Grow. Pray. Study. Daily Guide from the United Methodist Church
of the Resurrection - Sunday, 12 January 2014 – “Prayer Tip”
Prayer Tip:
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been
born from God. Whoever loves someone who is a parent loves the child born to
the parent. This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love
God and keep God's commandments." (1 John 5:1-2)
I grew up in a non-religious household—in fact, I consider
myself the non-religious and nominally religious poster child! However, when I
left home to go away to college at the University of Illinois, I developed a
yearning to grow closer to God and a deep desire to learn what it means to
become more holy. The three religions that had the most prominent presence on
my campus in 1980 were born-again Christianity, Judaism and the Hare Krishna
movement. In all honesty, I chose Christianity because upon my minimal
exploration, it seemed like the easiest religion to join. Exploring more
deeply, I read the four Gospels and concluded that if everyone in the world
followed Jesus, we would have an amazing, peace-filled, beautiful world.
One day, at nineteen, I knelt at my bedside and prayed what a
friend taught me, "Jesus, I'm sorry for my sins, I want to be more like
you; I invite you into my heart and want you to be my Lord and savior."
I didn't feel any different after that short prayer, but from
that moment on I believed that I was a Christian. Was I one hundred percent
certain, without a doubt, that Jesus was the Messiah? Did I understand
everything I read about Jesus in the Gospels? Of course not. Was Jesus someone
in whom I wanted to place my trust and confidence? Was he someone whose path I
wanted to follow and who I wanted to learn to love? Yes, because I believed
with my heart that there was something meaningful and valuable and holy about
the life of Jesus that I wanted to be part of.
In the three decades that have passed since, God continues to
reveal or suggest ways for me to become more perfected in his love, while I try
to do my best to love God and keep God's commandments. If you believe you would
like to open your heart to the peace and well-being Jesus offers, that is all
the belief that's required.
The prayer I prayed above is sufficient. Then simply be open to
where Jesus leads you next. To continue the conversation, you may comment on
the Resurrection in Prayer Blog http://prayer.blogs.cor.org/ —we 'd love to
hear from you.(Nancy Pauls, Pastor of Prayer)
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United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, KS 66224 United States
(913)897-0120
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