The Sinner’s Prayer What kind of prayer is the sinner’s prayer? Do you need to pray it? If so, where are examples of sinners’ prayers—prayers of repentance—found in the Bible?
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s I was growing up, I would occasionally watch a popular televangelist give a sermon and conclude his message by inviting people to come to the front of the auditorium to commit their lives to Christ. Although my family members were already Christians, I respected the man for urging people to repent of their sins. What intrigued me about the preacher was the concluding part of his service in which he asked the people who had come forward to repeat after him a version of what he called “the sinner’s prayer.” This brief prayer—usually four or five short sentences— would include admission of one’s sins and the commitment to accept Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior. Through this process, the televangelist claimed to have brought thousands of people to Christ. Not being familiar with the “sinner’s prayer,” I investigated, seeking to follow the biblical instruction to “prove all things” and “hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, King James Version). What I found sheds a different light on the subject! Here are some of the questions to consider.
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Do people need to repent of their sins?
Obviously, “Yes!” This is part of the gospel. When Jesus began preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15, emphasis added throughout).
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Another time Jesus was told about people who had lost their lives in terrible tragedies. Then Jesus said, “Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4-5). Furthermore, after His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). The truth is, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This, of course, wasn’t a new revelation when Paul wrote these words. Even people in Old Testament times realized that there was no one who “does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chronicles 6:36; Ecclesiastes 7:20). So it is clear that we will all need to go before God in prayer to express our sorrow, to repent (commit to changing), and to seek His forgiveness.
Do people need to recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior?
Again, yes! Paul wrote: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). In the first century, acknowledgement of Jesus as the Son of God was a controversial and critical step for people to take if they wished to become Christians.
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