What would you say is most noticable about the new birth?

[xdisciplex]

Is the new birth something where you directly notice that something is different? From one day to the other? I think that for some christians it is like this but for others it might not be so dramatic.
What I ask myself how exactly do you know that you really have been born again if you do not see dramatic changes? Some people convert and have a huge salvation experience and automatically change and maybe they are also totally enthusiastic for the first weeks and months and want to tell everybody about Jesus but others don't have such a dramatic experience.
I mean how do you know why you are trying to improve and to do all those things which a christian usually does? Everybody has some opinions about what a christian does. A christian doesn't steal, he loves people, he does good things and so on...
Now how do you know why you are doing things different after your conversion? What if you are simply trying to achieve these things in your own strength and only follow the commandments because you know that a christian is supposed to do this?
Religious people which are not born again but they also try to follow the commandments. When you see a born again christian and a religious person which both read the bible and try to act upon it then how exactly can you tell who's born again and who isn't?
And how do you know wether you are really born again or wether you are not simply doing things automatically? The jews for example did all their stuff out of a routine. The ark of the covenant was gone but this didn't disturb them at all, they still held their church services. How do you know wether you are not also doing things out of a routine?
After my conversion I knew that many things which I did were wrong and tried to change them but actually I also knew that they were wrong before my conversion. If you already knew it before and then try to stop these things then how do you know wether you're not doing it automatically and it's not God who does these changes in you?
What's simply stupid is when everything is so vague and you can either simply accept that you have been born again but you can as well ask yourself if it really worked because you did not have such a dramatic conversion.

 

[JFox1]

There are a number of differences I've noticed since becoming a Christian, but I think the most noticeable thing is that I view God differently. I had a very negative religious upbringing in which God was used merely as a disciplinary tool such as a paddle or a switch. I was never told that God actually loved me. I grew up thinking that if God exists at all, He didn't like me. I deliberately avoided churches because I believed that God's power is greatest in a church, if He were going to get me, it would be in a church.

In 1982, I became a Christian. I read the Bible and prayed regularly. I then realized that God loves me!!! My faith gradually grew. In 1985, I was baptized and received Holy Communion for the first time. I attend regularly and joined a Bible study class. My faith continues to grow. There is now an unbreakable bond between my heart and the heart of God. raise:

 

[xdisciplex]

In 1982, I became a Christian. I read the Bible and prayed regularly. I then realized that God loves me!!! My faith gradually grew. In 1985, I was baptized and received Holy Communion for the first time. I attend regularly and joined a Bible study class. My faith continues to grow. There is now an unbreakable bond between my heart and the heart of God. raise:

Cool. :thumbs:

What somehow bothers me about myself is that actually I was never religious. I mean even as a non-christian I sometimes used to pray to God when I had a problem with seemed to big for me. I had no problems simply talking to him and it wasn't in a religious manner. But how is this even possible? As a non-christian you're not his child and even if you pray to God you shouldn't be able to simply talk to him the way a christian does, right? Then why was I able to simply talk to God? And then I think: If I could already talk to God in a non-religious manner before being a christian then how do I even know if something really changed about me?
If I had not been able to talk to God before becoming a christian then I would be able to see a difference but this way it seems more or less the same.

 

[JFox1]

I also talked to God occasionally before becoming a Christian, but only when I was in big trouble. After becoming a Christian, I talk to Him about anything. I offer prayers of thanks, I pray for other people, I ask for forgiveness of sins. I ask God to help me with my work at the office.

I once read that formal prayers such as from prayer books, etc., are like greeting cards. God accepts them and likes them. But He also likes personal letters. Those are the personal prayers that you pray.

Has your prayer life changed since becoming a Christian? Do you talk to God only when in trouble or for other reasons, too?