Hello and welcome to 94:18's Spark of Hope Blog. Today we are going to talk about something that has infuriated me for a very long time. Can you guess what it is? "Magic Words"! Often times after a alter call a pastor will say "now if you want to accept Jesus, repeat after me!".
Now hear me out, Im not saying that you shouldn't pray or guide others in prayer. No prayer is necessary but cliche thing about Christianity, you need to pray to accept Jesus (Romans 10:9-10, because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.) However, there are no 'Magic Words' to pray when accepting Jesus. All Jesus asks for is a humble spirit and a surrendered heart.
The other thing is the people who say "IT HAS TO BE THIS PRAYER"! I got 2 things for you is that's you: 1. Chill the heck out please, as I said above all Jesus asks for is a humble spirit and a surrendered heart. And 2. See #1.
All I am saying is that over time we have come to take the repentance prayer legalistically. And if anyone gets offended over this I am simply providing my beliefs and research I have done. But seriously there is not one single way to pray to accept Jesus. Sometimes there are not even words spoken or thought, the heart simply believes.
Also if you think I'm wrong about this one prayer being so popular, I dare you to look up "Sinners Prayer" on the internet.
One of the best ways to pray is called "The Prayer Hand". The little finger represents confession (letting go of your sins and coming clean to God), The ring finger represents petition (Asking God to take care of your needs), The middle finger represents intercession (asking God to provide for the needs of others), The index finger represents thanksgiving (thanking God for EVERYTHING He has done), The thumb represents praise (praising and adoring God for everything in your life.
Now this may seem like the same thing that I am infuriated against, but its not. This is simply a guide to pray not the words to pray. This still leaves you to come up with the words from your heart! Because as I said all Jesus asks for is a humble spirit and a surrendered heart. Also this is just a piece of advice for Spark of Hope and the books of Psalms and Proverbs is that anything mentioned multiple times is something you need to hear.
Anyways, that's all for now, until next time "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace"
Numbers 6:24-26
James Price
94:18 Studios
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