04.15. The Sinners Prayer
Can you also try and imagine this scene where Jesus is leading some new "disciples" in the "sinner’s prayer"?
"Wow! There are so many that came forward for salvation tonight!" (The multitude applauds.) "Now, it is very simple. You just repeat this little prayer after Me, and then you’re a Christian! Now it doesn’t really matter whether you fully understand the prayer . . . it works just the same. Now ready? Repeat after Me... ’Dear Jesus... Come into my heart...’"and so on ... As you can see, when we try to picture Jesus Himself using our modern methods of evangelism, it seems completely foolish. I think this is a very good test for any method. "Could I see Jesus doing this?" or "Could I see Jesus preaching or teaching this?" Since the Bible tells us, "Walk in the manner that He walked" (1 John 2:6), we should always try to compare our actions and message to the Master’s.
It is obvious that there is no "set" sinner’s prayer. There are many variations, with different lengths, different wordings, different endings, etc., but the contents are usually the same. The prayer usually includes phrases like, "Dear Jesus," "Come into my heart," "I admit I have sinned" (at least the better ones contain this last statement - there are some who do not even like to mention sin in their "sinner’s prayer"), "Fill me with Your Spirit," "In Jesus’ name. Amen." Extremely harmless . . . nothing wrong with a prayer like that, right? Wrong! It isn’t the wording that’s important, it’s the state of heart of the one saying it.
I believe that a true "sinner’s prayer" will gush out of anyone who is truly seeking God and is tired of being enslaved to sin. (Matthew 5:6) The very act of "leading someone in a prayer" is utterly ridiculous. You will find nothing even remotely like it in the Bible, or among the writings and biographies of those in Church history. It completely savors of crowd and peer pressure tactics, and (please forgive me) brainwashing techniques. I do not believe that Jesus wants to have His disciples "repeat after Me," I believe He wants them to follow after Him!(Matthew 4:19; Matthew 8:22; Matthew 9:9; Matthew 16:24; Matthew 19:21; Luke 9:59; John 12:26; John 21:19; John 21:22 : 1 Peter 2:21; Revelation 14:4)