Nail it Down!

Q: Hi there. I live in Slough, England where I work in a large hospital, in the library. I am 51. I have been searching for the truth for so many years, maybe a third of a century. To be honest, I have not yet found it. Your site is very good. I guess my questions are quite vague. First of all, what if someone has prayed for Jesus to come into their life, and nothing happens? I have said this prayer, maybe three or four times in my life. I have been through some really really bad times in my life - I was ill as a teenager, and my teens were little short of a nightmare. Then when I was 30 I landed my dream job, but 5 years later I lost my job. It was the end of a fairytale, nothing less. I had a spell in psychiatric hospital with the upset. A few years later I was heavily in debt and had to sell my home to get out of debt. Nonetheless, by the grace of God I am still here. I have not been well recently. Why do I not feel God? I still doubt God. I am not at all sure that there IS a God, to be honest. My Mum is an atheist. Truthfully, my mind is open still. I guess I would like to know, is there any way I can feel God, and know that He is there? I am prepared to pray SINCERELY. Can you suggest a prayer for me? Thank you. Bill.

A: Hi Bill. Your questions are not unusual for many people. Perhaps, the problem you are dealing with can be solved in two ways. First of all, I believe that you are expecting something from God that He did not promise to provide. You are expecting to feel God, rather it be through some personal physical presence in your life or in His revealing Himself to you through working out the circumstances of your life to your good. Secondly, you must ask yourself, "What is the Gospel?" For many people in your situation they do not have a full understanding of what it is Jesus came to offer and what it is you must respond to. There are two verses from Scripture I would like for you to focus on to help you find some peace. The first is Proverbs 23:7, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee (KJV)." The other verse is Romans 5:10, "For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"

Emotions have no intellect. They cannot discern fact from fantasy. They cannot discern the difference between the past, present, and the future. And emotions always follow thoughts. If you think it you feel it. Whether you are depressed, happy or in between, it is the result of your thought life. Given the fact that you have had a tough life filled with setbacks, both personal and physical, it is understandable that you would expect God to change these things around. I do not say this to imply that God never intervenes in our lives to effect the outcomes. My point is that God has said you will have trouble in your life (John 16:33) and that He will be there with you in the midst of those problems (Hebrews 13:5). He did not promise to manipulate the circumstances of your life in order to bring you peace. The peace He promised you is a peace that addresses the deepest desires of your heart. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1)." The peace we all need is not found in how we feel God is revealing Himself through our circumstances. The peace we need is with God. That is where we need to understand the fullness of the Gospel.

Your average Christian will say that the Gospel is something like, "Jesus died for my sins and if I believe in that I will go be with God when I die." While that is not wrong, it is incomplete. The problem between man and God is not that we were in need of forgiveness. The problem between man and God is that we were spiritually dead in our sins and in need of the life of God. When God created Adam He "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:7)." Unfortunately, Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and he died spiritually. Therefore, all mankind is born in the image of Adam, spiritually dead to God. God desired to once again indwell man, but needed to deal with the sin that caused Him to remove His life. That is why Jesus, being God in the flesh, was the only man who had a life to give that would satisfy God as payment for our sins. Now, raised from the dead, Jesus can offer the life of God, as a free gift, to all who accept Him by faith. "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies (John 11:25)." Now, the Holy Spirit, the very life of God, indwells all believers. And because of Jesus' death on the cross, there is now no sin that can cause that life to leave. Therefore, the life we have is an eternal life.

God created mankind with the need for unconditional love, total acceptance and meaning and purpose to life. He did this so that He was the only one who could fulfill those desires of our heart in Himself. If you are not experiencing this from your relationship with Him, through faith in Jesus Christ, you will be forced to look for it from the world. And that is why you may be looking to your circumstances to provide that feeling you desperately seek. And if your circumstances stay negative you assume that God is absent from your life. The Apostle Paul said, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11)." Paul did not look to his circumstances as evidence of God's presence in His life. God's presence in His life helped him deal with His circumstances. If you are unsure of your salvation, since you admit to saying a prayer many times, then I encourage you to nail it down right now and be done with it. A prayer does not save you, but is an expression of what is on your heart. If you never knew the full Gospel until now there is no time like the present to put this uncertainty behind you. You must replace the need for a feeling with the truth. If you want a prayer to say, may I suggest the following one:

"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins. Thank You for offering me Your life. I now ask You to come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take control of my life and make me into the new creation You want me to be. I now thank You for coming into my heart and giving me eternal life."

If you prayed this prayer, the living Christ has come to dwell within you forever and you have begun the great adventure for which you were created as a child of God.