The Sinner's Prayer refers to a prayer often recited by new Christian converts. The prayer is a kind of gateway, marking the moment a person 1) confesses their sinfulness, 2) calls on Christ as their Savior from sin, 3) acknowledges that Christ died for that person's sins (and was resurrected), and often 4) invites Jesus to enter the new Christian's heart.
If leading a person to Christ were a scavenger hunt, the Sinner's Prayer would be the finish-line. :)
A few more introductory background remarks, compliments of Wikipedia:
The Sinner's Prayer (also called the Consecration Prayer and Salvation Prayer) is an evangelical Christian term referring to any prayer of repentance, prayed by individuals who feel convicted of the presence of sin in their lives and have the desire to form or renew a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a popular phenomenon in evangelical circles.[1] It is not intended as liturgical like a creed or a confiteor, but rather, is intended to be an act of initial conversion to Christianity. While some Christians see reciting the sinner's prayer as the moment defining one's salvation, others see it as a beginning step of one's lifelong faith journey.[2][3]
It also may be prayed as an act of "re-commitment" for those who are already believers in the faith. Often, at the end of a worship service, in what is known as an altar call, a minister or other worship leader will invite those desiring to receive Christ (thus becoming born again) to repeat with him or her the words of some form of a sinner's prayer. It also is frequently found on printed gospel tracts, urging people to "repeat these words from the bottom of your heart".[4]
The "Sinner’s Prayer" takes various forms, all of which have the same general thrust.[5] Since it is considered a matter of one's personal will, it can be prayed silently, aloud, read from a suggested model, or repeated after someone modeling the prayer role. There is no formula of specific words considered essential, although it usually contains an admission of sin and a petition asking that Jesus enter into the person's heart (that is to say, the center of their life). The use of the sinner's prayer is common within some Protestant denominations, such as Baptist Churches and Methodist Churches, as well as in movements that span several denominations, including evangelical, fundamental, and charismatic Christianity. It has also been used, though not as widely, by some Anglicans,[6][7] Lutherans,[8][9] and Roman Catholics.[10][11] It is sometimes uttered by Christians seeking redemption or reaffirming their faith in Christ during a crisis or disaster, when death may be imminent.
The "Sinner’s Prayer" is not without its critics. Because no such prayer or conversion is found in the Bible, some biblical scholars have even labeled the sinner's prayer a "cataract of nonsense" and an "apostasy".[12] David Platt has raised questions over the authenticity of the conversions of people using the sinner's prayer based on research by George Barna.[13]
2) Anatomy of The Sinner's Prayer:
While reference is made to "the" Sinner's Prayer, there's no "pat" set of words that "count" as a sinner's prayer. A Sinner's Prayer can be as short as 50 words (as illustrated by this version I found in a random Christian tract):
Dear Lord, I now realize that I am a sinner and that you died for me. I repent of my sin, and ask You to now come into my heart, save me, and take me to heaven when I die. Thank you, Lord, for saving me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Or the prayer can be more detailed, as illustrated by Ray Pritchard's 121-word version (in his book, An Anchor for the Soul):
Lord Jesus, for too long I’ve kept you out of my life. I know that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. No longer will I close the door when I hear you knocking. By faith I gratefully receive your gift of salvation. I am ready to trust you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to earth. I believe you are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead on the third day. Thank you for bearing my sins and giving me the gift of eternal life. I believe your words are true. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and be my Savior. Amen.
Or here's an intermediate 82-word version, compliments of Cary Schmidt (in his book, Done):
Dear Jesus,
I believe in my heart that you are God. I
believe that you died for all of my sins and rose
again. I confess to you that I am a sinner, and I
ask you to be my personal Saviour right now. I
place 100% of my trust in you to come into my
life and take me to Heaven someday. I accept
your free gift of eternal life.
Thank you for keeping your promise and
answering this prayer.
Amen.
In any event, I find it interesting to break down the Sinner's Prayer into its "basic elements," which I list as follows:
Parts of a Sinner's Prayer:
- Sinner: "I am a sinner..."
- Deity: "You are [the Son of] God..."
- Sacrifice: "You died for my sins [on the cross]..."
- Resurrection: "You were raised from the dead [three days later]..."
- Repentance: "I repent of my sins..."
- Invitation: "Come into my heart..."
- Eternal Life: "Grant me eternal life [in Heaven]..."
We also often find words such as "faith" or "gift" or "trust" or "grace".
Examples of the Parts in Action:
With these "parts" or "benchmarks" in mind, we find that versions of the Sinner's Prayer often vary by how many of the above 7 elements the prayer contains.
Billy Graham's famous version of the Sinner's Prayer hits many of the bases:
Example One: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen.
Graham's prayer doesn't explicitly says that Jesus is a Deity, but I imagine that acknowledgement is implicit: after all, why would you pray to Jesus if He weren't divine? But, clearly, Graham's prayer makes no reference to Eternal Life.
On the other hand, Graham's prayer notes something extra which would seem to be important:
8. Forgive: "Forgive my sins..."
By way of another example, here's Campus Crusade for Christ's 60-word version (with parts highlighted):
Example Two: Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.
(I've taken the "receive You..." as an Invitation.) There's no explicit reference to Repentance, but I imagine that part's implicit in another "part" I'll highlight:
9. Surrender: "Take control of my life (heart)..."
(Then again, we could count this as another version of the Invitation part, already listed. Does inviting Jesus into my heart necessarily entail that I've surrendered my life to him?)
Thirdly, here's a detailed 133-word Sinner's Prayer (the St. Paul Street Evangelization version):
Example Three: God our Father, I believe that out of Your infinite love You have created me. In a thousand ways I have shunned Your love. I repent of each and every one of my sins. Please forgive me. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me, to save me from eternal death. I choose this day to enter into (renew my) covenant with You and to place Jesus at the center of my heart. I surrender to Him as Lord over my whole life. I ask You now to flood my soul with the gift of the Holy Spirit so that my life may be transformed. Give me the grace and courage to live as a disciple in Your Church for the rest of my days. In Jesus name I pray Amen.
Thirdly, here's a detailed 133-word Sinner's Prayer (the St. Paul Street Evangelization version):
Example Three: God our Father, I believe that out of Your infinite love You have created me. In a thousand ways I have shunned Your love. I repent of each and every one of my sins. Please forgive me. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me, to save me from eternal death. I choose this day to enter into (renew my) covenant with You and to place Jesus at the center of my heart. I surrender to Him as Lord over my whole life. I ask You now to flood my soul with the gift of the Holy Spirit so that my life may be transformed. Give me the grace and courage to live as a disciple in Your Church for the rest of my days. In Jesus name I pray Amen.
I presume that being saved from "eternal death" amounts to receiving Eternal Life. Notably, this prayer makes mention of the further element not found in the briefer versions of the Sinner's Prayer:
10. Holy Spirit: "Let the Holy Spirit enter my heart..."
Lastly, here's a version of the Sinner's Prayer from the prominent tract, "Do You Know?" (Evangelism Explosion, 2012):
to deliver me from sin's power and give me eternal life. I now give Jesus Christ control of my life.From this time forward, as He gives me strength, I will seek to trust Him and obey Him in all areas of my life.
Interesting here is the reference to yet another aspect of the Christian life:
11. Power: "Deliver me from sin's power..."
11. Power: "Deliver me from sin's power..."
In any event, the variety of Sinner's Prayers is (to me) of religious and theological interest. I think I might devote some attention, from time to time, to further theological and Biblical aspects of the Sinner's Prayer and its history.
