The Sinners Prayer

The Sinners Prayer

My Lord, my God have mercy on me a sinner,
I believe that your Son Jesus Christ came
down from heaven to die for my sins,
I believe that He rose from the dead and has forgiven me for all my past sins,
Jesus I invite You to live my heart,
And teach me to live a new life.
Thank you Lord, for saving me and forgiving me! Amen!"

1 John 5:12, 13 says: “He who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

What Is the Sinners Prayer?

 The sinner’s prayer is a prayer a person prays to God when they understand that they are a sinner and in need of a Savior. Saying a sinner’s prayer will not accomplish anything on its own. A sinner’s prayer is only effective if it genuinely represents what a person knows, understands, and believes about their sinfulness and need for salvation.

The first aspect of a sinner’s prayer is understanding that we are all sinners. Romans 3:10 proclaims, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” The Bible makes it clear that we have all sinned. We are all sinners in need of mercy and forgiveness from God (Titus 3:5-7). Because of our sin, we deserve eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46). The sinner’s prayer is a plea for grace instead of judgment. It is a request for mercy instead of wrath.

The second aspect of a sinner’s prayer is knowing what God has done to remedy our lost and sinful condition. God took on flesh and became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14). Jesus taught us the truth about God and lived a perfectly righteous and sinless life (John 8:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus then died on the cross in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve (Romans 5:8). Jesus rose from the dead to prove His victory over sin, death, and hell (1 Corinthians chapter 15). Because of all of this, we can have our sins forgiven and be promised an eternal home in Heaven – if we will just place our faith in Jesus Christ. All we have to do is believe that He died in our place and rose from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) then begin to follow Him. We can be saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Ephesians 2:8 declares, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

There are no “magical” words that result in salvation. Saying the sinner’s prayer is simply a way of declaring to God that you are relying on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.