How is the sinner’s prayer used in scripture? | Joel Osteen (2024)

FAQs

What is the sinner's prayer according to scripture? ›

Sinner's prayer from scripture

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

The answer is no. We are not saved by saying particular words or by praying a particular prayer. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

“The sinner's prayer” is the verbal commitment to God that you're sorry for your sin, you trust that Jesus took the punishment for your sin, and that you want a relationship with Him that never ends.

I know I am a sinner and I believe You died on the cross for my sins. I turn from those sins and put my faith in You right now to be my Lord and Savior, my God and Friend. Thank You for hearing this prayer. I pray this in Jesus' name.

In John 9:31, the Bible says, “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.” Many have latched onto this statement as though it was an absolute truth – i.e., that God will NEVER hear a sinner's prayer.

Proverbs 28:9: “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.” Psalms 66:18: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”

The words of the Sinner's Prayer do not appear anywhere in the Bible, and there is no biblical record of anyone praying this exact prayer. Historians say the simple prayer we know today as the Sinner's Prayer originated no earlier than the Protestant Reformation and more likely in the first part of the 20th century.

Pray this aloud: "Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins and surrender my life. Wash me clean. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day for my Victory, I believe that in my heart and make confession with my mouth, that Jesus is my Savior and Lord.

Advocates of the Sinner's prayer also believe verses such as Romans 10:13 show that people are saved before baptism when they pray and ask to be saved, while evangelical and fundamentalist opponents of the Sinner's prayer believe that a defense of the Sinner's prayer gives opponents of justification by faith alone ...

Who started the Sinner's prayer? ›

The case presented is that the Sinner's Prayer originated in the early twentieth century as a result of efforts to simplify and reproduce methods in evangelism. Billy Graham is given primary credit for popularizing the prayer.

The blind man states in John 9:31 – “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him” (all Scripture ESV).

There is no example of a person getting eternally saved by praying a prayer anywhere in the Bible. The sinner's prayer has no place in what the Bible presents as the requirements for salvation.

A person can search his Bible from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 and never find this prayer or any variation of it mentioned anywhere in Scripture. Why then do so many people believe the sinner's prayer saves? People believe this is a way of salvation because they have put their trust in men and not God.

Real Calvinists Pray for God to Save Sinners

The triune God is the only one who grants faith and repentance. So we plead with God to remove the veil (2 Corinthians 3:18), to remove the scales (Acts 9:18), and to draw sinners to himself (John 6:44).

Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer.

I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life according to Romans 10:9-10. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." I do that now.

Pray this aloud: "Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins and surrender my life. Wash me clean. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day for my Victory, I believe that in my heart and make confession with my mouth, that Jesus is my Savior and Lord.

Romans 10:9, NIV: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Pray this Prayer with us: Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins.