The Sinner’s Prayer

There are many variations of the sinner’s prayer:

“Lord Jesus, I am a poor, lost sinner. I believe You died for me and rose again to save me. I turn from my sins and trust You alone for salvation. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and make me Yours forever. Amen.” —D.L. Moody

“Lord, I am a sinner, unworthy of Your grace, but I come to You just as I am. I trust in Your blood shed for me and Your righteousness. Save me, Lord Jesus, and grant me a new heart to love and follow You. Amen.” –Charles Spurgeon

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen. –Billy Graham

“Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again. I turn from my sins and receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Thank You for Your gift of salvation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” –David Jeremiah

Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. –Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ)

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen. –Greg Laurie Salvation Prayer

All these sinner’s prayers have five things in common:

  1. Repentance: The sinner must acknowledge their sin and express remorse for it, demonstrating a sincere change of heart and a willingness to turn away from sin and follow God.
  2. Faith in Jesus Christ: The sinner must express faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord, acknowledging that he died on the cross for their sins and rose again to give them eternal life.
  3. Confession of sin: The sinner must confess their sins to God, acknowledging their sin and seeking God’s mercy and grace.
  4. Surrender to God: The sinner must surrender their life to God, asking for His guidance and direction and demonstrating a willingness to submit to God’s will and follow His ways.
  5. Sincerity and humility: The sinner’s prayer must be offered with sincerity and humility, reflecting a genuine desire to seek God’s forgiveness and to live a life that is pleasing to Him.

If you have a sincere heart and desire to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Please pray something like this:

Heavenly Father, I come before You knowing that I am a sinner. I confess that I have broken Your laws and strayed from Your ways. I am truly sorry for my sins, and I repent—turning away from all I know to be wrong and asking You to change my heart.

I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son, that He died on the cross to take the punishment for my sins, and that He rose again, conquering death and granting me eternal life. Placing my faith in Him alone, I trust You for my salvation and accept the gift of Your grace.

Right now, I surrender my life to You—my thoughts, my desires, and my will. Shape me into the person You want me to be. Guide me in Your truth, lead me by Your Spirit, and help me live a life that brings honor and glory to Your Name.

I offer this prayer in sincerity and humility, genuinely longing for Your mercy and determined to follow wherever You lead. Thank You for hearing me, forgiving me, and welcoming me into Your family. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Digging deeper

God accepts the sinner’s prayer when it is based on several key biblical principles, including:

  1. Repentance: The sinner’s prayer involves acknowledging one’s sin and expressing remorse for it, which is a crucial aspect of repentance. Repentance is an important step in the process of salvation, as it demonstrates a sincere change of heart and a willingness to turn away from sin and follow God.
    • Acts 3:19 – “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
    • 2 Corinthians 7:10 – “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
    • Matthew 4:17 – “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.'”
  2. Faith in Jesus Christ: The sinner’s prayer expresses faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord, and acknowledges that he died on the cross for our sins and rose again to give us eternal life. This faith is the cornerstone of salvation, as it is through faith in Jesus Christ that one can be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life.
    • John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
    • Romans 10:9-10 – “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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
    • Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
    • Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
    • 1 Peter 1:8-9 – “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
  3. Confession of sin: The sinner’s prayer involves confessing one’s sins to God, which is an important aspect of obtaining forgiveness. Confession is a way of acknowledging one’s sin and seeking God’s mercy and grace.
    • 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
    • Proverbs 28:13 – “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
    • James 5:16 – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
    • Isaiah 59:2 – “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
    • Psalm 32:5 – “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
  4. Surrender to God: The sinner’s prayer involves surrendering one’s life to God and asking for His guidance and direction. This demonstrates a willingness to submit to God’s will and follow His ways.
    • Romans 12:1-2 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
    • Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
    • James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
    • Colossians 3:23-24 – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
    • Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
  5. Sincerity and Humility: Here are some of the precious promises of God to hear the cry of those who are humble and sincere because salvation is about giving up trying to earn God’s favor and submitting to His finished work.
    • Isaiah 57:15 – “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.”
    • Isaiah 66:2 – “Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.”
    • Psalm 51:17 – “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
    • Micah 6:8 = “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Next steps

4 Replies to “The Sinner’s Prayer”

  1. Russel Tod Brooks I love God.. I love Jesus Christ my personal relationship is very important for my life and my loved ones.. excited is the best way to explain our relationship..

  2. Your lie about just saying the sinners prayer.

    There is NO verse in God’s inspired word that has that prayer or that tells someone to say that prayer to be saved.

    Although of course you left out all the verses about the required to Obey the Gospel of Christ and putting Him on thru your baptism (Gal 3:27) or about Jesus Himself telling us in Mark 16:16 about being saved thru our baptism.

    • Thank you for sharing your concerns with sincerity and a commitment to the truth of Scripture. It’s clear you hold a deep reverence for the teachings of the Bible, and your emphasis on obedience to the Gospel of Christ is commendable. Let’s address the points you’ve raised with clarity and love, rooted in the truths of Scripture.

      Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge that the concept of the “sinner’s prayer” as a specific formula for salvation is not directly found in Scripture. The Bible doesn’t provide a specific prayer as the means to salvation but emphasizes faith in Jesus Christ—His death, burial, and resurrection—as the cornerstone of our salvation (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). Salvation is indeed a moment of faith, where an individual acknowledges their sin, believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and trusts in His finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. This moment of faith, accepting the grace of God, is what Scripture points to as the means of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9).

      Your mention of baptism and obedience to the Gospel is deeply rooted in the teachings of the New Testament. Galatians 3:27 and Mark 16:16 highlight the importance of baptism as an act of obedience and a public declaration of one’s faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism symbolizes our identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, signifying the washing away of our sins and our new life in Him. It is a step of obedience following salvation, reflecting an outward expression of the inward change that has occurred through faith in Christ.

      It’s crucial, however, to distinguish between the event of salvation and the journey of sanctification. Salvation, as the act of coming to faith in Christ and receiving His grace, is distinct from the process of sanctification. Sanctification is the lifelong journey of being conformed to the image of Christ, marked by obedience, growth in holiness, and the transformation of our lives by the work of the Holy Spirit. While baptism is an integral part of this journey, symbolizing our commitment to live as followers of Christ, it is the faith in the heart that secures our salvation.

      In engaging with these topics, let us do so with grace, understanding, and a commitment to unity within the body of Christ. Our discussions should aim to build up and encourage, recognizing that our shared faith in Jesus Christ binds us together, even as we explore the depths of Scripture and seek to live obediently according to its teachings.

      May our dialogue reflect a mutual desire to grow in the knowledge and love of God, encouraging each other to live lives that glorify Him, rooted in the grace of salvation through faith and the ongoing journey of sanctification. Let us always return to the core of the Gospel—the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ—as the foundation of our faith and the source of our unity.

  3. I have always believed in God and God’s one and only son Jesus Christ I love him so much juesus has always been in my life I reject the devil and trun to Jesus and to god. God is my one and only Farther I love god more then my parents I love god more then my wife and my own children and the same to jesus I would and will never trun my back on God I would and will never trun my back on Jesus Christ I would never trun my back on the Holy spirit for I love the Holy spirit too my name is Mark Anthony Fiddes

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