The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Luke 11:1c, “’Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

When I am leading someone to receive Christ as LORD and Savior of his life, I always start by using Romans 6:23,

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

After explaining that “wages” is something we are given for work we have performed, while “gift” is that which God gives freely of Himself, I ultimately move to Romans 10:13,

Whoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved.

At this juncture, I always ask the one to whom I’m witnessing, “What does it mean to you to ‘call upon the Name of the LORD’?” Having asked this of a young girl, she looked me straight-in-the-eye and said, “It means to pray.” She was right.

But, what does it mean to pray? Simply stated, prayer is talking with God. Over the years, I’ve had many people say to me, “I don’t know how,” or “I don’t know what to say.” My response has always been, “Just tell Him you’re sorry for being a sinner and ask Him to forgive your sin –to save you.” The difficulty in praying is, in many cases, not so much knowing how or what to say as it is being embarrassed before God for our sin. And well we should be. Still, the LORD is not one of whom we should be afraid; rather, He is the One who loves us with an undying love –a true love that never weakens or wears out. With that in mind, no one ought to be afraid to come to the LORD in prayer.

Experience has taught me that, although a person receives Christ in this simple way, he often fails to realize the fullness of what has occurred until he prays and says, “Thank You” to God. Since I learned this, I have sought to lead the newly-born again Christian to recognize the LORD’s salvation as a gift and pray saying, “Thank You, LORD, for saving me.”

If you know the LORD as your Savior, and if your life is being lived for Him, you can be an effective witness and bring a lost person to faith. Just use the Scriptures I’ve noted above. Then, after the person has repented and asked the LORD for salvation, ask, “What do you do when someone gives you a gift?” They will likely say, “You accept it.” You then say, “Yes, but is there anything else?” If the person doesn’t figure it out, you can say, “What do you say to someone when you receive a gift?” They will reply, “Oh, you mean ‘Thank you.’” Let’s pray again. You pray first and say “Thank You”; then I’ll pray.

Think it through, then reach out to someone who needs Jesus. You’ll be as thrilled as they are when you see them come to Christ. I’ll be praying for you!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”