Proper Prayer

One of the most interesting things that I have noticed among Theologians recently is the abandonment of "The Sinner's Prayer." Now, I know why they do this. They firmly believe that there is no "magic password" to Heaven. I agree. But let us not throw out the baby with the bath here. We need to make sure we don't condemn the concept of praying such a prayer completely.

One argument they will throw up is the fact that Jesus never gave us such a prayer. But if we were to apply this criteria to other parts of Theology we would have to throw out everything from the Trinity to Grace. That's a lot of stuff. Jesus Himself never used the words Trinity or grace. But these are still both very important parts of our Theology and should remain so.

Not only that, but those who claim there is no sinner's prayer in the Bible do so a bit quickly. Jesus actually did give us something very similar to this. In fact, this is the prayer our modern one was modeled after.

"But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, 'God be merciful to me, a sinner!'" LUKE 18:13

Here we find the original sinner's prayer. What is the important part? Is it the words? Maybe it only counts if we say them in the original language, or if we stand where this man did? No. It is neither the words nor style. What mattered here and what matters now is the condition of the person's heart. This tax collector was broken before God. He knew he was not good enough for God. He knew God had the full right to punish him. He admitted this and cried out for mercy. That is the key. It isn't what words we use. It isn't going to help to recite the sinner's prayer a hundred times if you don't mean it. But it also won't help to throw out this prayer just because some people abuse it.

So what do we do? We preach the word. Day in day out; when necessary, use words to do so. Our lives should be an example to others so that we can preach in all situations. We need to show people it is not the words, but the heart and our acknowledgement of our sin and God's holiness that can save us. We have to let God convict people. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict people. (John 16:8) We are called to be faithful. (I Cor. 4:2) That is all. We are not called to convict people. We are called to be faithful in our lives. This means both in earthly things and in spiritual things. Sometimes that will include correction and admonishment, but only at the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

In the end, we cannot determine the thoughts of a person's heart when they pray this prayer. All we can do is be faithful in what God called us to do. May we do so as humble servants.