Prayer Of Salvation -
A conversation with God where we confess our sin and profess faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. God knows your thoughts and He knows the sincerity of your heart. There is no certain way that you must pray. Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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But it should include the following:
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Admit you are a sinner in need of forgiveness.
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Confess your sins.
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Thank Him for Jesus’ death on the cross that paid the price for those sins.
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Ask Him to be Lord of your life
The main thing is you talk to God with sincerity from your heart. He knows you. You have nothing to hide from Him. He knows everything about you. Here is an example that you can use. It needs not be complex or eloquent.
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"Lord, I know I am a sinner. I have sinned more than I can count. I am sorry for the wrong things I have done. Please forgive me. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Please come in to my heart and be my Lord and my Savior. I want to follow you and live my life for you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen."
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Did you pray to receive Jesus? If so, CONGRATS!!! 😊 😊 Heaven is rejoicing! And I would love to hear from you below so I can send you a message. Hooray! You are now a new creation. You have given up your old self and have a new identity. You are still you, of course! But now you are a child of God. You are now in the family of God. You have an inheritance in heaven that can not be taken away from you! I rejoice with you! Tell someone! It is soooooooo exciting!!!
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God now calls you His child. (John 1:12) Which is wonderful!
But let me be honest... You are gonna mess up. I still do. Repentance means we are to turn from our sins and desire to sin no more. You know have the power to identify and resist sin. When you mess up, God will impress upon you, in your heart. You will notice that you sinned. It will bother you. That is God's guidance to you. Stop and seek forgiveness and ask God to help you. You will notice yourself sinning less as you grow in your faith. There is much to learn. Do not worry. God will help. He does not expect perfection. He wants you to trust in Him. He wants your heart open toward Him and He wants to you learn what it means to be a child of God. 😊
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What now? Keep your eyes fixed on God. God wants you to talk with Him. Continue to speak with Him. Continue to seek His guidance and wisdom. Is is important to read the Bible often- for God speaks to you through His word, as well as speaking to your heart.
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Matthew 7:7
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Finding things in the Bible - The Bible is made of many books. To find things more easily, the books have been separated and given a name. To further help locate information, each book is splits into chapters and each chapter is split into verses. To find the bible verse that I posted above (Matthew 7:7) you will first go to the book of Matthew, which is about 2/3 the way in. It also happens to be the first book in the New Testament. There is a table of contents in the very front of the Bible that lists the page number of each book beginning. Once you find the book of Matthew, you will see Matthew 1 and Matthew 2, etc. at the top. These are the chapters. To find Matthew 7:7 you will go to the 7th chapter. Lastly, each chapter is organized by verses, which is usually one or two sentences. The verse numbers are quite small and found within the sentences.
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If you have a Bible that prints the words spoken by Jesus in red, (sometimes called a red letter Bible), you will notice that a most of chapter 7 is in red type, since this is a direct quote spoken by Jesus.
Of course, if you are using a Bible app, find scripture reference is a quick as your typing ability.
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Bible Access Online-
Biblegateway.com is a website I use often. It is simple to navigate.
Blueletterbible.org is another that I use a lot. It is more complex, but you can cross reference with ease and there are a lot of helpful commentaries. It is about as techy as I get.
I personally like paper books. I like the feel of the paper and the sound of the turning pages. Plus, I am not very techy. But I have friends who do not own a Bible, who read from a Bible app all of the time. It is awesome to have such access to God’s Word! Not all countries are so lucky.
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Translations- Bibles vary depending on the translation. Over time, common words that society uses changes. So people have tried to be helpful to use words that are common, and easier to understand. If the Bible you have reads a little differently than what I listed, you have a different translation. All Bible apps have the ability to change the translation. The translation I commonly use is the NIV (New International Version). If you are reading from a different translation, the wording may be slightly different. In older version, they use “thou” instead of saying “you”. Fancy! 😉
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Old Testament / New Testament – The Bible is separated in two main parts. The Old and New Testament.
The Old Testament includes the telling of creation and the events that happen leading up to the coming Messiah (Jesus).
The New Testament includes the event leading up to Jesus’ birth, life, death and beyond. It gives the account of Jesus’ life as well as the beginning of Christianity. It tells how a Christian (which is, someone who has put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ) should therefore speak and think and act.
While most of the Bible is history for us, there is still some of the Bible that has yet to happen! God tells us the entire story- from creation of the world, to the time when He will return to judge the world and restore the world (think garden of Eden). 😊
Things to watch out for...
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False information- Be cautious of what you read. Just because something is in the Christian book section or just because you google a question about God does not mean that what you find is accurate. There are books labelled “Christian” that contain falsehoods. Likewise, not all info on the internet is helpful and true. The best way to do a google search is to type your question then add "scripture reference". For example, you want to know about what God says about sins, your search could be “scripture references about sin”. I would suggest being cautious of things written by a human author. Always read the context around a sighted verse.