Prayer of Salvation – Our First Real Conversation With God
The “prayer of salvation” is the most important prayer we’ll ever pray. When we’re ready to become a Christian, we’re ready to have our first real conversation with God, and these are its components:
- We acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God; that He came to earth as a man in order to live the sinless life that we cannot live; that He died in our place, so that we would not have to pay the penalty we deserve.
- We confess our past life of sin — living for ourselves and not obeying God.
- We admit we are ready to trust Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
- We ask Jesus to come into our heart, take up residence there, and begin living through us.
Prayer of Salvation – It Begins With Faith in God
When we pray the prayer of salvation, we’re letting God know we believe His Word is true. By the faith He has given us, we choose to believe in Him. The Bible tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
So, when we pray, asking God for the gift of salvation, we’re exercising our free will to acknowledge that we believe in Him. That demonstration of faith pleases God, because we have freely chosen to know Him.
Prayer of Salvation – Confessing Our Sin
When we pray the prayer of salvation, we’re admitting that we’ve sinned. As the Bible says of everyone, save Christ alone: “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
To sin is simply to fall short of the mark, as an arrow that does not quite hit the bull’s-eye. The glory of God that we fall short of is found only in Jesus Christ: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
The prayer of salvation, then, recognizes that Jesus Christ is the only human who ever lived without sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Prayer of Salvation – Professing Faith in Christ as Savior and Lord
With Christ as our standard of perfection, we’re now acknowledging faith in Him as God, agreeing with the Apostle John that: “In the beginning was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
Because God could only accept a perfect, sinless sacrifice, and because He knew that we could not possibly accomplish that, He sent His Son to die for us and pay the eternal price. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
Prayer of Salvation – Say It & Mean It Now!
Do you agree with everything you have read so far? If you do, don’t wait a moment longer to start your new life in Jesus Christ. Remember, this prayer is not a magical formula. You are simply expressing your heart to God. Pray this with us:
Prayer of Salvation – I’ve Prayed It; Now What?
If you’ve prayed this prayer of salvation with true conviction and heart, you are now a follower of Jesus. This is a fact, whether or not you feel any different. Religious systems may have led you to believe that you should feel something – a warm glow, a tingle, or some other mystical experience. The fact is, you may, or you may not. If you have prayed the prayer of salvation and meant it, you are now a follower of Jesus. The Bible tells us that your eternal salvation is secure! “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
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WHAT DO YOU THINK?
– We have all
sinned
and deserve God’s judgment.
God
, the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him.
Jesus
, the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He
died
for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was
buried
, and
rose from the dead
according to the
Bible
. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your
Savior
, declaring, “
Jesus is Lord
,” you will be saved from
judgment
and spend eternity with God in heaven.
What is your response?
Yes, today I am deciding to follow JesusYes, I am already a follower of JesusI still have questions
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Without question, the greatest and most powerful prayer that you can have in your arsenal is the Sinner’s Prayer (sometimes also called the Consecration Prayer or Salvation Prayer).
The Sinner’s Prayer is the type of prayer that you will use to lead someone who is not saved into eternal salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
It is the type of prayer that you will use to get someone saved and born again.
The term “Sinner’s Prayer” comes from those of a more charismatic type background.
The reason they have labeled it the Sinner’s Prayer is because the Bible tells us that we are all dead in our sins and trespasses until we get saved and born again by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior – hence the word “sinner’s” prayer.
This is the type of prayer you will see used when pastors and evangelists like Billy Graham make an altar call at the end of their services, calling all of those up who would like to get saved and born again by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
This is the same type of prayer that you will see TV preachers use when they are trying to get people saved right over their TV sets.
Many people have been saved as a result of sitting on their couches, and then all of sudden the Holy Spirit moves in on them as they are hearing a preacher teach about the basics of salvation through Jesus Christ.
However, one of the things that you will notice when watching all of this take place is that no one really words the Sinner’s Prayer in the exact same way.
Everyone uses a little bit of different wording when saying this prayer out loud – instructing those to repeat after them the exact wording of the prayer in order to get them saved.
