「我祷告能够真实地经历神」
商慕义 Samuel
我叫Samuel，今年9岁。我出生在一个基督徒家庭，从小爸爸妈妈会每天晚上给我讲圣经。圣经告诉我，罪是一切上帝不喜欢的言语、行为和想法。我知道我是一个罪人因为我会撒谎，不聼爸爸妈妈的话，也会顶嘴、讨价还价、没有爱心。我很努力想做好，可是每次我都做不到。爸爸妈妈告诉我，靠我自己是做不到的，我需要耶稣来帮助我。耶稣因为爱我，来到这个世界，为我死在十字架上，三天后复活。只要我相信祂，祂就会赦免我的罪，给我一个新的生命，也会帮助我变得越来越像祂。于是在我五岁半的时候，我决定要相信耶稣，爸爸妈妈就带我做了决志的祷告。
我做完决志祷告后，虽然继续去教会，每天读圣经，但我开始怀疑：我真的相信神吗？妈妈跟我说，虽然我知道很多圣经故事，但还没有真实经历神。于是我们祷告我能够真实地经历神。上帝回应了我的祷告。一个例子就是我祷告我的朋友可以认识耶稣，后来我看见他变得很愿意聼我讲关于神的事。另一个例子就是我经常撒谎。以前我不觉得这有什么问题，后来我觉得这是神不喜欢的，就祷告祂帮助我。结果我撒谎变少了。每当我做了错事又想撒谎的时候，我感觉有个声音告诉我不可以。有的时候我还是撒谎了，那个声音又会告诉我要马上去告诉爸爸妈妈，承认错误。有了这几次的经验，我知道神是真的，我也相信祂。
确认我相信后，接下来我应该按耶稣所说的接受浸礼，可是我很害羞、不敢在很多人面前受浸。一天，我和妈妈谈论一个叫Jim Elliott的宣教士。他为了跟别人分享耶稣，最后自己被杀害了。我觉得他很勇敢，因为没有人想死。相比之下，我的害羞不是什么大问题，我也应该勇敢。我妈妈也鼓励我说，如果我觉得这是对的事情，就放胆去做。于是我下定决心要受浸。
今天很高兴我受浸了。谢谢神给我帮助我的爸爸妈妈，还有教会的同伴和长辈们。虽然我已经在经历神的改变，但我知道我离完美还很远。我相信祂会继续带领我。
Samuel见证视频： https://youtu.be/lBJ91D59rF0
妈妈寄语：
「感谢神，孩子接受浸礼正式宣告自己跟随耶稣的心志！作为父母，我们对孩子最大的盼望莫过于他能认识耶稣、跟随耶稣，一生行在神看为正的道路上。人生路很长，作为父母我们无法一直陪伴左右，但耶稣却能随时随地引领、指教、劝慰、保守。我们知道这是无比美好和充满盼望的。」
——Julie
My name is Samuel. I am 9 years old. I was born in a Christian family and every night my parents would read the Bible to me. From the Bible I learned that sin is words, thoughts, and actions that displease God. I realized that I am sinner because I would lie, disobey my parent, argue, nag, and be very selfish. I wanted to be perfect so I tried not to do those things, but I kept on failing. My parents reminded me that we can’t do this on our own, we need Jesus to help us. Because Jesus loves us, he came to this world, died on the cross, and was raised to life again in three days. As long as I believe in him, my sins will be forgiven, and he will give me a new life and help me be more like him. So when I was five and a half, I decided that I wanted to believe in Jesus, so my parents led me to pray the Sinner’s Prayer.
After I prayed the Sinner’s Prayer, I kept going to church, attending Sunday School, and reading the Bible at night, but I started to doubt if I really believed in God. My mom said maybe it is because I only have head knowledge of Jesus but have not really experienced Him in a personal way, so I started to pray that I would experience God, and God answered my prayers. One example is that I prayed about my friend’s salvation and soon saw him being eager to learn more about God. Another example is that I was struggling with lying so I prayed to God for help. The result was that I started to lie less because whenever I wanted to lie about something bad I did, I felt a voice reminding not to. And the few times when I did lie, a voice would remind me to confess my parents. After experiencing God answering my prayers, I knew God was real and I believe in Him.
After making sure that I believe, I knew the next step would be baptism, as Jesus has taught. However, I was very shy and did not want to be baptized in front of a lot of people. One day, my mom and I were talking about a missionary named Jim Elliot. He sacrificed his life when sharing Jesus with others. I thought Jim Elliot was very brave for sacrificing his life for God because no one wants to die. In comparison, my shyness wasn’t a big problem, and I should be brave too. Then my mom said if it is the right thing to do, then do it. So I decided that I want to be baptized.
Today I am very happy because I am baptized. Although I have experienced God helping me be more like Him, I know I am still far from perfection. But God will continue to help me by reminding me not to do things that are displeasing Him, and when I do sin, He will also continue to remind me to turn back quickly.
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