Salvation: More Than A Prayer

I have a childhood friend who prayed his salvation prayer several years ago and today he has no more relationship with Christ than before he said his prayer.  I desperately want to believe that my friend knows Christ, but from his own lips, he does not.  He has been gracious in allowing me to share his story.
He and I are part of a group of friends that have ebbed and flowed since we were kids.  A few years ago, our group of friends came back together and it quickly became evident that several of us had come to know Christ.  The natural thing was to share our faith with our friends. Our testimonies were well received. Our walk with Christ; well respected.
After spending time with those of us walking with Christ this friend was hungry to know more of what we had found. He has known us for most of our lives and could see changes for the good and wanted to know more.
We were happy to share all the Lord had done and was still doing in our lives.  We did all the things Christians do, we shared the Gospel with him.  Told him that Jesus came to die for him so that he could be in relationship with God.  We ministered to him as we felt led to do. 
Then came the day- He was ready to accept Christ.  He sent us an email letting us know that he had finally come to this decision.  What a great day to celebrate!!  It was not just another added to the Kingdom of Christ, it was one of ours!!

And then:
As time passed, he tried to do the things “Christians” do, go to church, prayed… that kind of stuff, but to no avail.  He just could not believe in his heart that Christ died for him.  He believes it for the rest of us but he just cannot believe it for himself.  He is bound by the lies of the enemy.  This is what keeps him from a relationship with Christ.

He said a prayer.  Some of you would say that is enough, I question if it is enough.  His prayer was more about his friends than it was about meeting his Savior.  He respects us, he looks up to us, he wants what we have in Christ. He just can’t get over the lies of the enemy.  He thinks we are so much better and more worthy.  Even though he knows our deepest secrets, he knows the sins we struggle with, he still thinks we are more worthy.  We are not. 

The moral of the story is, he said a prayer but does he doesn’t know his Savior. 

You see, it’s not all about a prayer.  It’s about the heart behind the prayer.  Each one of us who knows Christ had a heart that had been prepared to hear and believe, so we did. 

 I have heard it said that it’s judgmental to inquire about someone’s walk with the Lord. I don’t know about you, but I want to see my friends and family in Heaven! I want to see THIS friend in Heaven, it is my deepest prayer that he comes to believe Christ died for him so that he will know a life free in Christ and spend eternity in Heaven.

I know this is not a fun, uplifting post. Shouldn’t we be talking about this though?  As the day grows closer to Christ’s return, I don’t want to regret not asking the hard questions, especially to those I call friend.