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How to begin a relationship with Christ:
There are many in the formal Church who feel that the idea of coming into a relationship with Christ is a complicated thing. But that has not been my experience. You will not find a single example of a specific prayer in the Bible of someone praying a special prayer for coming into a relationship with Christ. It is apparent that both Jesus and Paul, the writer of most of the New Testament (the last part of the Bible – the part that tells the story of Jesus and the following letters to the new churches that formed after Jesus’ return to heaven) saw coming to Christ as a process. In other words, people come to Christ over a period of time. That is the case for all of us. For many of you reading this, God has been at work in your life for a long time drawing you into a relationship with Christ. Maybe you have been through losses, maybe you have seen a compelling TV show or heard a radio program that made sense to you. For me, God spoke to me at a Doobie Brothers concert! Then he spoke to me through a bumper sticker – a bumper sticker – that’s not much to work with, but God used it to speak to me.
I had very little exposure to church growing up. What I had seen of the Church turned me off and I knew that what the churches I had been exposed to weren’t teaching a biblical Jesus. I intuitively knew that though I hadn’t read the Bible yet. Later when I began to read the Bible, I realized that my sense was exactly correct. It is apparent that the Holy Spirit speaks to us all along throughout our lives if we are listening.
When I came into a relationship with Christ I had no one to coach me, no one to tell me some religious formula that I must repeat exactly these specific words or it wouldn’t “count.” Later when I told more “mature” Christians my story, they tried to tell me that my experience was not authentic, but I knew better. I had read enough of the Bible to understand that what I had prayed was not very “religious” but it was just fine.
Here’s what I prayed and what I have prayed with many thousands of people over the past 30+ years. I have seen those who have prayed this prayer go on to great things spiritually and become very productive in Christ’s service.
I had been to Sunday School a couple of times as a kid. Once I had heard that the prophet Daniel (there’s a whole book in the early part of the Bible about him and his writings named after him) was in God’s presence and he, naturally, said, “Well God, here I am.” I always thought to myself if I ever got in God’s presence that’s what I would pray too. Here’s what I encourage you to pray. It’s very simple. Tell God: “Well God, here I am!” After all, you are in God’s presence when you pray that prayer. The Holy Spirit is near you when you start to dwell on the idea of giving your life to God. Then, don’t be surprised if some things come to your mind that you want to tell God that you are sorry for that you have done over the months and years. Just be honest with God. Pour your heart out to him. Be completely honest with him. He has seen you do all of that – he has seen all that you have done from the beginning. If some emotions come with this, that’s fine. (Clearly, it’s best to do this by yourself or with a trusted friend who is already a believer in Christ but don’t let them complicate this process with you. Keep it simple!)
When you finish sharing all of this with God you will probably feel like you have been cleaned out in a powerful way. It sounds trite, but that’s what the Bible calls being “born from above” (John 3).
When you pray this prayer, email me and I promise to pray for you on a regular basis. (stevesjogren@mac.com). No kidding – I pray a lot.