A further way to lead someone to consecrate himself is to help him to pray with us. When we help people, we should not talk too much. When we bind something with a cord, we tie a knot in it. To talk too much with someone is to loosen the knot. Before praying, many people do not have the sincerity to consecrate themselves, but after they pray, their consecration becomes real. After we talk with someone, we must find a way to help him to offer himself in prayer to the Lord. This is the same as in our gospel preaching. When we speak with people about the gospel, at a certain point we need to ask them to pray. The Lord is very willing and ready to hear and answer a prayer of consecration.
We need to help people to pray in a definite way. This very much depends on our own experience. If we have the experience of consecrating ourselves in a real and full way, we will know how to help someone. We will be able to help him to realize that he must offer to the Lord in a definite way whatever he is, whatever he has, and whatever he can do. We must believe that when a person prays in this way, he is having a real contact with the Lord.
Even if a person is not sincere, the Lord is faithful. In the types we can see that whether or not a person was sincere in offering something on the altar, the Lord accepted it. Anything offered on the altar could not be taken back, even if it was offered without sincerity. We can make a deal with a man and then cancel it, but we cannot cancel our deal with the Lord. We cannot say, “Lord, I gave You something wrongly, so I take it back.” We may agree with that, but the Lord will never agree. Some brothers and sisters were not sincere before they prayed, but after they prayed they became sincere, consecrated ones. Someone may even say, “A brother asked me to pray to offer myself to the Lord, so I just prayed. It did not cost me much.” However, his prayer is still accepted. He may cancel it, but the Lord will not. He may “break the engagement,” but with the Lord there is no divorce. There is no account in the Scriptures in which a person brought something to the altar, then repented, and the thing came back to him. There is no repentance for anything offered at the altar. Regardless of what kind of person one is, if he offers anything at the altar, the matter is settled.
Therefore, we should not talk too much. At a certain point we should help someone to pray, to go to the altar and lay himself on the altar. Then we will see the result. I have heard genuine testimonies to this effect. Someone may still remember the place, the time, and the persons he was with when he offered himself to the Lord. He may testify that for many years he did not keep his word, yet he could not forget it. Even after twenty years that word still remained with him, and he had no peace until the Lord caused him to keep his word of consecration. If we know many Christians, we can present many testimonies like this. Let us help people in a practical way. We should not merely give them a message. We must help them to “tie the knot” by making a definite decision in prayer.
After a certain time we should fellowship again with the new ones to check the outcome of their consecration. We mostly find one of three issues. First, after consecrating themselves, some genuine ones doubt whether or not they have truly consecrated. They may not feel they were sincere. We must help them to realize that this doubt comes from God’s enemy. We should help this kind of person believe that he has truly consecrated himself. We should not say, “If you do not feel that you have truly offered yourself, do it again.” If we help someone in this way, we open the back door for the enemy to come in. Then if we come to that person a third time, we will find that he is still doubtful. Rather, we should say, “Brother, there is no need for you to pray in this way. You have already offered yourself. The only way you should pray now is to say, ‘Lord, I stand on the ground of my consecration, and I continue to offer myself more and more.’” To pray in this way is right.
I once heard of a brother who offered himself to the Lord, after which the enemy came in to fool him and cause him to doubt. He was a farmer who tilled the soil. When he was at one end of the field, he offered himself to the Lord, but by the time he reached the other end he already doubted it, so he offered himself again. However, by the time he turned around and reached the first end of the field, he doubted his consecration again. He did this many times, falling into the snare of the enemy. Finally, he realized what he was doing. He put a stake in the ground and said, “Satan, this marks the spot on which I truly consecrated myself to the Lord. Do not speak any further word of doubt to me.” After that he had the peace to go on. If we are not sure that we have consecrated ourselves to the Lord, it is hard to have the peace to go on. This is why the enemy, Satan, always does his best to cause us to doubt our sincerity and doubt whether we have truly consecrated ourselves to the Lord. We must learn this lesson of how to help people.
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