ask Jesus into your heart

No disrespect taken but, have you considered these verses? You may choose to not use a sometimes misused phrase if you like but the idea behind it is quite scritural. Your heart must be soft enough to receive Christ and all of the things He stands for.

Matt 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,

Mark 8:17 ...Jesus...said unto them...have ye your heart yet hardened?

Mark 10:5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.

Luke 9:47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart,...

Acts 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Rom 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;

Heb 13:9...For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart

2 Tim 2:22...follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

2 Cor 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Acts 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul

Acts 11:23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
(Where is this abode? Only the very center of our being, our heart, would be acceptable.)

Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

Originally taken by Massdak
_________________________________________________
is this a wrong method?
should preachers or Christians lead people in a sinners prayer and to tell them to ask Jesus into thier heart?
________________________________________________

I'm using this verse whenever I shared the gospel, Romans 10: 9-10

9:"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
10: " For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness: and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Asking Jesus to come into your heart is one way of acknowledgment or professing of your faith after you heard the truth..

 

Asking Jesus into your heart is the result, rather than the cause, of salvation. Repentance, expressing a desire to acknowledge/ make Him Lord and Saviour, having recognised His divine-human nature and the consequence of His death and resurrection, causes salvation. But the 'inviting Him into your heart'bit, whilst somewhat saccharine, is important too because it expresses the nature of the relationship that exists between Him and us consequent upon salvation.

Since the Bible, and the Apostle Paul in particular, is very fond of illustrations from marriage, here's mine: when I got married last year, I made certain pledges to my wife and she to me which resulted in us being husband and wife, legally and spiritually. But it would be very odd - nay, a sham - if neither she nor I had a place for the other in our hearts...

Yours in Christ

Matt

 

Timeline:
1. 11:26:35 pm - I am struggling with the Holy Spirit who is convicting me of sin and my need of Christ.
2. 11:26:36 pm - I give up and decide to ask for salvation.
3. 11:26:37 pm - I begin a prayer asking Jesus to come into my heart and save me (I know what that means)
4. 11:26:40 pm - I finish that prayer.

I realize that I was saved at the point of #2 and not as a result of #3. However, to expect baby Christians to understand the nuances of salvation is a little unreasonable. While technically correct, newborn babies don't need to understand the musculature of the mouth in order to suck.

 

I don't agree that altar calls are in and of themselves unbiblical. If people are told that an altar call saves, then yes, I'd agree. Altar calls don't save. Jesus saves. But simply having an altar call, I don't think that in and of itself is unbiblical. I've never responded to an altar call, myself.

 

but number 2 does not equate to being saved based on your decision to say a prayer and ask for salvation. </font>[/QUOTE]I'm pretty sure it does. If a stray snipers bullet had caught me between #2 and #3 I would have gone to heaven because that is when I put my trust in Christ that he would save me. The prayer was just my carrying through on my faith just as baptism, works, etc. are a natural result of my faith.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: