Chapter Two
                    Surrender is the only way to live                                               

You were designed to worship God-and if you fail to worship Him, you will create other things (idols) to give your life to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice. Surrender is not the best way to live, it is the only way to live. Nothing else works. All other approaches lead to frustration, disappointment, and self-destruction.
Surrendering your life is not a foolish emotional impulse but a rational, intelligent act, the most responsible thing you can do with your life.
Sometimes it takes years, but eventually you discover that the greatest hindrance to God’s blessing in your life is not others, it is yourself - your self-will, stubbornness, pride, and personal ambition. You cannot fulfill God’s purpose for your life while focusing on your own plans
If God is going to do His deepest work in you, it will begin with this. So give it all to God: your past regrets, your present problems, your future ambitions, your fears, dreams, weaknesses, habits, hurts, and hang-ups. Sometimes God gets our attention with hardship, and sometimes gets our attention with less drastic methods. There is a moment of surrender and there is the practice of surrender, which is moment-by-moment and lifelong. So, you may have to surrender your life seventy times a day. You must make it a daily habit
Let me warn you from my experience. When you decide to live totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested. Sometimes it will mean doing inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks. It will often mean doing the opposite of what you feel like doing

Surrender to God creates relationship, and then friendship
Through surrendering you build a relationship with God. Your relationship with Him has many different aspects: God is your Creator and Maker, Lord and Master, Merciful and Gracious, Judge, Redeemer, Almighty and much more. Friendship with God is blessing. The Qur’an stated clearly about rly about people who had relationship with God, and they "were called “friends of God
4:125 Whose religion is better than one which submits totally to God, leads a righteous life, and upholds the creed of Abraham monotheism? God has chosen Abraham as a beloved friend

We learn from this verse three lessons First, the verse started with comparison in religion “Whose religion is better..”
Second, it is clear from this comparison that “One submits totally to God” is better than any others in God’s Kingdom – it is Submission
Third, once you submit, you have to fulfill the conditions of submission “Leads righteous life and upholds the creed of Abraham..” That means total obedience and the result is to be “Beloved friend of God”
Friendship with God is only because of His mercy. Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege. It’s difficult to imagine how an intimate friendship is possible between an Omnipotent, Invisible, Perfect God and a finite, sinful human being
Total submission to God alone, talk to Him constantly
You will never grow a close relationship with God by just attending mosques, classes, reading religious books, praying five times a day, or even having a daily quiet time. May be it needs all of this but the most important of all is to share all your life experiences with God
2:186 When My servants ask about Me, I am always close. I answer whoever calls upon Me. They shall respond to Me, and believe in Me, that they may be guided
40:60 Your Lord says, “Implore Me, and I will respond to you

Of course, it is important to establish the habit of a daily devotional time with God, but he wants more than an appointment in your schedule. You have to include Him in every activity, every conversation, every problem, and even every thought. You can carry on a continuous, open-ended conversation with Him through your day, talking with Him about whatever you are doing or thinking at the moment. Ask Him, if what I am going to do, or what I am thinking of, pleases Him and according to His boundaries and His limits according to His manual in the Holly Qur’an or not. Don’t let Satan deceive you with his false ideas and hopes.
A common misconception is that “spending time with God” means being alone with Him. Of course, you need time alone with God, but that is only a fraction of your waking hours

Everything you do can be “spending time with God” if He is invited to be a part of it and you stay aware of His presence. So, with this attitude of God’s presence in every moment of your life, ask yourself before you do anything, or saying, even thinking, does that pleases God, is that according to His will, and His boundaries in the Holly Qur’an
Always be aware of the fact, mentioned earlier, that there is eternal life, and this eternity has two choices only: Heaven or Hell! Make your choice
So, the key to friendship with God, is not changing what you do, but changing your attitude toward what you do. What you normally do for yourself you begin doing for God, whether it is eating, bathing, working, relaxing, or thinking, etc…. Today we often feel we must “get away” from our daily routine in order to worship God, but that is only because we haven’t learned to practice His presence all the time

Practicing the presence of God is a skill, a habit you can develop. You must force yourself to think about God at different times in your day. You must train your mind to remember God. We don’t praise god to feel good, but to do good. Your goal is not a feeling, but a continual of reality that God is always present. That is the life style of worship
57:4 ….., He is with you wherever you may be. God is Seer of everything you do
2:255 God: there is no god beside Him, the Living, the Self-Subsisting, slumber does not overtake Him nor sleep….

