Gift giving is one of my favorite things to do. I treasure the feeling of finding just the right thing to give. Sometimes it is extravagant and costly. Other times it is simple and small.
When it comes to my relationship with God, I am completely lost in the gift-giving department. First, there is no possible way that I could give anything more than God gave. He created everything. He breathed life into my lungs. He paid the highest price to purchase my forgiveness in giving Jesus as a perfect, ultimate sacrifice. He is all sufficient and all knowing. What do you get the God who has everything?
Second, there is the overwhelming reality of my finite existence and perpetual failure. Sin and rebellion have been with me from the womb. I am beyond broken and entirely empty without God. And still God invites me to worship Him. The book of Hebrews says I can come boldly. (4:16)
What do we have that we can offer God? Nothing. Nothing but ourselves. Frail. Broken.
This is the prayer behind the song “All My Heart is Yours.”
“These empty hands, These empty hands are Yours
Hands open wide, Reaching for something more
Broken I come to You; Father, I’m Yours to use”
It is a social taboo to come to a party empty-handed. But coming to the celebration of grace in Jesus with empty hands is not only acceptable, it is expected. Our raised hands in worship are a sign of surrender. Use me, Lord. I’m yours.
The chorus of “All My Heart is Yours” begins with a paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 12:9:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
We sing, “Take my weakness, show Your power.”
The very power of God is made perfect in my weakness. What a truth to sing and rest in: That God not only meets us in our weakness but somehow uses our weakness to make His strength known!
Verse 2 borrows from Ezekiel 37, where the prophet experiences a divine miracle of dead, dry, bones being reborn and filled with life. This is the reality of everyone who is, in Christ, reborn. We were not just bad. We were dead. And God made us alive. And the same Spirit that made those bones live is alive in us today. Even when we feel far from God, and we feel the weight of the dead bones, God is at work in us!
Let this be our prayer. The only gift we can bring to God in our worship is the gift of our surrender.
“Take these pieces
Make me whole
All my heart is Yours
Here I am, All my heart is Yours”
Chords
ALL MY HEART IS YOURS
Verse 1
These empty hands
These empty hands are Yours
Hands open wide
Reaching for something more
Pre-Chorus
Broken I come to You
Father I’m Yours to use
Chorus
Take my weakness
Show Your power
All my heart is Yours
All my heart is Yours
Take these pieces
Make me whole
All my heart is Yours
Here I am, All my heart is Yours
Verse 2
These dried up bones
These dried up bones are Yours
Spirit of God
Breathe now and make me whole
Outro
Broken I come to You
Father I’m Yours to use
I surrender all to You
My life is Yours to use