If You Do Use A Sinner's Prayer

Romans 10:12-14, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Let me start by saying that Romans 10:13 is NOT a part of God's simple plan of salvation, it is an add on. That is, you DON'T have to call, ask or pray to receive God's free gift of eternal life. Romans 10:14 plainly teaches that we are saved at the point of faith, when we BELIEVE. A person calls upon the Lord AFTER they have already believed on His name to be saved. The inspired Scripture is very clear about this important matter.

That being said, it is not wrong to utilize a sinner's prayer if you choose to do so. A sinner's prayer is simply the expression of one's faith, a by-product of the faith in one's soul. This is exactly what is meant in Romans 10:10, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The first part of the verse is referred to in Romans 10:14, and the latter half in Romans 10:13. The inspired Scripture speaks plainly if we rightly divide it.

If you do choose to use a sinner's prayer, it is of the most vital importance that you ALWAYS make sure to teach lost sinners that prayer is NOT necessary to get to Heaven. That is, you don't have to call, pray or ask to be born again. The new birth has nothing to do with a radical change of one's behavior and lifestyle as Ray Comfort foolishly teaches. The new birth is a supernatural miracle of God in response to one's faith in the Good News of Jesus Christ. That is, the Gospel according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-6.

A sinner's prayer should be short and simple. Something perhaps like this...

Dear God, I believe your Word that I am a guilty sinner who deserves to be punished in Hell forever for my sins. I believe you died in my place on the cross, were buried and resurrected from the dead the third day. I receive you Jesus as my Savior. Thank you for saving me.

There is no right or wrong way to pray. And again, praying is NOT necessary to be saved, you can simply BELIEVE what God has recorded in His Word. You don't get saved by repenting or prayer, you get saved by BELIEVING that Jesus did it all for you.

That all being said, I DON'T like nor use a sinner's prayer when leading someone to Christ. The reasons why are because: 

1. A sinner's prayer is not biblically necessary to be saved.
2. A sinner's prayer may confuse someone about what they must do to be saved.
3. A sinner's prayer confused me when I got saved at age 13.

I knew at age 13 that praying didn't save me, but I also was misled to believe that prayer is the vehicle by which I put my faith in Christ. No one ever told me THE TRUTH that I could simply believe on the name of Jesus and be saved without praying at all. John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Since we've never met Jesus in person, all we can do is believe on His name, and that is all that God expects from us.

Oh dear friend, it is so easy to go to Heaven. My father was right that religion is the worst thing that ever happened to this world. The famous singer Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) did an interview for Playboy magazine in 1963, in which he criticized organized religion. It is sadly clear to me that Sinatra wasn't a born again Christian and very likely went to Hell in his sins in 1998, but I couldn't agree with him more about the deplorable history of religion. It was religious nuts who burned the libraries of Alexandria, Egypt. It was religious nuts who burned countless women wrongly accused of being witches.

Still today, it was religious nuts who invaded and murdered 2.3 million innocent people during the Iraqi War (2003-2011). Then, contemptable Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, said President George W. Bush's cruel assault against Iraq was “a plan from God.” By attacking Iraq, the United States broke every one of the Ten Commandments. God had NOTHING to do with what wickedness WE DID! These are religious wackos! Like Mr. Sinatra, I have a very low opinion of organized religion. But unlike Sinatra, who was spiritually blinded to discern the difference between truth and religion, I acknowledge that true Christianity has nothing to do with manmade religion. Unlike Mr. Sinatra, I do believe in a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. I digress.

I don't recommend using a sinner's prayer, but if you do, make sure to explain that it is not mandatory to get to Heaven. If you fail to tell someone this truth, you are risky causing a lifetime of worry, fear and needless grief if they cannot remember what they prayed years later. This painful experience happened to me after I got saved at age 13. I worried needlessly and tearfully for several years afterwards, wondering if I had prayed correctly and not being able to remember hardly anything. I was a tortured soul suffering from religious scrupulosity. All of this happened because of ignorant preachers, Baptist pastors and Chick Tracts, who all failed to correctly present God's simple plan of salvation to me. I was horribly misled.

That being said, it is quite normal for a lost sinner to desire to pray at the time of salvation. It is normal for someone to express their soul's faith by asking God to save them. In fact, I did quietly ask Jesus to save me. I did it in ignorance, but naturally so. There is absolutely nothing wrong with silently calling, asking or audibly praying to be saved. God honors all such requests, but it is faith and not prayer that saves a man. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

I wrote this particular blog for two reasons:

1. To discourage others from using a sinner's prayer, because it can be potentially confusing which might cause years of needless painful worrying, fear and uncertainty.
2. To teach you the proper way to use a sinner's prayer if you do choose to use it.

Again, if you do use a sinner's prayer, please make sure to mention that praying is NOT necessary to get to Heaven. Prayer is NOT God's method of being saved. Faith is the mechanism (vehicle) by which we are bon again, not praying.

Also, make sure to include the three elements of THE GOSPEL; namely, Jesus' death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection. Make sure to include the fact that we are all sinners. A person must know why they need to be saved, and what they are being saved from. We need to be saved because we are guilty sinners and there is a penalty on sin, which is Hell (Romans 3:19-20; Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:8). By trusting Christ, you dear sinner will be rescued from burning in the fires of a literal Hell forever (Revelation 20:15).

God's only begotten Son, Jesus, has already paid for everyone's sins on the cross with His precious blood. This is why God the Father is freely offering eternal life to everyone. Jesus paid it all! Why would you ask God to give you something that He is already freely offering to give you? Asking God for salvation makes no sense.

In John 4:10, Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well that if she knew with whom she was speaking, she would have asked Him for the living water. Yet, nowhere does the Bible say that any of the Samaritans asked to be saved. John 4:39-42 says they simply BELIEVED on Him to be saved. Nowhere does the inspired Holy Bible mandate calling, asking or praying to be saved. Anyone who insists that you must pray to be saved is preaching another gospel.