves as WomenHeart Champion Community Educator for Arkansas and American Heart Association Ambassador. Her book, Divine Detour: The Path You’d Never Choose Can Lead to the Faith You’ve Always Wanted, was published in paperback, hardcover, ebook, and audiobook by CrossRiver Media. It is being released in 2025 in Spanish. The book has won nine national and international book awards.
Connect with Lori Ann:
Website: https://loriannwood.com
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/loriannwood/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/DivinelyDetoured
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClsYrW5KIUqMBVvRxzNZG5Q
Free resources available:
5 Prayers & Promises When You Can’t Talk to God: https://loriannwood.com/hope/
The Heart Failure Warning Signs I Missed: https://loriannwood.com/heart
Divine Detour Book Trailer and First Chapter Free: https://loriannwood.com/books/
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Hope in the Healing: A 40-Day Journey Through Chronic Illness
Hope in the Healing: A 40-Day Devotional Journey Through Chronic Illness
Find strength for today and hope for tomorrow with this compassionate 40-day devotional designed for those navigating the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges of chronic illness. Hope in the Healing offers gentle encouragement, Scripture-based reflections, and space to connect with God—even on the hardest days.
💛 Start your journey today: https://amzn.to/3TbkaIj
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