By meditation, you can establish friendship with God
One way to establish a friendship with God is by thinking about His word throughout your day. This is called meditation. It is impossible to be God’s friend apart from knowing what he says. You can’t love God unless you know Him, and you can’t know Him without knowing His word
While you cannot spend all day studying the Qur’an, you can think about it throughout the day, recalling verses you have read or memorized and mulling them over in your mind. This is a part of meditation called remembrance
Meditation is often misunderstood as some difficult, mysterious ritual practiced by isolated monks and mystics. But meditation is simply focused thinking, a skill anyone can learn and use anywhere
When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, that is called worry. When you think about God’s word over and over in your mind, that is meditation. If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate. You just need to switch your attention from your problems to the Qur’anic verses. The more you meditate on God’s word, the less you will have to worry about
When you read the Qur’an or hear religious speech, don’t just forget it and walk away. Develop the practice of reviewing the truth in your mind, thinking about it over and over. The more time you spend reviewing what God has said, the more you will understand the secrets of this life that most people miss. You are as close to God as you want to be. If you want a deeper, more intimate connection with God you must learn to be completely honest with God about your faults and your feelings. God doesn’t expect you to be perfect, but complete honesty. None of God’s friends in the Qur’an as well as the true believers were perfect. If perfection for friendship with God, we would never be able to be His friends

God allowed Abraham to question Him over the destruction of the city of Sodom. God allowed Abraham to question about how He revive the dead
11:74-76 When Abraham’s fear subsided, and the good news was delivered to him, he proceeded to argue with us on behalf of Lot’s people. Indeed Abraham was clement, extremely kind, and obedient. O Abraham, refrain from this. Your Lord’s judgment has been issued; they have incurred unavoidable retribution
2:260 Abraham said, “My Lord, show me how You revive the deadأ said, “Do you not believe? He said, “Yes indeed, but I wish to reassure my heart

There are lots of examples in the Qur’an, almost all the messengers and the prophets as well as the true believers. Perfection is not the goal, no body is perfect except God Almighty. This is part of being human
In one startling example of frank friendship, God expressed His total disgust with Israel’s disobedience. He told Moses He would keep His promise to give the Israelites the promised land, but He wasn’t going one step farther with them in the desert. God was fed up, and He let Moses know exactly how He felt

People often blame God for hurts caused by others or by uncontrolled events. This what we can call it “your hidden rift with God”. Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God: why would I want to be God’s friend if He allowed this to happen? The antidote, of course, is to realize that God always acts in your best interest, even when it is painful and you don’t understand it

To instruct us to candid honesty, God gave us the Holy Qur’an, a worship manual, full of ranting, doubts, fears, and deep passions combined with thanksgiving, praise, and statements of faith. When you read and ponder on this book, realize this is how God wants you to worship Him

Submission is full devotion, not little bits of your life
God doesn’t want a part of your life. He asks for all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. God is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of your time and money. Where you worship is not as important as why you worship and how much of yourself you offer to God when you worship
People often say, “I like to think of God as……” and then they share their idea of the kind of god they would like to worship. But we cannot just create our own comfortable or politically correct image of God and worship it. That is idolatry
Worship must be based on the truth of Scripture, not our opinions about God. To worship in truth means to worship God as he is truly revealed in the Holy Qur’an. You must worship in your spirit, that means you are spirit in a body, and God designed your spirit to communicate with Him. Worship is your spirit responding to God’s spirit. The only thing in you that has eternity is your soul

Since worship involves delighting in God, it engages your emotions. God give emotions so you could worship Him with deep feeling, but those emotions must be genuine, not faked. Of course, sincerity alone is not enough, you can be sincerely wrong. That is why both spirit and truth are required. Worship must be accurate and authentic. It is so much easier to offer clichés in worship instead of making the effort to honor God with fresh words and ways. This is why I encourage you to read the Scripture (the Qur’an) in different translations- if you cannot read the Arabic text- it will expand your expressions of worship. Make a list of different names of God and focus on them. God’s names are not arbitrary, they tell us about different aspects of His character.
7:180 To God belongs the most beautiful names; call upon Him therewith, and disregard those who distort His names……

