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First Prayer-Salvation | Second Prayer-Confession | Third Prayer-Guidance

First Prayer - Salvation

"Dear Lord Jesus, I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name, amen."

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus' first statement in His famous sermon on the mount seems perplexing. I used to wonder how it could be possible to be poor in spirit and be blessed at the same time. After carefully studying Jesus’ teachings, I’ve become convinced that becoming poor in spirit is one of the keys to entering heaven. Let me explain. To become poor in spirit means to realize your own spiritual poverty. In other words, the road to salvation begins when we recognize we don’t have what it takes to measure up to God’s standards of righteousness. This recognition often comes with the pain of a guilty conscience when we realize we’ve violated God’s law—we have sinned. 

To become poor in spirit is not a bad thing however; it is an important first step to salvation. When we become poor in spirit we see our need for a Savior. We’ve come to the point where we know we can’t measure up to God’s standards on our own effort. Jesus said in essence that you’ll be blessed if you realize you truly are a spiritual pauper who can do nothing to merit God’s favor. When you become poor in spirit you’ve just become a candidate for God’s mercy—mercy God provided to us when He sent His only Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty we deserved to pay.  Jesus provided the way for our salvation when He died a criminal’s death on a Roman cross—He paid a penalty He did not deserve to pay because of the Father’s love for you and me.

Of course, simply reciting the words in this prayer is meaningless unless the heart is involved. This means we must come to Christ with a sincerity and humility, in full recognition that our sins have created a separation between God and us. 

When you pray the prayer of salvation it needs to be with a sincere and humble heart. When you accept Jesus, He deserves His rightful place as Savior and Lord of your life. Have you invited Him into Your life? Do you have the confident hope of heaven? Your friends at Valley View Community Church hope you will recognize your need for a Savior and invite Christ into your heart by this simple prayer of faith.

If you sense God’s Spirit is drawing you to Him, don’t resist or hesitate. Make the prayer of salvation a prayer that will change your life.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 

1 John 5:11-12

second prayer