Short Version Answer

Begin your relationship with Him. The first and best door for that is prayer. Talk to Him. Listen. He answers in many ways and through many life dimensions, so learn to be attentive. He could be speaking through loved ones, friends, nature, circumstances, feelings, impressions, or words.

When you have developed this prayer relationship somewhat, start reading the Bible and ask Him to speak to you through that as well. Start with the easier-to-understand sections, such as the first four books of the New Testament. Make it your aim, to learn to listen in many ways. Love Him, and know that He loves you. Learn about Him. Listen to people who know Him. Share your inner thoughts and feelings with Him.

Long Version Answer

The question of what to do after deciding to believe is not like the question, "What do I do now that I just graduated from high school?". I remember being completely overwhelmed when I asked that of myself. Our question is more like Benjamin Franklin saying, "What do I do with electricity now that I'm finished flying my kite?". Little did he know the possibilities were endless and would unravel as time went by.

Once you make a decision to believe in Jesus, keep your eyes and ears open for a lifetime of further discoveries. Develop a habit of thinking positively about God as a loving Friend. Don't let inner promptings or thoughts to do the opposite confuse or infect you.

Here are some real-world tips that can help you get started:

• Become His follower. Learn about Him from the Bible. See what He was like on earth, and what His closest friends and followers wrote about Him in the New Testament. Rejoice in your newfound freedom.

• Pray. To pray is to talk with God. People often think of praying as asking God for things, but prayer can go much deeper. A time of prayer can be all about worshipping and praising God. It could mean just being with Him. You can pour your heart out to God. I have seen Him answer hundreds of prayers. But answered prayer is not the most important objective. Rather, it is joining with your heavenly Father as His loving child and friend. The blessings will follow.

• Stay adventurous in the process. Expect Him to be your friend, your confidant, and your helper.

• Remember the universe does not revolve around you and your desires. It revolves around Jesus. He is the real “star of the show”. Give Him some respect and awe. Let Him take center stage in your prayers.

• Talk to others about Jesus. Whether it is for finding other believers to be friends with, or to tell people how to get saved, Jesus is someone worth being vocal about. I have observed that more people are led to Jesus by new believers than by older ones. This is because new believers are so excited about Jesus in their lives. Take advantage of this special time to spread the good news.

• Be persistent by staying close to Jesus and following Him. Through the easy and difficult seasons of life, keep the faith. Stay positive about Jesus. God doesn’t stop being your helper during those seasons, so keep accepting His help.

• Consider yourself “born again”. You have ended your path that led away from heaven, and you are on a new path that takes you toward heaven. Being born again is a spiritual awakening. The Comforter comes into your life, your heart, your being. He starts turning you into the person you were originally meant to be. It is fun and rewarding to become “the real you”. He makes you a better person.

• King Solomon once said "walk with wise men, and you will be wise." If you can find wise Christian friends to be with, you will become wiser in many areas. Look for those who have kind hearts and who desire to help you learn. Choose people who know a lot about relationship with Jesus. Be good to them. They may prove extremely valuable to your life.

• Ask to be baptized as an outer sign of your new life. Getting baptized is something all believers can look back on during their lives as a celebration of becoming saved. It is an exciting way of marking your milestone of faith publicly. It can also be spiritually rewarding to you.

• Get involved. Serve God. Be to others what you would like them to be to you. If you want them to like you, like them first. If you want someone to listen to you, listen to them first. If you want someone to pray for you, pray for them. Most good churches have good people and good leaders. Stay there and grow until the Lord leads you elsewhere.

• If you find your Bible is hard to understand, there are other translations that are easier to grasp, such as the New International Version. Others I like to read the most are the New King James version and the New American Standard version. When I have time to compare a passage in multiple translations I do that. There are several online Bibles that make it easy to do, such as biblegateway.com. When you have a good grasp of the New Testament, start in on the Old Testament. A good place to start is Psalms, then the book after it, Proverbs. You can find them in the table of context of your Bible.