This type of prayer is very basic, short, simple, and straight-to-the-point, so there is no real harm if there is some minor variation in how the prayer is actually worded.
For those of you who would really like to be used by the Lord to get others saved and born again, but are afraid that you might get a bit tongue tied at the moment of truth in leading a sinner to the Lord, I thought I would draw this article up just for you.
In this article, I will give you a very nice, simple, basic, straight-to-the-point Sinner’s Prayer that you can use to lead someone to the Lord when they are ready to take this step.
I will also give you the appropriate verses from Scripture to show you exactly why this prayer is worded in the way that it is, and exactly what goes on behind the scenes in the spiritual realm when the Lord makes a move on someone to get them saved.
You may also want to consider having this Sinner’s Prayer typed out on an index card so that you can always have it handy and by your side in the event that the Lord decides He ever wants to personally use you to get someone else saved.
Now here is a good, basic, simple, and straight-to-the-point Sinner’s Prayer that you can use to lead someone into the greatest gift and event of all – eternal salvation with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
Table of contents
The Sinner’s Prayer
Say the following prayer out loud, believe it from your heart, and you will become saved and born again.
Dear Father,
I now believe that Jesus Christ is Your only begotten Son, that He came down to our earth in the flesh and died on the cross to take away all of my sins and the sins of this world. I believe that Jesus Christ then rose from the dead on the third day to give all of us eternal life.
Lord Jesus,
I now confess to You all of the wrong and sinful things that I have ever done in my life. I ask that You please forgive me and wash away all of my sins by the blood that You have personally shed for me on the cross. I am now ready to accept You as my personal Lord and Savior. I now ask that You come into my life and live with me for all of eternity.
Father, Jesus – I now believe that I am truly saved and born again.
Thank You Father.
Thank You Jesus.
So that you can fully understand why this prayer is worded in the way that it is, and exactly what is going on in the spiritual realm when God starts to move in on someone to get them saved – I will give you all of the appropriate verses from the Bible to explain all of this to you in the captions below.
These verses will give you very good insight as to what is really going on behind the scenes in the spiritual realm when the Holy Spirit starts to move in on someone to get them saved.
God the Father Will Draw the Sinner to Jesus Through the Holy Spirit
The very first thing you will need to realize is that you will not be alone when you step out to witness to someone in order to try and get them saved. As you will see in the first 4 verses I will list below, God the Father is the One who will actually be “drawing” the sinner to Jesus. And how does God actually “draw” this sinner to Jesus?
He does it by and through the Holy Spirit.
As you will see in the way these verses are worded, they will specifically tell us that no one can come to Jesus to receive His gift of eternal salvation unless God the Father first starts to draw that person to Him.
And then it says that no one can say that Jesus is Lord unless it is done “by” the Holy Spirit.
When you put these first two verses together side by side like you would two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – the revelation comes through loud and clear.
It is God the Father, operating through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, that will draw the sinner to Jesus in order for them to be able to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
What this now tells you is that you will not be alone when you try and witness to someone.
You will literally have the power of the Holy Spirit Himself operating through you to be able to effectively witness to others.
You will have the anointing of God Almighty Himself on you to be able to do this.
This is why each and every Christian should always keep their spiritual radars up, as you never know when God will move to want to use you to witness to another person.
Here are the first 4 verses, all showing you exactly what is occurring behind the scenes when God starts to move in on someone in an effort to try and get them saved.
- “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
- “… and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)
- “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit FELL UPON all those who heard the word.” (Acts 10:44)
- “The Lord OPENED HER HEART to heed the things spoken by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
The first two verses are telling you that God the Father is drawing the unsaved sinner to His Son Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
The third verse is a very good verse showing you that the Holy Spirit can then “fall upon” those in a room that you may be witnessing to.
The last verse then shows you that once the Holy Spirit falls upon someone as you are delivering the Word – He will then open up this person’s heart so the words you are speaking to this person will enter in.
