First of all, you have to begin by sincerely wanting it – that is, you need to begin with desiring a true relationship with the True God Himself.
After you decide that you want eternal life in Christ and fellowship with God through the gift of the Holy Spirit, you simply “confess” that you want it out loud- or plainly ask God for it (“pray”) – after first believing in your heart that it is possible.
The apostle Paul says it like this: “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10
We should first know and “believe” in who He is: the Son of God, God in the Flesh, and “Lord” (or the highest and final authority of all things). Then we should believe in what He has done for us: removed the “spiritual barrier” that was between us and God after the Fall of man in the garden of Eden.
In doing so, He has opened for us the Way to be 1) forgiven of all sins, 2) delivered from all evils, and 3) saved from eternal death by receiving eternal life in Him (beginning here on earth and continuing on into eternity after this physical life).
In addition to those three things, Jesus’ work of redemption the Cross has allowed “the Kingdom of God” to come upon the earth through the presence of the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell with us after we’ve been born again.
Through the Holy Spirit living within us, we can receive deep fellowship and communion with God, along with daily guidance and grace to assist us in bringing in the reality of God’s Kingdom and His will for us here “on earth, as it is in Heaven”.
Once we acknowledge and believe that Jesus has accomplished these things for us, we can put that “knowledge” of who He is in action through prayer or “confessing with our mouth.”
According to the Word of God, this is all it takes to become born again.
“Okay, but what if I don’t feel or notice anything different afterward?”
This is the response I want to focus on for the rest of this article.
If you have already done the first part, you may not need to read any further.
But if you’re interested in a more in-depth answer to the question, you might want to keep reading on.
***
My mom often says: “God is a gentleman.”
That’s one way of describing how in most cases God (unlike the devil – or “demons” in general), will not force you to do anything. He will not try to trick or manipulate you into doing something more after you’ve said a prayer for salvation or “accepted Jesus”.
Although God will not force you to do anything against your will, after you’ve fully put your trust in Christ as your Savior, it’s essential that you then begin putting your belief in Christ in action.
This is because the more you apply your belief in Christ, the more you will be demonstrating your Faith in God.
Faith is one of the main keys (along with hope and love) to actually witnessing the impact of all of our prayers to God on this earth – for salvation or for anything else.
If you still have doubts that He has actually heard you concerning anything you pray to Him about, then in some ways, you are not yet showing complete faith in Him.
But once you have even some faith in the fact that He’s heard you concerning something, your belief in Christ can then be put in action concerning that thing – and in doing so, your faith will continue to increase over time:
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so Faith without works is dead also” – James 2:26
Whenever God sees us put our Faith in what Christ has done for us in ACTION, He always responds positively:
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6
“Demonstrating Faith” after we’ve prayed about something doesn’t require a big or dramatic action – even something small will do.
For example: You might turn on the news and hear that it’s supposed to rain that day. If you decide to take an umbrella with you on your way out, that might be compared to “putting your faith in action.”
Why?
Because you heard the report (“it’s going to rain”), you believed it, and then you did the corresponding action of taking the umbrella – DEMONSTRATING that you believed.
You heard the message and then, by faith, you OBEYED (or followed a related instruction).
The problem today is that most religions seem to teach us that God expects the same actions from everyone, all the time, or even, the same actions from us every day or every week, as the evidence or ‘proof’ of our belief.
In my experience, this is not always true.
Although Christ gave up His life and was resurrected for the whole world– God’s way of dealing with each of us is very personal and often very specific.
Meaning, what He might accept or expect as a “corresponding action” to our faith might differ from person to person and situation to situation.
Regardless of who you are, in the case of praying concerning salvation, if you follow the course of action that He might place on your heart after you have acknowledged who Jesus is and what He has already done for us (“believed in Christ”), He WILL respond with guidance for your particular situation and in a way that YOU will understand.
Here’s an illustration of this process based on parts of my own testimony: Let’s say that after reading over this article or hearing the story of some other person, you decide that you no longer want to live your life on your own terms, and you acknowledge that Jesus is truly God.
At that point, you might say a simple prayer addressing this to Him directly – and then specifically asking Him to make you born again. It doesn’t need to be very long, but it should be sincere and from the heart.
Afterwards, you might not feel an immediate change or anything at all. Then later on that day, or in the days after, you may get a feeling that there’s something specific you really need to do (usually something you KNOW you should have probably done a long time ago already).
This could be anything from sending an apology note, quitting a job, openly forgiving someone who has harmed you, or letting go of a specific object or habit.
You might try to shake it off, but it may keep coming back several times throughout the day.
I’m not saying this is always the case, but oftentimes, this type of “reoccurring thought” to do something you KNOW is right is one of the subtle ways that God, through the Holy Spirit, begins communicating with us once we’ve invited Christ to begin leading our lives.
For various reasons, you may not feel like you’re able to do whatever it is right away, but in many cases the completing of that one “action” is like a key to unlocking the door to further revelation and fellowship with Him.
The best thing to do once you realize that some “course of action” keeps coming back up is to go back into prayer, this time addressing whatever it is specifically with Christ.
Going back to God in prayer after you’ve initially prayed for salvation is another way of demonstrating faith.
Again – don’t be deterred if you don’t get an instant or clear response as to what you should do specifically. Just go back to Christ and give the entire situation to Him in prayer by faith.
Don’t be shy.
He already knows the details – He’s just waiting to see that you trust Him enough to place it in His hands so that He can begin guiding you forward.
What often happens after we place a circumstance before God in prayer by faith is that, one way or another, a door will open for you to put your faith in action – usually without you having to have specifically looked for it yourself.
God, through His Spirit, will often arrange the opportunity Himself (remember, He’s God).
Once you recognize the “door” of opportunity, don’t be afraid to acknowledge it’s from God and then by faith, take the action He placed on your heart to begin with.
When God is operating supernaturally on your behalf, you might not recognize it straight away.
At first it may seem like a “random” argument with your partner that leads to a separation, a “random” meeting with your boss that leads to your resignation, or a “random” emotional breakdown that leads to you forgiving some person from your past.
Even if you feel like you’ve made a mistake concerning how you actually handled the situation in the moment, as long as you know in your heart that you made the decision based on your belief and faith in what Christ told you to do – God will reward you for your faith by revealing more of Himself to you in some way.
The more you do this, the more you will be “walking by faith” – and through this you will be putting your “salvation” in practice and on your way to experiencing all the blessings and spiritual gifts that He has in store for you.
Finally, I want to emphasize again that whenever you pray for salvation you should also pray to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. As you continue believing in Christ after being born again, He may be dwelling with you already but I think that asking specifically to receive “the gift of the Holy Spirit” is essential for your continued growth and protection as a Christian, and if you ask to receive Him from the very beginning, this can really help you with identifying which "actions of faith" that God is leading you to take earlier on, and also help you with overcoming any persistent doubts that you may be struggling with still as well.
Often those “doubts” are just a part of the demonic and environmental resistance that every person can expect whenever they try to make any kind of positive change in their life – but especially when you’ve made a firm decision to dedicate your life to doing God’s will and sincerely following the words and life of Jesus.
The good news is that Christ defeated satan and all his demons on the Cross, and so once you begin practicing faith in action, He will give you the authority over any kind of resistance that may come against you while you’re doing whatever He leads you to do and actively trusting in Christ’s completed work on the cross – not your own efforts apart from obedience to Him ("the work of faith with power" - 2 Thessalonians 1:11).
I pray that this article, and the other resources on this website will assist you in becoming all that God has called you to be through the knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus' name I pray!
- YEMURAI, Look at God Team