One thing worship costs us is our self-centeredness. You cannot exalt God and yourself at the same time. You don’t worship to be seen by others or to please yourself. You deliberately shift the focus off yourself
The mistake we make in worship is seeking an experience rather than seeking God
To mature your spirituality, God always will test you with periods of seeming separation, times when it feels as if He has abandoned or forgotten you. You wake up one morning and all your spiritual feelings are gone. You pray, but nothing happens. You rebuke the devil, but it doesn’t change anything. You go through spiritual exercises, you have your friends pray for you, you confess every sin you can imagine, and then go around asking for forgiveness of everyone you know. You fast…still nothing. You start to wonder how long this spiritual gloom will last. Days? Weeks? Months? Will it ever end
In utter desperation, you cry out, what is the matter with me

The truth is, there is nothing wrong with you! This is a normal part of the test and maturing of your spirituality and your relationship with God. It is painful, but it is absolutely vital for the development of your faith. It is a test of faith, one we all must face. Will you continue to love, trust, obey, and worship God? Yes, yes, and yes my Lord
God is always present, even when you are unaware of Him, and His presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion. God is more concerned that you trust Him than that you feel Him. The situations that will stretch your faith most will be those times when life falls apart and God is nowhere to be found. Also, those times are part of the test, and you can read in the Holy Qur’an lots of situations alike
2:214 Do you expect to enter paradise without being tested like those before you? They were afflicted with hardship and adversity, and were shaken up until the messenger and those who believed with him said, “Where is God’s victory?” God’s victory is always near

Did you know that admitting your hopelessness to God can be a statement of faith
During times of spiritual dryness you must patiently rely on the promises of God, not your emotions, and realize that He is taking you to a deeper level of maturity

A friendship based on emotion is shallow indeed
So don’t be troubled by trouble. Circumstances cannot change the character of God. God’s power is still in full force. Trust God to keep His promises. When you feel abandoned by God yet continue to trust Him in spite of your feelings, you worship Him in the deepest way
30:6 Such is God’s promise, and God never breaks His promise, but most people do not know
40:77 Therefore, you shall be patient; God’s promise is truth…

The party of God (Hezb Allah) or the party of Satan (Hezb Al-Shitan)
As we stated before, you have freedom of choice, in life there are many choices. God promises to give us freedom of choice, but not so many. Eternity has two choices; Paradise or Hell, or in other words; the party of God or the party of Satan. It is your choice. As we understand from the Qur’an, Hezb Allah=Paradise and Hezb Al-Shitan=Hell
The conclusion is, either you walk with God through this life or with Satan, you will never be alone. You have to be with either one, you cannot be with both at the same time
I will demonstrate a few verses from the Qur’an and you have to make an effort to get the message from them and finally, you draw the conclusion and make your choice. Don’t forget that God is Just, so He gave us freedom of choice to use, use it wisely or you loose it

Hezb Allah
4:122 As for those who believe and lead a righteous life, We will admit them into gardens with flowing streams, wherein they live forever. Such is the truthful promise of God. Who is more truthful than God
5:55-56 Your real allies are God and His messengers, and the believers who observe the contact prayers and the obligatory charity and they bow down.” “Anyone who allies himself with God and His messengers and those who believed, then God’s party (Hezb Allah) are the victors
58:22 ….He decrees faith into their hearts, and supports them with inspiration from Him, and admits them into gardens forever. God is pleased with them, and they are Pleased with him. These are the party of God. Most assuredly, God’s party are the winners
13:27-28 …………..and He guides to Him only those who submit.” They are the ones whose hearts rejoice in remembering God. Absolutely, upon remembering God, the hearts shall rejoice
63:9 O you who believe, do not be distracted by your money and your children from remembering God. Those who do this are the losers
24:36-37 ……glorifying Him therein, day and night.” “Are people who are not distracted by business or trade from commemorating God, and observing the contact payers and giving the obligatory charity. They fear the day when the hearts and eyes will be horrified

