A Prayer of Faith In Christ

In church today, the pastor led in a sample prayer of commitment to Christ in faith. I was reminded of when I invited Jesus into my heart "to be my friend." It was at a Vacation Bible School at West Huntsville Baptist Church. I was about 8. I prayed that prayer after having been exposed to some of the message of Jesus and the cross. And I remember a wonderful exhilaration of joy when I did that. I enjoyed knowing that Jesus, the Son of God, was with me.

A few years later, it came time to seriously examine my life and my soul. That prayer in that VBS was just so wrong. The concept of inviting Jesus into your heart isn't exactly biblical. And inviting Jesus to be your friend isn't exactly right either.

Of course, God doesn't care about mere words. When we pray to Him, our inner thought and our outer expression need to line up. "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9).


A better prayer of consecration and faith occurred to me. It's more appropriate for adults than for kids.

O God,

I understand that my choices show that I live a life of self-centered self-reliance. I've lived as if you were not real. I understand now that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sins like mine and to offer eternal life to everyone who receives Him. I believe that's true. Forgive me. Accept me. Change me. I entrust my life into your hands. My body is yours. My thoughts and dreams are yours. I look to you for guidance and security. I'm yours. Wholly yours.

We have assurance from the Bible that God hears when we pray in faith. "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22) "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." (John 1:12)