Spiritual Service Begins With Surrender to God

By Rev. Sydney Francis

For more than thirty years, my path has been shaped by a single guiding principle: to bring comfort, compassion, and relief to those who suffer. Long before I became a Reverend, long before theology degrees or healing arts certifications, I heard a call from God to serve through spiritual work and energy healing.

This principle was woven deeply into the spiritual tradition I trained in. We were taught to give service as an offering of tenderness and care, a way of easing the burdens people carry in their bodies, minds, and spirits. Compassion was not an abstract idea; it was an active practice, a way of bringing our presence and opening a door for Spirit to bring comfort and healing to another soul.

Over the years, this practice has shaped me as much as I have shaped it. It has stretched me, refined me, softened me. It has taught me that spiritual strength is not developed solely from intensity or effort, but rather it is also about getting in alignment.

Most mornings begin the same way. I sit in meditation and prayer before anything else begins to move. This simple ritual creates an inner stillness that guides the rest of my day. I also have a practice I call a “walk-and-talk,” which is my version of moving prayer. I hike, breathe with the land, and pray first for myself, then for the people who come to mind. Some are on my prayer list from the Healing Light Center Church, where I also help manage the prayer line. Others are simply carried on my heart. There is an extra uplifting flow of energy that happens as a result of nature + movement + prayer.

Recently, one prayer has been at the center of my mornings: Let me be in alignment with God.

The answer to that prayer shifts day by day. Sometimes I am guided to rest, to soften, slow down, and let my nervous system settle. Other days I receive clear direction about where to place my energy and how I can best support the spiritual practitioners I serve. What remains constant is the reminder that I am not doing this work alone.

My greatest moments as a healer or teacher have never come from effort alone. They come when I step back and allow Spirit to move through me. When I stop trying to fix, solve, or control, and instead become receptive to what God is already doing. In those moments I am reminded of the true purpose of being a Reverend: to stand as an intercessor, a channel, and a bridge of Spirit.

This shift has changed everything. I no longer work with the strain I once carried, trying to make things happen through sheer will. There is more flow now, more ease, more listening. I meet people where they are instead of where I want them to be. I witness without rushing. I pray without gripping. I offer support while trusting that the deeper healing does not just come from me, it moves through me.

This is what heart-centered leadership means to me. It is the courage to surrender our agendas and become vessels of compassion. It is the humility to listen more than we direct. It is the spiritual strength that grows when we release control and return, again and again, to the Source that guides us.

Purpose, for me, is not what I accomplish. Purpose is how willing I am to let God work through my hands, my voice, and my presence.

When I lead from that place, my life becomes simpler, softer, and more aligned. And the people I serve receive support that is grounded not in my effort, but in something far more enduring.

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