Hezb Al-Shitan
58:19 The devil has possessed them, and has caused them to disregard God’s message. These are the party of the devil (Hezb Al-Shitan). Absolutely, the party of the devil are the losers
5:91 the devil wants to provoke animosity and hatred among you through intoxicants and gambling, and to distract you from remembering God and from observing the contact prayers. Will you then refrain
Satan Disowns his followers
14:22 And the devil said, after the judgment had been issued, “God has promised you the truthful promise, and I promised you, but I broke my promise. I had no power over you, I simply invited you, and you accepted my invitation. Therefore do not blame me, and blame only yourself
God’s Warning
39:22 ……,Woe to those whose hearts are heartened against God’s message; they have gone far astray
43:36 anyone who disregards the message of the Most Gracious, We appoint a devil to be his constant companion

God’s Advice
7:200 when the devil whispers to you any whisper, seek refuge in God; He is Hearer, Omniscient
The importance of the remembrance of God
29:45 …… . The contact prayers will help you avoid evil works and vice. But the remembrance of God is greater. God knows everything you do

Love is important to pure submission and total devotion to the Creator
Love is one of the foundations of total submission. We learn from the scripture, the Holy Qur’an, that God loves His servants – human – and he dislike seeing us disbelievers. Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task. It runs counter to our self-centered nature. That is why we are given a life time to learn it
Why does God insist that we give special love and attention to other believers? Why do the believers get priority in loving? Because God wants His party (Hezb Allah) to be known. In His commands, if you ponder carefully, you will find that giving from what you have to the needy, it should be with the love of giving and from what you love

2:177 ……Righteous are those who believe in God, the last Day, the angels, the scriptures, and the prophets; and they give the money, despite loving it, to the relatives, the orphans, the needy, …….
76:8, 9 They donate their favorite food to the poor, the orphan, and the captive. We feed you for the sake of God, we expect no reward from you, nor thanks
5:54 O you who believe, if you revert from religion, God will substitute in your place people whom He loves and they love Him, (people) who are humble with the believers, but stern with the disbelievers, and who strive in the cause of God without fear of any blamer. Such is God’s blessing…….

In Heaven we will enjoy God’s party forever, but first we have some tough work to do here on earth to prepare ourselves for an eternity of loving. God wants you to be in regular, close fellowship with other believers so you can develop the skill of loving and sharing. Love cannot be learned in Isolation. You read more in details in the Qur’an as well as in the Torah; four of the ten commandments deal with our relationship to God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. But all ten are about relationships
49:10 The believers are brethren. You shall reconcile your brethren, and reverence God, that you may attain mercy
3:31 Proclaim: If you love God, you should follow me, God will then love you, and forgive your sins. God is Forgiver, Merciful

Business is a great enemy of relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love God and follow His manual
I have been at the bedside of many people in their final moments, when they stand on the edge of eternity, and I never heard anyone say, Bring me my diplomas! I want to look at them one more time. Show me my awards, my medals, that gold watch I was given.” When life on earth is ending, people don’t surround themselves with objects
9:24 Say, “if your parents, your children, your spouses, your family, the money you have earned, the business you worry about, and the homes you cherish are more beloved to you than God and His messenger, and the striving in His cause, then just wait until God brings His judgment. God does not guide the wicked people

Wisdom is learning that truth relationships with God sooner than later
Don’t wait until you are on your deathbed to figure out that nothing matters more.
One of the ways God measures spiritual maturity is by the quality of your relationships. In heaven God won’t say, “tell me about your career, your bank account, and your hobbies”. Instead He will review how you treated other people, particularly those in need. When you transfer into eternity, you will leave everything else behind. All you are taking with you is your beliefs and your deeds
Knowing this, I suggest that when you wake up every morning, sit on the edge of the bed and talk to God this, “God whether I get anything else done today, I want make sure that you are pleased.” Mention God’s names, thank Him for yesterday and promise Him that you will not going to waste this day
Why should God give you another day if you are going to waste it

Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone. Use every chance you have for doing good. Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell someone to wait until tomorrow if you can help now
Why is now the best time to do good? Because you don’t know how long you will have the opportunity. You have no guarantee of tomorrow. Now means time
Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you cannot make more time. Knowing that one day you will stand before God, here are some questions you need to consider:
How will you explain those times when projects or things were more important to you than pleasing God? Did you make time to study and ponder on God’s words? What have you done with your money that you have earned during your life time? Did you think to lend God some of what you have in life? How did you treat the needy