Hi everyone,

Jasiel here. You are receiving this note because you signed up for the Tech Ecosystem Prayer Walk at the Nairobi Arboretum tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb 10th.

(If you missed the last three notes in this series, you can find them linked here, here, and here.)

First, the quick level-set: This is not a ministry launch. It’s not a church-led event. My heart for this hour is simply that we pause our striving—to find investors, to hire talent, to spot the next unicorn—and just spend an hour with the One whose breath is in each of us.

(The Promise: After the prayer event, I won’t send you any more emails. I know your inbox is as busy as mine.)

What we are praying for: Tomorrow, we will be praying on 4 topics:

Reflections on Surrender

Now to the last reflection in this series.

This week, I’ve been wrestling with the weight of "letting go."

Most of us are builders, investors, and operators. We are hardwired to have a vision of the future, make a bet on it, and force it to work. But there is a specific, quiet agony that comes when you realize God is asking you to lay down something you actually love.

Maybe it's a dream for your company, a specific relationship, or a version of your future you’ve spent years crafting.

As I wrestle with such a moment in my own life, I have been feeling like I am losing. But I’ve been studying two biblical journeys that suggest this "burying" is actually where the deepest walk with God begins.

The Three-Day Silence (The Moriah Journey)

In Genesis 22, God gives Abraham a staggering instruction: "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there."

There is a profound detail here: This is the very first time the word "love" (ahab) is used in the entire Bible. It doesn’t first appear between a husband and wife, but between a father and the son he is being asked to give up. God wasn't being cruel by mentioning Abraham’s affection; He was acknowledging the cost.

But then comes the distance. The Bible says they traveled for three days to reach the mountain. For 72 hours, Abraham had to put one foot in front of the other, hearing the footsteps of the son he loved behind him, knowing exactly where the road ended.

What I have been sitting with is that the hardest part of sacrifice isn't the moment you let go; it’s the long, silent walk to the altar. If you’re in a "three-day walk" right now (or, if you are like me it could be 3 weeks or 3 months), where you know what you have to do but the cost feels more than you can bear, join me in accepting that the distance is where our faith is being refined.

The Isolation of the "Stone’s Throw" (The Gethsemane Press)

Centuries later, near that same mountain range (directly to the east of Mount Moriah separated by the narrow Kidron Valley), Jesus entered Gethsemane (translation, "The Oil Press").

Before the cross, there was the Press. Jesus asked His closest friends to stay with Him, but Luke 22:41 says He withdrew from them "about a stone’s throw."

There is a specific distance required for ultimate surrender. Your co-founders and family can walk with you to the gate, but they cannot enter the "press" with you. If you feel lonely in your struggle to obey God like me, it might be because you’ve reached that "stone’s throw" distance. This is the private space where we, like Jesus, move from "let this cup pass" to "nevertheless, not my will."

The Closed Grave

The hardest part about "burying" what we love is the temptation to go back with a shovel. We want to check if the dream is still there, or if we can revive it on our terms.

But surrender is a transfer of ownership. Abraham had to believe Isaac was gone to receive him back. Jesus had to die to be the Resurrection.

My encouragement to you (and to myself): If you are digging a grave for something today, do not do it with the expectation that God must give it back. That isn't sacrifice; that's an investment.

We bury what we love because God is sovereign and He is good, even when the grave stays closed. He asks us to let go because He wants to be our "exceeding great reward" (Genesis 15:1).

Until our next walk, I leave you with Psalm 73:25-26: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Much love, and I am praying with you.

As always, join me in being Holy as Christ is Holy.

Jasiel

Soundtrack for your week:

1.      This worship set

2.      This worship set

Jasiel

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