skip to main |
skip to sidebar
THE DANGERS OF THE SINNERS PRAYER
What I am referring to as the “sinners prayer” is the “repeat after me”
method given at the end of a gospel presentation which is supposed to
lead someone to accept Christ. I have no issue with a repentant sinner
calling out to God for forgiveness.
I have two problems with the “sinners prayer.”
My first
problem is that it is not found in scripture. Christians should be
leery of using anything that’s not found in the Bible, especially when
it’s dealing with the gospel. People are saved through faith in Christ.
Some may say the sinners prayer when they put their confidence in the
Savior, but it is in spite of the sinners prayer, not because of it.
Reason number two: It has led many into false professions of salvation.
Many people, myself included, have been led in a prayer which resulted
in a false profession. I believe that the number one cause of false
professions today is the sinners prayer. Part of the problem is that it
gives people an action to perform. They can easily end up trusting in
something they did, instead of what Christ did for them. They look back
to the prayer instead of looking to the cross for assurance. In calling
people to perform an action we are jeopardizing one of the main points
of the gospel, which is that there is nothing that we can do to be
saved. We don’t think we are giving an action to perform, but repeating a
prayer can mislead them into thinking they had a part in saving their
souls.
Leading someone in a prayer often
ends up with the person only mentally acknowledging their sinful state
and mentally assenting to a formula. While it’s good to acknowledge
those things, that won’t save you, it’s believing in your heart, not in
your head. It’s like leading someone half way down a trail to your house
in the woods, then declaring that they have arrived, when they are
obviously lost.
In all of the salvation accounts
found in scripture none of them involve saying a prayer, saving faith is
what is shown again and again. John 3:15-16 make it clear that it is belief in the Son and nothing else.
In Acts 10:44 it says “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.” Peter was preaching and all who were listening that believed what he said were saved. They
didn’t say a prayer. They just recognized that they were sinners and
that Jesus had died for their sin and risen again, and if they didn’t
believe on Him they would be under judgment.
Real Christian have a desire to see people saved. Unfortunately many try
to rush the work of the Holy Spirit by leading unbelievers in a prayer.
This can interfere with the work of the Holy Spirit. If we interfere
with that work and it ends up leading someone into a false profession
then we have a lot to account for, and personally, I don’t want to run
that risk. All we need to do is give people the gospel and the Holy
Spirit will do the rest. Rushing
someone into a prayer could be a lack of faith that the Holy Spirit will
do His part. Our job is not to open hearts, our job is to shut mouths,
and let the Holy Spirit open the heart.
In all of the salvation
accounts in scripture no one was ever led in a prayer, not even once.
Seriously, go look it up. I would suggest that leading someone in a
prayer could be considered adding to the gospel, which is very
dangerous. If you only based your evangelistic method on the bible you
would not come to the conclusion that saying a prayer is the way to
receive salvation. Rather you would see repentance and faith (Acts 20:21).
The Ethiopian Eunuch
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And
as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the
eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And
Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And
he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
(Acts 8:35-37).
The Philippian Jailer
And the keeper of the
prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he
drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the
prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house (Acts 16:27-32).
Often people say that they
will lead someone in a prayer if they feel that they have arrived at a
point where they are ready to accept Christ. In both situations above,
the evangelists (in this case Paul, Silas, and Philip) were presented
with opportunities that many modern day evangelists would use to lead
someone in a sinners prayer. The Philippian jailer was ready to be
saved, but Paul did not lead him in a prayer, instead he tells him to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”. From what we see in scripture this is what we should be telling people, not “Would you like to ask Jesus into your heart? Okay, say this prayer with me…”
Children and the sinners prayer
Children are extremely
susceptible to false professions due to the sinners prayer. The gospel
needs to be presented in simpler terms with children, but it does not
need to be dumbed down to “Ask Jesus into your heart” or “Talk to God about your sin.”
Talking to God about your sin is not what saves people, neither is
asking Jesus into your heart (whatever that means). What child wouldn’t “ask Jesus into their heart”
when they’re told that God will come live inside of them and they will
go to heaven? Far too often the child has no grasp of what they are
doing or why they are doing it. It is often
a mental “salvation” instead of an honest realization that they are
sinners and that only Jesus, and what He did for them on the cross, can
save them. I was led in a prayer when I was a child and had absolutely
no idea what I was doing. It’s far too easy to manipulate a child into
saying a prayer and professing salvation.
