What's wrong with the sinner's prayer?

I first heard of the so-called “sinner’s prayer” when I was just a kid. Someone said I needed to ask Jesus into my heart, and so I did. I meant every word, and it stuck. However, countless amounts of people through the years have been told the same thing…but it doesn’t seem to always…stick.

You know what I mean.

The prayer formula goes something like this: “Dear Lord, I confess that I am a sinner. I ask forgiveness for all of my sins. I ask that Jesus would come into my heart and take those sins away. Fill me with your Holy Spirit…Amen.”

There are many varieties, but that is the gist of it.

The problem with the prayer is that it is not always from the heart. Since it is often repeated or said in a group, the person repeating it doesn’t have to mean it. They may be feeling no different than the way Jack felt when he acquired a handful of magic beans.

But there is a bigger problem still. People who have prayed this prayer have often been told that they are eternally saved—that they need not fear because “once saved always saved,” and “anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Now while I believe these sentiments, I do not like how they are applied to the magic prayer. Why? Because I know too many people holding onto this prayer as if it is a kind of “get-out-of-jail-free” card. They feel that since they prayed the prayer, they no longer have to worry. The problem is, their lives remain unaffected. The Spirit of God has not entered in. Nothing has changed. There is no fruit which would reveal a transformed heart.

There’s nothing wrong with helping people pray to Jesus and even giving them the words to say. But if you are in a position of spiritual power, please think twice before you sell magic beans with the promise to take people into heaven…the Kingdom of God is so much more than that!

Another post on prayer...