And once those words enter into this person’s mind, heart, and spirit – then the Holy Spirit can start to move in to illuminate and enlighten this person as to what the real meaning of God’s gift of eternal salvation through His Son and His death on the cross is really all about.
These first four verses are very powerful pieces of revelation being given to us by God the Father as to what is really going on behind the scenes in the spiritual realm when God makes a move on someone in an effort to try and get them saved.
These four verses should give all Christians total confidence and faith in the Lord that His power will by their side if they are willing to step out of their boats to witness to others.
Once God the Father starts to make a move on someone in an effort to try and get them saved through the power of the Holy Spirit, something very interesting will then start to happen – which will now lead us right into the next section.
True Repentance Will Lead to Salvation
Once the Holy Spirit starts to move in on someone in an effort to try and get them to accept Jesus, something very profound will start to happen next.
The Bible tells us that one of the main jobs of the Holy Spirit is to bring “conviction” to the sinner. Bottom line – Jesus Christ came to our earth in the flesh to die on a cross for all of our sins.
What this means is that you cannot begin to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior unless you can see and realize that you are truly a sinner in need of a Savior.
If you cannot see and admit that you are truly a sinner, then you will see no need to accept what Jesus did for you when He died on the cross for you.
This is why the Bible is telling us that God the Father has to work through the Holy Spirit in order to bring a sinner into a true, conversion experience.
It is the job of the Holy Spirit to open up that person’s mind and heart. Once that person’s mind and heart has been properly opened up – then the Holy Spirit can start to work with them to show them that they are truly a sinner, and that there is no saving grace for them in the natural sinful state in which they were born into this world with.
As you will see in some of the Scripture verses I will list below, the Bible is emphatically clear that every single one of us, with no exceptions, has been born into this world in sin and in iniquity.
In other words, we have all been born into this world from our mother’s womb with a sin nature ingrained in us.
The minute we are born into this world, the Bible tells us that we all appear as an “unclean thing” before the eyes of God the Father.
As a result, the Bible says that all men and all women have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of our God.
It says that there is none of us that are truly righteous before the eyes of God the Father – and with what little righteousness we think we may have, this righteousness appears as nothing but as filthy rags before God the Father.
As a result of this sinful state and nature that we have all been born into this world with, it now becomes the job of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us, to illuminate us, and to show us the real truth of the matter.
- The Holy Spirit will now start to convict the sinner. He will show the person what a sinner they have been all of their life.
- He will show and point out certain sins of their past and how these sins and behaviors are totally unacceptable in the eyes of God the Father.
- He will show them how powerless and helpless they really are in their natural state in being able to pull out of some of their sins.
- Once you begin to see what a hopeless and miserable sinner you really are – and that you do not have the mental or emotional capacity within your own being to change yourself for the better – then you will become open to receiving the truth of the Gospel.
- Then you will be open to listening to what happened to Jesus when He came down to our earth in the flesh to die on the cross for all of our sins.
- Once you fully see and fully realize that you have been born into this world as a sinner and that you have been living all of your life as a sinner .
- Then you will be ready to accept God’s free gift of eternal salvation through His Son Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on that cross.
- Then you will see that it is the grace, mercy, love, and goodness of God and Jesus that will save you from yourself and your sinful state.
- You will see that God the Father is now willing to grant you a pardon and make a way of escape for you from the eventual fires of a real, live, living hell if you are willing to believe on His Son Jesus Christ and His death on the cross.
The 8 verses I will list under this section will show you that a true repentance from the heart will be what will lead you to be able to have a true salvation-conversion experience with the Lord.
The first three verses I will list all use the words “repent” or “repentance.“ And all three of these verses are linking the word “repentance” to being saved and converted to the Lord.
The word “repentance” means a turning away from sin and a turning back to God. It means to be willing to have a change of heart, a change of attitude, and a change of mind.
It means that you are now willing to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and once you do this, that you will then be willing to work with the Lord for the rest of your life so that He can then transform you into the express image of Himself.
Now here are 8 very powerful verses all showing us that we have all been born into this world as corrupt sinners – and that having a true, repentant heart will be the key to being able to receive God’s gift of eternal salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.
