A Backslider’s Prayer: The Significance
A backslider is a person who has strayed from God’s ways, whether willingly or slowly, over time without realizing it. The backslider is someone who is no longer in contact with his / her Heavenly Father. The backslider may still hear from God, but it may also feel like his / her own prayer is hitting the ceiling and not going any further. This leaves the backslider feeling empty, unhappy and unfulfilled, whether they realize it or not.
In Scripture, Jesus warns against backsliding in John 15:1-14 when He speaks about remaining in the vine, and then there will be much fruit. To guard against backsliding, one needs to remain in the vine, or there won’t be any fruit. This is done through a spiritual discipline called a quiet time. This is daily spending time with God in His word so that you can hear what He has to say to you, and in prayer, so that you can talk to God. When those two things are missing, then the backsliding begins. As you spend less and less time in God’s presence, you wander further and further away from His leading. You obey less and eventually don’t obey anymore. At some point, God will stop talking because you’re not listening anyway!
There is a need to pray a backslider’s prayer to effect restoration. The significance is that when the backslider prays a prayer for restoration, God hears, because He is still there, and He will start the process of restoration. But, there will be work for you to do as well, which is where we pick up the next section about the backslider’s prayer.
A Backslider’s Prayer: The Restoration
The backslider’s prayer can be a calling out to God to restore. It can be a calling out to Him to forgive and cleanse. The wonderful thing about God is that He forgives totally. In the parable of the 99 sheep, the one sheep wandered away. We can call this the backslider. The shepherd left the other 99 sheep to go fetch the one sheep that had gone off on his own.
Does this mean that a backslider’s prayer causes God to leave all His other children to go hunt after the one backslider? Absolutely not! God is omnipresent and therefore can deal with more than one thing at a time. He will go fetch the sheep and put him back with the other sheep in the fold.
In Zachariah 9:12 there is a wonderful promise of God restoring double to those who return to His fortress. His fortress in this case would be communion with God through reading the Bible and praying to Him. It is not just going to happen automatically though. There needs to be an intentional practicing of the discipline of spending time with God from the backslider’s part again after praying that prayer.
A Backslider’s Prayer: The Prayer
Below, there is a backslider’s prayer that is a simple way to pray, to ask God to restore you. If you are one of those who have strayed, and who find themselves being a backslider, the good news is that there is hope. God restores, and so you can pray this prayer:
Dear Lord, I have sinned. I have strayed from Your path. I neglected You and wondered away. I’m asking you today to forgive me for that. I’m asking you to restore your salvation to me. I’m asking you to bring me back into a close relationship with you. Please help me Lord, to from this day on, love you again. In Jesus name, Amen.
If you read this article and you prayed that backslider’s prayer, I would love to hear from you! Please drop me an email from the Contact us page. Also remember to make an effort to read the Word of God every day, and pray, even if you feel nothing. It’s a slow climb back to the top.
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