• Listen to the Holy Spirit. You have the Holy Spirit in you now. He tries to communicate to us in various ways. Sometimes through tiny nudges, sometimes through a still, small voice, sometimes through instant knowing, and sometimes through mental pictures or visions. Be open to receiving input from God in unexpected ways.

• Keep listening and feeling after God. Be open to what He communicates. Many people will tell you He speaks mostly through His word, the Bible. Pray that He communicates a lot with you in that way, and also pray that He communicates not through the Bible, but in ways appropriate to you personally in present circumstances. One preacher I heard said “God speaks to those who have the intent to obey.” Listen to God, not with fear that He will tell you something you don’t want to hear, but with the intent to obey.”

•Learn to recognize that believers have a spiritual enemy who lies to them and tries to trip them up. We can reject the lies and resist the enemy. The Bible says that when we do, the enemy will flee from us. So, learn to pay attention to your subtle thoughts and the difficulties around you so you can identify the attempts of the enemy and counter them in prayer.

•Try to follow the "golden rule", "Do to others what you would have others do to you." Jesus said this and it has worked well for me. I put a little extra thought at the end - "if you were them", which I'm pretty sure is what Jesus meant. Sometimes it is good not to assume others would like you to do for them exactly the same things you like people to do for you. For example, if your favorite food is Brussels sprouts, don't assume that is what others want you to serve them.

During the years that I traveled around spreading the good message to people and praying with them to receive Jesus, I knew they were being born anew by the Holy Spirit. But often the group I was with had to leave and move on to another city to lead others to Jesus. At first, we had not set up a good network or way of helping these newly born-again "baby" believers get plugged in with others that could help them grow and thrive in their new lives. People at the time used to call it “leaving babies on doorsteps” and we understood this was not the best way to share the good news. We soon developed those networks and made sure the new believers were guided to a good place to grow in Jesus.

It is up to you now to get involved with a group of people to help you keep you from being a baby left on a doorstep. To begin with, I’m providing a few links that will help you get the ball rolling. (After reading each, come back to this page by using your browser's back arrow.)

https://Bible.org/seriespage/

1-beginning-your-new-life-christ

The link above takes you to a step-by-step guide is intended for women but is better than most I’ve seen intended for everyone.

https://www.harvest.org

/know-god/first-steps

Click the link above to visit a site by Greg Laurie’s Harvest Ministries. One nice thing about it is that there is a link to a page where you can input your name and information and tell a little about yourself.

https://Biblesforamerica

.org/new-believers/

On the Bibles For America site you will read the basics and you can order a free New Testament to be mailed to you. Click the link above to get your free New Testament.

As a formality, if you have not done this already - Please pray along with me: Jesus, I am a sinner in need of You the Savior. Thank you for dying in my place to forgive my sins. Please come into my life. Give me a wonderful heartfelt relationship with you. Please make me be reborn as I receive Your Spirit in me. Give everlasting abundant life. I believe in You and will follow You, my Lord and Savior.

Now the ball is in your court. Please take advantage of these resources and don’t let yourself be like a spiritual baby on a doorstep a minute longer. There's no need to be shy about checking out a few churches to find one that meets your need to grow from a newborn Christian into a spiritually mature and faith-filled believer. If they offer midweek home groups, they could help you in your journey and build positive relationships.

Oh, by the way, it is impossible for us to collect or share any identifying information about you, but we are counting link clicks. The fact that you clicked the link to this page will help us know another person was helped.

Thank you for reading this. Please consider telling others about this site. May God richly pour His blessings on you from this day forward.

If you are ever interested in sharing the good news using our online tools, click here. Everything is free, no obligation, and totally private.

Here is a menu with lots of great information that might help you decide to become a follower of Jesus.

If, as a result of viewing this website, you decided to believe in Jesus as your Savior, please click here for next steps.