"Come, follow Me."
Jesus // Luke 9:59
Some preachers cast doubt on the validity of a prayer to ask Jesus into one's heart, as a step towards salvation. Their point seems to be that a prayer prayed does not always initiate a changed life. Point well taken. Still, the question remains, "What is the proper response to a personal call from God?" Perhaps we can all agree on this answer. Receiving a genuine call from God produces an authentic follower of Jesus.
Jesus didn't expect everyone He called to obey His voice. He called them anyway. Every person who has prayed a prayer to ask Jesus into their hearts has not always followed through with a life of obedience. Many have. Some haven't. Every prayer to Jesus is not fruitful, because the heart of man is deceitful. People simply don't mean everything they pray or say. From the beginning, the Church has always had its share of posers. It always will. James warned the members of the first church.
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives."
James 4:3
Apparently, Jesus had the same experience. The rich young ruler let his riches interfere with His call. Judas heard, responded and followed Jesus. In the end, he strayed and betrayed Jesus.
Not every call receives the right response. Not everyone who starts to follow Jesus proves to be a radical disciple of Jesus. Still, His call continues to go out, and our prayers should be prayed for people to follow Him.
The vital sign of a changed life has always been a fully devoted follower of Jesus. Many pray a prayer and follow Jesus as their guide. Many pray the same prayer, and remain lost in the tall grass. Remember, the problem is not with the prayer. The problem is with the heart. Prayer is not fruitful, when the heart is deceitful.
"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jeremiah 17:9
Jesus commissioned His disciples to, "Make Disciples." Going was not His imperative. Making disciples was His command. The Steve Green song, "The Mission" says it all.
"Across the street
Or around the world
The mission's still the same
Proclaim and live the Truth
In Jesus' name."
Jesus said to His disciples, "Follow Me!" He still does. Those who hear His voice, have a choice. Respond or rebel. The choice requires a change of mind, heart, and direction. In other words, following Jesus reveals a changed life. Praying a prayer to Jesus only initiates a relationship with Him. Continuing to pray for His direction, protection and correction matures your relationship with Him. One scripted prayer does not fit all. One prayed prayer certainly does not accomplish all. Those who follow Jesus will keep praying.
"Knowing the will of God for your life, comes out of consistent companionship with God."
Lloyd John Ogilvie
Jesus did not invent disciples. Great leaders and charlatans produced disciples long before Jesus called The Twelve. Three things are true of a real follower. A disciple...
1. Embraces a personal relationship with the teacher.
2. Allows the teacher to exercise authority and jurisdiction over his life.
3. Endures persecution or inconvenience for what he believes.
From the starting point to the finish line, salvation begins and ends with following Jesus. He offers the right way, but it is no easy road for the prayerless, or the deceitful.
Jesus invites no easy "believism." Praying a prayer is a proper, initial response to a call from Jesus to follow Him. Continuing to pray is the mark of a changed life.Praying provides the staying power to keep following Jesus. His followers are in the yoke. Are you in it?
"Take My yoke upon you."
Jesus // Matthew 11:29
When the great Welsh Revival broke out in the first decade of the 20th Century, it had it's followers and detractors. Those who provided leadership applied a unique litmus test. To determine if all those who were attending the meetings were serious about their faith in Christ, they looked at their behavior. They did not consider a person radically changed until they showed up for prayer meeting. Radical followers, indeed.
What Jesus initiates, His Spirit perpetuates. Peter had his moments of great faith and great deceit, until The Spirit of the Risen Christ came to indwell Him. Peter readily followed Jesus. He just couldn't bring himself to follow through. When the Spirit filled him, and empowered him, he was a changed man.
Perhaps this is the key to the next Great Awakening. Peter came to the end of himself, when he recognized he was full of himself. Once emptied, he could be filled, again, and again, and again with The Spirit.
" 'Brethren, what shall we do?' Peter said, 'Repent...' "
Peter // Acts 2: 37-38
Contemporary preachers should plead for no less, and contemporary churches can expect no more.
NOTE TO SELF: When it comes to following Jesus, He initiates the invitation. Following Jesus was God's idea, not yours. It always will be. Too often the question is, "What do you believe?" The right question is, "Who do you follow?" When you fail to pray, you start to stray. RSVP ASAP. Jesus is only a prayer away.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!