A Simple Plan
How To Know You Are Born Again
A Sinner’s Prayer
The first and only effective prayer anyone who doesn’t know God
can make is often called the “sinner’s” prayer, which is
actually An Invitation To Christ. You should talk to God. Talk
to Him just like you’d talk to me. You don’t have to speak in
the King James and you don’t need to know a lot of fancy words.
It is helpful to get down on your knees. This isn’t for God but
for us as it humbles is. Kneeling is something many of us are
simply too proud to do. Humbling ourselves physically often puts
us in the right emotional and mental state to speak to God with
humility and grace.
If you've never prayed the Sinner's Prayer, or something like
it, it's possible you've never formally invited Christ into your
life. If you've never invited Him in, He's still waiting for
that invitation. Your many years of service on the usher board
or the van ministry are certainly appreciated, but works alone,
church membership alone, will not get you to heaven.
If you've never prayed a prayer like this, or if you can't
remember or aren't sure, you should take this time, this moment,
to invite Jesus into your life. Use your own words, but a
sinner’s prayer might be something like this:
Lord Jesus,
I’ve done a lot of wrong things in my life. Things I’m not proud
of. Things I wish I could change. I’m sorry for those things
I’ve done, and for those things I am now doing. Lord, I don’t
want to live this way anymore.
I believe that You died for me. I believe that You rose again,
according to the scriptures, and that You live today. I believe
You want to be my friend. I want to be Yours.
You are welcome in my life. In my heart. In my choices. In my
values. Please breathe on me and breath through me. Change me as
only You can. Lord, I will let You lead the way. I will follow
You and I will trust you.
I believe that, through You, I can have a new life. A better
life. I’m tired of trying to make things better on my own. I
want You to lead the way.
Thank You, Lord, for answering this prayer. For coming into my
heart and my life. Please let your Holy Spirit lead me, guide
and protect me as I spend the rest of my life, from this day
forward, serving only You.
I count this done in the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
What’s Next?
There’s got to be follow-up. We are shamefully weak here, as well. New believers, new in the Word, are like lambs. They are, largely, defenseless against their old habits and old ways. Against demonic attack. Many if not most black churches here have absolutely no follow-up programs. These folks are simply cut loose and many, if not most, either fall back into sin or never escape sin in the first place.
Be Baptized
After dark one evening, a Jewish religious leader named
Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to speak with Jesus. “Teacher,” he
said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your
miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you.” Jesus
replied, “I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never
see the Kingdom of God.” "What do you mean?” exclaimed
Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother's womb
and be born again?” Jesus replied, “The truth is, no one can
enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the
Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy
Spirit gives new life from heaven. —John 3:1-6 [NLT]
This is more ceremonial than anything else, but God wants us to
do this. He wants us to publicly proclaim our new life, our new
relationship with Him. Whether you are baptized in the name of
The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost (or Spirit), or baptized
in the name of Jesus, is a matter for church folk to argue over.
Just get baptized. Like a wedding, it is a public
acknowledgement of your turn in the road. It changes your
thinking and the way others see you, as you leave the Old Man or
the Old Woman beneath the water, dead to this world, and rise
above the water as a new person in Christ Jesus.
Move Forward
Get a Bible. Get a good one. I recommend the Zondervan NIV
Student Bible. It’s a collegiate Bible, good for high school and
college students, so it’s not a “kid’s” bible but an extremely
well-edited learning tool for new converts. Check out our
Introduction To The Bible sidebar below. Start in the Book of
Mark—the shortest of the four Gospels—and get acquainted with
who Jesus is. Whatever you do, don't try reading the Bible from
Genesis through Revelation right off the bat. Trust me, you’ll
get bored somewhere in Deuteronomy and you’ll end up putting the
thing down.
Get a Prayer Partner. Somebody you trust. Somebody who’s not a
busybody or a big mouth. Someone who will check on you and make
sure you’re okay. Someone you can share your struggle with.
Don’t Skip Prayer Meeting. Prayer meeting is, typically, the
least attended function of the black church. If there’s no choir
singing, no preacher hooping, we’re exponentially less likely to
set foot in there. But the prayer meeting is your power station.
The prayer meeting is like a good workout at a health club. It
helps get you focused and keep you focused. It brings you nearer
and closer to God.
Bible Study is simply essential for you, for all of us. Find a
good one if not several good ones and attend regularly. The more
your learn about this great book, the stronger you will be.
Find A Support Group or groups for new Christians. People who
can answer questions and pray with you—without judging you or
your lifestyle or your choices. People who can be there for you
during the exciting times and difficult challenges a new
Christian faces.
Finally, Find A Good Church Home. You will note I place this
last among my recommendations. Not that it’s not important—it
really is important to belong to a church family—but that, in
our tradition, church membership is the only thing we strongly
advocate, when we should be strongly advocating Jesus.
When you find a church home, go slow. People will try and drag
you into all manner of activities and recruit you to all manner
of auxiliaries. A new Christian needs time and space to grow. A
new Christian should not be standing on the door ushering the
very next week or leading songs in the choir right away. A new
Christian need support and patience and time. Church folk need
to not turn up their nose at a new Christian who still smokes or
parties, who’s still shacked up, who still has habits that need
changing. Stop wagging a finger and let God do His job [John
16:13].
You, the new convert, should go slow and with great caution at
your new church home. Like a new convict in a prison, you need
time to figure out who’s your friend and who’s not. There are a
great many emotional and spiritual cripples in churches. A great
many people laying in wait to trip you up out of jealousy or
resentment.
Ladies: there’s an enormous problem with men—even men in
leadership, like deacons and pastors—looking to get you into
bed. You’re new to the Word, you don’t know a whole lot, and
they circle you like sharks. Dating should be the very last
thing on your mind. In fact, dating within our churches is a bad
idea for all of us. The church is not a night club. Worship
service is not a Love Connection. And, for every happy ending of
a couple meeting and marrying at church, there are at least a
dozen train wrecks; people whose ability to worship is now
hampered because they’ve seen that person ministering in the
pulpit naked in the shower. Resentment over hurt feelings often
breeds division and out-and-out warfare within the church. Even
so, few, if any, black pastors warn against dating within your
own church. It would be much wiser and much safer to seek
companionship with someone from another church.
And, there you are: on the road to a new life and new
experiences like one you’ve ever known. Learn to love and trust
God, and you’ll find a life more full and rewarding than you’ve
ever known. This is the most important thing you can ever do
with your life.
And this is the most important message the black church—or any
church—can give. It’s a criminal shame that so few of our
churches ever give it.
Christopher J. Priest
13 February 2006
editor@praisenet.org
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