Wade Smith
30th September 2008, 03:08 PM
we see many doctines in the church today who do not want God for everything that he is.
Some want the Lion without the Lamb, such as the prosperity people.
Some want the Lamb without the Lion, such as the progressive church movements.
But you can't have one without the other. Jesus must be both Savior and Lord, or he will be neither.
Jesus purchased you on the cross. Whether you like it or not, you belong to God on two counts: one, he made you to begin with, and two, he died for you.
So to me, there is a certain prayer of submission that one must be willing to pray to truly dedicate their lives to Christ. For different people this works differently and comes in different stages of their life and walk with Christ, but here is a summary of such a prayer.
"Dear heavenly Father,
Thank you for saving my soul through you Son Jesus and his death on the cross.
Lord I dedicate my life to you and give you free reign in my life.
I only want to go where you want me to go.
I only want to say what you want me to say.
I only want to do what you want me to do.
Though you have already purchased me, I give my life to you freely because you are my Lord and Master and Savior and I only want to do your will.
Heavenly Father, I cannot do your will in my own strength, but I ask that the Holy Spirit would reside in me and live my life for me.
Root out every sin in my life and cause me to live a righteous life in Christ, not for my glory, for your Glory and Honor.
In Jesus' name, amen."
Now this is very much like the model prayer, except to me it is a prayer of total self denial. Don't make a ritual out of this, that isn't the point. The point is, to sell out to Jesus.
How much do you want to live for Jesus? Do you want a "little" Jesus in your life? or everything he has?
Jesus said, "Deny yourself and take up the cross daily and follow me."
In that verse, "Deny" is the greek "aparneomai", and means:
"Deny utterly," "disown," "abstain"
So it literally means to disown yourself and follow Jesus.
To me, this is the way Jesus prayed in the garden.
It is also virtually opposite of what the Prosperity and Word of Faith teachers on television teach.
It is the opposite of fast-food christianity, because we are the Lord's servants and we belong to him.
Some want the Lion without the Lamb, such as the prosperity people.
Some want the Lamb without the Lion, such as the progressive church movements.
But you can't have one without the other. Jesus must be both Savior and Lord, or he will be neither.
Jesus purchased you on the cross. Whether you like it or not, you belong to God on two counts: one, he made you to begin with, and two, he died for you.
So to me, there is a certain prayer of submission that one must be willing to pray to truly dedicate their lives to Christ. For different people this works differently and comes in different stages of their life and walk with Christ, but here is a summary of such a prayer.
"Dear heavenly Father,
Thank you for saving my soul through you Son Jesus and his death on the cross.
Lord I dedicate my life to you and give you free reign in my life.
I only want to go where you want me to go.
I only want to say what you want me to say.
I only want to do what you want me to do.
Though you have already purchased me, I give my life to you freely because you are my Lord and Master and Savior and I only want to do your will.
Heavenly Father, I cannot do your will in my own strength, but I ask that the Holy Spirit would reside in me and live my life for me.
Root out every sin in my life and cause me to live a righteous life in Christ, not for my glory, for your Glory and Honor.
In Jesus' name, amen."
Now this is very much like the model prayer, except to me it is a prayer of total self denial. Don't make a ritual out of this, that isn't the point. The point is, to sell out to Jesus.
How much do you want to live for Jesus? Do you want a "little" Jesus in your life? or everything he has?
Jesus said, "Deny yourself and take up the cross daily and follow me."
In that verse, "Deny" is the greek "aparneomai", and means:
"Deny utterly," "disown," "abstain"
So it literally means to disown yourself and follow Jesus.
To me, this is the way Jesus prayed in the garden.
It is also virtually opposite of what the Prosperity and Word of Faith teachers on television teach.
It is the opposite of fast-food christianity, because we are the Lord's servants and we belong to him.