What does your prayer life look like? Have you ever prayed to God? If not, we would affectionately and solemnly plead with you: Be reconciled to God by faith in the Lord Jesus.
You are a sinner. We all are (Romans 3:23 ESV). You deserve punishment and are at odds with God. We all begin life this way (Psalm 51:5 NLT). If you don’t see this, ask God to show it to you.
Let this now be your first and foremost prayer: Ask God to enlighten you, not just concerning your state by nature as someone who opposes God, but especially to reveal the Lord Jesus to your heart.
We implore you on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV).
Pray for God to Introduce You to Jesus
God sent his Son Jesus into the world that he might bear God’s punishment due to us guilty sinners. God accepts the obedience and sufferings of the Lord Jesus, in the place of those who believe in him for the salvation of their souls. Paul writes, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).
And the moment a sinner believes in the Lord Jesus, he or she obtains the forgiveness of all their sins and is reconciled to God. Again, Paul says, “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” (Romans 10:9-10 ESV).
When you’re reconciled to God by believing in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, you have the boldness to enter into the presence of God and to make known your requests to him. As long as you remain conscious of unpardoned guilt, so long shall you be kept at a distance from God, especially in prayer.
Therefore, dear reader, if you’re an unforgiven sinner, let your first and foremost prayer be that God would be pleased to reveal to your heart the Lord Jesus, his beloved Son, that you might have peace with God.
Where to Start
God has already been pleased to reveal Jesus to you in the Bible; you have only to get to know him. You must seek him, but he’s always ready to meet you in his Word.
The book of John in the Bible was written: “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31 ESV). The Bible is the place where God has revealed Jesus to you. John’s Gospel is a great place to start getting to know him.
As you pray to see Jesus as he is and see yourself as you truly are, open God’s Word and pray that God gives you faith to believe what he says, that you might have life in his name. This life God offers through Jesus includes the privilege of praying to him at all times and living in a peace-filled relationship with God.
Rejecting Jesus leaves you at odds with God both in this life and in eternity. God’s wrath remains on those who refuse to confess and forsake their sin. His ear isn’t open to their prayers.
This is why you must not only know about Jesus but also acknowledge your need for him and trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins.
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
(Psalm 32:5 ESV)If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
(Psalm 66:18-19 ESV)