In my last post entitled, “Does God Really Care About Me?”, I addressed this often-asked question. The answer is a resounding “YES!!!”  God truly and deeply cares about each of us as individuals. Our backgrounds, preconceived notions, attitudes, and past behavior don’t change the fact that God loves you and He loves me. We are His children, His creation and He loves us like a parent loves their child.

If you haven’t read the previous post, I hope you’ll take the time to go read it and then come back to this post.  The reason is that this post builds upon the very important information presented in the other one.

So, let me assume that you prayed the prayer at the end of the previous post and you now have a personal relationship with God and with Jesus Christ.  What now?

You may or may not have felt anything when you prayed and asked Jesus to forgive you and be your Lord. Many people feel a deep and inexplicable sense of peace. Many feel joy or excitement; many feel nothing at all.  Don’t worry about whether or not you felt anything. If you were sincere, the change in your spirit and soul happened. Trusting that something DID happen is called faith.

What you just experienced is what Jesus referred to as being “born again.”  Check out this passage in the Bible at John 3:1-18:

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered,”Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
OK, above you see the importance of being “born again,” what now? This is the beginning of an exciting journey, NOT the end of one.  You have chosen to take a different road than the one you were traveling. Your final destination is eternal life instead of eternal death. What are you supposed to do between now and then?
Just like we make special preparations for a journey to a city, or a resort, or a country, there are preparations we need to make for our destination of Heaven (eternal life). The Bible tells us several things that are important for this journey.
  • Prayer (talking with God and listening to Him)
  • Bible study (learning how to live a better way–more on this later)
  • Spend time with other Believers
  • Tell others about your new life

Prayer:

Prayer is a simple act that is just another word for communication. God wants us to communicate with Him–He wants us to talk to Him and to listen to Him. WOW! Yes, the God in Heaven is interested in hearing from you; He’s interested in what troubles you, what pleases you, what concerns you have, what joys you have.  In short, talk to Him like you would your best friend.
Just remember that communication goes both ways. When you talk to God, get your mind still and quiet and listen to Him as well as talking to Him. He will answer your questions and He will guide you if you ask. His voice is a little harder to hear than that of your friends because He is Spirit, but He will speak. Sometimes His voice is just a whisper of your conscience, sometimes it’s more like intuition. Sometimes He speaks audibly.
The important thing to remember is to keep your mind focused on Jesus and on Father God while you are listening. If you feel fear, or doubt about Jesus, or anything evil while you are listening, that is NOT God. We do have an enemy called Satan or the Devil and he can also put thoughts into your mind. His thoughts are negative and evil. Tell him to get away in Jesus’s Name and he will leave.
I encourage you to take some time now to say “Hello” to God and just talk with Him some and listen to Him.  Prayer should be something we do every day and often during the day. It isn’t necessary to be in a special place or be on your knees to pray; God is always with you and will hear you anywhere.  Many people do pray in special places at certain times because they devote a lot of time to prayer.
Either way is OK.  The important thing is to pray!
I hope you’ll come back soon to learn about the other items in the list: Bible study, Time with other Believers, and Telling Someone. Simply click on the Subscribe section at the top of the right column.
Blessings to you!
Dottie