A new breed of the sinners prayer
Recently I’ve seen a new trend in the way people are led in the prayer, it goes something like “Saying this prayer is not what saves you, praying is simply how you tell God what you are doing”. This disclaimer doesn’t dismiss the fact that the people still did something that they are liable to trust in, instead of only trusting in the all sufficient work of Christ on the cross. The
logic behind using this disclaimer doesn’t even make sense. Why do we
need to tell God what we are doing? He already knows. If you offer me a
gift would it be normal for me to give you a commentary on what I am
doing? For example, as I take the gift from your hand it wouldn’t make
sense for me to say “I am taking the gift from you”, you would already know what I was doing. Even with this disclaimer the prayer falls short of being a solid part of the gospel.
You said the prayer, are you saved?
The
purpose of this paper is not to cast doubt on anyone’s salvation, but
instead to (unless you’re not saved), it is to show the dangers of the
sinners prayer. Being saved has nothing to do with a prayer. If you said a prayer you could very well be saved, but don’t base your salvation on your prayer.
I know a lot of people who I believe they are saved, and they repeated a
prayer after someone. God sees your heart, and if your heart was truly
repentant and believing then you are saved. Psalm 51 well describes the condition that a heart should be in, in order to be saved.
Examine it for yourself
I would encourage all of you
to examine this matter for yourself, especially if you are involved in
any type of gospel or childrens work. Don’t just take my word for it,
seek out the matter with an open heart and God will show you what is
right. Keep this question in mind: should we use an extra-biblical, or
possibly an anti-biblical, practice in our gospel outreach? Study it
out…someones eternity just might depend on it.
3 comments:
-
Excellent work,
glad you brought it to public light. As one who said a prayer at a young
age, and then realized 19 years later that I was never truly saved, I
caution others to examine themselves. If the testimony of the Holy
Spirit is evident in your heart, it will only serve as a confirmation.
If, however, you were still dead in your sins, this self examination
followed by true repentance toward God and new birth in Christ will
change your eternal destination, and you will be given the gift of
eternal life.
Reply
-
Thank you for posting this
Caleb. A difficult issue for I am sure many who read this, hold to or
know someone who holds to encouraging people in praying a prayer.
I have heard of those who, when
they recognized their sinfulness, their need for the Savior and
believed, prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and praise. They had prayed
without any encouragement from others with the desire to simply thank
the Lord for His abundant grace and love.
I myself, for years assumed that
praying to God for salvation was the means that I had been saved. Of
course, I believed in Jesus Christ and that He died on the cross, but my
faith was in what I did- I PRAYED. Someone asked me, “Are you SAVED?”
and my reply was yes. But when I was challenged (Thank the LORD for that
dear brother to challenge me!) on what my faith was in and how I knew I
was saved, it was because I prayed. Because of my prayer, I had a sense
of security. It is interesting the terms that we find in the Scriptures
are RECEIVE, TRUST, BELIEVE even to OBEY in that God commands all men
everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). I had never believed in my heart. I
had placed all my stock in my knowledge of God and the Scriptures that I
had assumed I MUST be saved. Concerning the line above- “Often people
say that they will lead someone in a prayer if they feel that they have
arrived at a point where they are ready to accept Christ.” I may step on
toes here, but if I were to lead someone in a prayer for salvation
because I feel they have arrived at a certain point, isn’t that too many
‘I’s? I don’t know the condition of ‘this’ soul or that soul. Even in
speaking the Truth to someone, we don’t know their hearts. We should be
perceptive in knowing if the soul we are speaking but the LORD does not
expect us nor would He take pleasure in us discerning another person’s
heart. This is the Holy Spirit’s. The Holy Spirit can apply the
conviction to the soul through the Word of God. We need to preach the
Word of God, and allow the God’s Spirit to convict. This was my problem-
I said to myself I KNOW MY OWN HEART, I KNOW GOD. Yet, Jeremiah 17:9
states it so plainly. My heart is just like everyone’s heart-
DESPERATELY WICKED. It was when my heart was challenged that I realized
my dire need, and I believed God. I trusted Him and that it was on
Christ that all my sin was laid. Praise God for His long-suffering
towards me.
thanks Caleb!
Reply
-
Good Morning Caleb,
I stumbled across your blog
through Mark’s blog. I really enjoyed reading this post. I believe the
biggest problem with the “sinner’s prayer” (and I think you mentioned it
too) is that there is no real repentance involved. I’ve been to
churches before where the people just seem to “live” the sinner’s prayer
every Sunday. The mindset it that the sinner’s prayer is sort of like a
“get out of jail free card.”
Verbal acknowledgement of who
Christ is means nothing without faith and true, genuine repentance. Even
the demons know who Christ is (Luke 4:41). Those who are saved will not
only acknowledge that Christ is Lord but will also live in obedience to
Him, like a wise man who built his house upon a rock (Matthew 7:24-25)
Thanks for sharing this post.
God Bless,
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment