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Prayer to Receive Jesus as Personal Savior

Last Updated September 2010

 

The following prayer is intended for the person who has recognized his/her need for God's salvation. There is nothing magical about the words. Saying words cannot save you. It has everything to do with the condition of your heart and attitude toward God. You must also be willing to lay down your life for God. He wants you to exchange your life for His. His salvation is all about you giving up on the idea that you can find life and happiness through your own efforts. The reality is that life only comes from God.

If you want life, you must surrender your life to Him and allow Him to give you what you need. God's economy is very different than our own. Real life doesn't come from our efforts to grasp pleasure and comfort. It comes from our learning to die to those things. Although it seems ludicrously backwards, I can testify to the truth that the greatest joy and life that I have found has come through me learning to die to my own attempts at finding life and trusting in God's way of providing it.

If you are not sure that you are ready to make this commitment (laying down your life for His), don't pray the prayer. Take your time and think through the decision. Jesus warned us of the dangers of rushing into this commitment. He suggested that you think it through like a man considering the costs of building a house or a king deciding to go to war against an opponent with a larger army (see passage Cost of Following at bottom of page).

He doesn't want anyone to make a shallow decision to follow Him. He said that doing so is like someone who takes hold of a plow but then turns around and looks back. Indecision leads to lukewarm commitment - and that leads to disillusionment. He has so much more for you than that. He wants you to hunger for Him with all of your heart. He will be had by you when you come to realize that He is a treasure of great worth. He is so precious that you are willing to go and sell everything you have in order to have Him (not that you will need to do so but that is the measure of your desire for Him and the life He has for you).

If you are not at that point yet, don't feel pressured into making a decision. That is a dangerous thing. What you have is a little hunger. God wants to increase it. Give Him time. Simply say yes to Him where you are right now and ask Him to increase your hunger. Ask Him to show you the futility of all of your previous efforts at finding life and happiness. Ask Him to reveal to you His beauty and worth.

To do anything else is to set yourself up for disappointment. A shallow commitment made through uncertainty is like seed that a farmer sows but falls onto rock or hard ground. It doesn't go deep enough to give you the life you need when the difficulties and distractions of life come your way. Give God time to break up the hard ground of your heart. Allow His dealings to soften your receptivity to His ways. Give Him opportunity to awe you with His majestic beauty. Let Him show you His faithfulness, goodness and trustworthiness. You will know that you are ready when you are willing to do anything to have the life He offers you. No price will be too great once you understand the treasure that is found only in Him.

If you are at this place of readiness to exchange your life for Jesus', click the right arrow below to proceed to the first of two pages of the prayer. This icon indicates that this is the end of this page, but there are additional pages in this article. Please click the right arrow below to proceed to the next page.

God, I believe that You love me. I want to open myself up to Your love. I receive all of the life You have for me. I'm tired of settling for worthless stuff. I want what is real. I believe that You are the source of all life. As such, I'm asking You to give me all of the life You have for me. I want to receive all that You have for me.

I believe that You became a person like me. You came into this world in the person of Jesus Christ because of Your great love for me. I believe that You suffered and died because You wanted to offer me eternal life. I believe that You rose from the dead because You have power over life and death. I want Your life-giving power at work in my life. I want to know You and to be united with You for all eternity. I want to dwell in Your eternal presence and commune with the infinite source of all life.

Please forgive me for all of my sins. I've blown it more times that I can count. I know that my sins have separated me from You. Jesus, I'm asking You to pay the debt my sins have earned. Please wash me clean by the life-giving blood You shed on my behalf. I cannot do it, but You already have. There is nothing that I can do to earn Your salvation. So, I receive it unworthily.

I receive Your forgiveness, healing and abundant life. I invite You into my life. I know that You love me and that You want to bring me into a place of abundant life in You. I give You my life because You first gave Yours for me. I willingly make that exchange (my life for Yours). I offer You control of my life. Come and bring me into a place of deep life in You. I am Yours.

I enter into a life-long relationship with You. I know that the journey will not be easily (nothing worthwhile in life ever is). So, I’m going to trust in You throughout the journey. Give me the courage and strength to rest in You. Help me to trust You as the Lord of my life. Give me an awareness of Your nearness in the dark times of life. I know that You are filled with good plans and purposes for my life. I yearn for the fulfillment of all that You have in store for me.

Help me to find a group of Your followers to help me through the journey and mentor me in my faith. Bring me the resources I will need to grow in maturity in my intimacy with You. Give me the help I will need to find real life, not empty religion. Guide me to the right resources that will set me free from bondage to sin. Give me wings with which to soar above the places I’ve lived in the past. Take me into a journey of discovering newer and deeper regions of abundant life.

Thank You for offering me Your free gift of eternal life. Thank You for saving me. Bless You for all of the things that You are going to bring into my life. Thank You that my spiritual essence has been born again. Now, bring me into a place of new life, real life, abundant life in You.

In Jesus name, Amen. This icon represents the end of an article.
John Tisdale Biography      

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John Tisdale spent a decade in college and graduate school involved in two primary fields of study - theology and technology. The two fields seemed like an unusual pairing at the time. But, John has combined these fields in some unique ways over the past 25+ years.

John has been an avid writer on both subjects publishing his work in technology and faith-based magazines and professional journals for over two decades. His technical skills grew to include computer hardware and software, database development, Internet and Web, video production, television broadcasting, satellite communications, and audio production. John has worked extensively in Silicon Valley as a technology, communication and marketing consultant for over 15 years. He spent 7 years building a global satellite and internet-based television network for the computer industry that has been used by Microsoft, IBM, HP and numerous other technology leaders. He has produced many live and taped television shows, training programs, distance learning solutions, audio and worship CDs, training DVDs, ebooks and Web sites. John also has worked extensively in online marketing, SEO/SMO and interactive engagement architecture.

John has consulted for many of the largest faith-based organizations such as Billy Graham Evangelist Association, Campus Crusade for Christ, John McDowell Ministries and many others. He specializes in helping organizations understand the business opportunities for leverage advanced communication systems to engage and impact lives around the world. His focus over the past decade has been in online engagement architecture, user experience design, information architecture and SEO/SEM/SMO.

In 1994, John was working for a technology company producing television shows in Silicon Valley. He was given the task of producing a series of pay-per-view television programs on the Internet and the emerging World Wide Web. He begin researching the Internet. At the time, the tools for using the Internet included Joghead, Archie, Veronica, Finger, WhoIs and email. John began using them extensively and exploring opportunities with these or other emerging tools. The Web was just emerging and gaining interest in the Valley. John brought together many of the industry leaders from Silicon Valley who were leading the march with the Internet and Web to appear on the series of live interactive television broadcasts.

Following the television series, John began using the Internet and Web for personal evangelism and ministry. He found incredible success. He found himself praying with people interactively using early chat tools in numerous countries. He began training others how to use these tools for personal ministry. He got his friend Steve Hewitt, the editor of Christian Computing Magazine, connected to the Internet and trained how to minister to people with them. John appeared on Steve' syndicated call-in radio program Christian Computing Live on several occasions to discuss how to use the Internet to impact lives. John wrote a series of articles on the topic Christian Computing Magazine. He was invited by the Billy Graham Evangelical Association to train ministry leaders in the concepts at one of the first Internet Evangelism conferences.

John developed his first evangelistic web site in 1994 at www.WhyChrist.com (not in service any longer). He provided training, content and other free resources on this site. In 1995, John began developing a bigger vision for using the Internet to build a global network to connect ministries to help them reach and positively impact more lives. He called this vision the Online Christian Evangelical Alliance Network or OCEAN. He wrote a 300-page strategic white paper on the concept to using the Internet to provide a collaborative ministry network throughout 1995. In July 1995, a local Christian newspaper published an article on John’s internet evangelism work. John took all the resources and content he had developed for WhyChrist.com and transferred them over to ocean.org.

The next several years John developed a grass-roots effort to educate ministry leaders on the emerging opportunities afforded by the Internet. In 1998, John connected with a group of similar minded people in Silicon Valley who were working toward a very similar vision. John ended up combining his efforts with theirs under the umbrella of The Christian Internet Initiative. They worked together for a couple of years with many of the leading ministries. They ended up providing technology consulting services to many of the largest ministries in the U.S.

As this effort ran its course, another group was emerging to take the vision to the next level. A group from Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) in Virginia combined with venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to start Christianity.com. John eventually went to work for them and brought a team of software developers he had been training in the Midwest into the mix. The dotcom crash happened during this effort and seriously undermined the initiative. After the company consumed 3 rounds of venture capital it closed its door in 2000.

John then took his group of software developers and formed Tandem Partners. They provided custom Web application development services to many ministries such as Campus Crusade for Christ International and many others. John continued this work for the next decade. Most of the past decade, John has worked as a consultant helping organizations leverage the capabilties of the Internet. He has worked on producing and developing a wide assortment of resources to help seekers, skeptics and believers alike grow spiritually and find deeper fulfillment in their personal relationship with God.

John’s passion is to experience the deepest measures of life possible through his personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He wants to see others experience emotional and spiritual healing, freedom and abundant life. John resides in the Houston area with his wife Anita (a singer, songwriter and worship leader). They are also involved in international mission work, particularly in the Baltic region (helping bring hope as well as spiritual and emotional healing to war-torn regions such as Bosnia). You will find John's personal website at www.JohnTisdale.com.
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