- “For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation …” (2 Corinthians 7:10)
- “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)
- “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5)
- “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psalms 51:5)
- “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …” (Romans 3:23)
- As it is written: “There is none righteous, no not one …” (Romans 3:10)
- “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind …” (Isaiah 64:6)
- “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us …” (Titus 3:4)
All 8 of these verses are major power verses on being able to understand exactly what needs to be understood before we can really have a true conversion experience with the Lord.
This is why the first three verses are really emphasizing the fact that you must first be willing to repent before God before you can really accept Jesus as your personal Savior.
If you would like a bit more information on this topic, we have another article in our site titled “True Repentance Will Lead to Salvation.”
The last 5 verses are stating, without any other possible interpretation, that we have all been born into this world with an inherent sin nature and we have all thus become fallen sinners in this life.
As a result, none of us appears truly righteous and good before the eyes of God the Father.
Again, God the Father could not make things any more clear on the basics of our salvation through His Son Jesus with the way that He has worded all of the above verses.
Total Forgiveness of All of Our Sins
Once the sinner has been truly enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to what a sinner they really are, and that a true repentant heart on their end will now open up the door for them to be able to receive God’s gift of eternal salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.
Then the last thing that will need to be explained to this person is that once they fully accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior
And then all of their past, present, and future sins will be fully forgiven.
The verses I will list under this section are again major foundational verses. God is once again using some very intense language in some of these verses. He says that once the sinner accepts His gift of eternal salvation, then not only are all of his sins fully forgiven – but these sins are no longer “remembered” in His mind.
They have now been fully removed from Him as far as the east is from the west! In other words, your slate has now been made fully clean in the Lord!
Here are 6 very powerful verses showing that all sinners will now have all of their sins fully forgiven and fully wiped clean from their past, present, and future if they are willing to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
- “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace …” (Ephesians 1:7)
- “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43)
- “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)
- “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah 43:25)
- “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities … For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalms 103:2,11)
- “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Notice in the last verse it says that you have to first “confess” your sins before the Lord before you can receive His forgiveness for those sins.
This is why you have the sinner in “general” confess out all of the wrong and sinful things they have ever done in their lives in the article the Sinner’s Prayer.
You first have to be willing to admit that you are a sinner, and then be willing to confess all of your sins before God can move in to save you and bring you total forgiveness for all of those sins.
Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and have had all of your sins fully forgiven – something very awesome will now happen next, which will now lead us right into the next section.
You Have Now Become a New Creation – All Things Are Now Brand New
These next 10 verses will now be the icing on the entire cake. As a result of accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, not only are all of your sins fully forgiven, not only will you get to go straight to heaven when you die and cross over – but you have now become a brand new creation in the Lord.
As a result of becoming a brand new creation in the Lord, all old things have now passed away and all things have now been made brand new!
In other words, you have now been given a brand new life with a brand new start, along with a brand new heart and a brand new Spirit being put into you by God the Father.
This Spirit that God will now be putting into you will be the Holy Spirit Himself.
As you will see in several of the verses I will list below, each person who gets saved and born again receives the Holy Spirit Himself at the exact moment of their conversion. And then the Bible takes it one step further. It says that we are then “sealed” with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
These next 10 verses are so profound, that I think many Christians miss out on what God is really trying to tell them.
These verses really need to be meditated on and chewed on. I will go ahead and list each one of them, and then point out some of the key revelation that God is trying to transmit to all of us.
- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world …” (Ephesians 2:1)
- “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13)
- And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” (Acts 10:15)
- “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25)
- Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38)
- “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13)
- “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)
- “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit.” (2 Corinthians 1:21)
- “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” (2 Corinthians 5:5)
Put all of these verses together, one right after the other, and you can then see what God is trying to tell you once you become saved and born again. You will now get all of the following benefits and blessings:
- You have now become a brand new creation
- You have now been made fully alive
- All old things have now passed away
- All things have now been made brand new
- You have now been delivered from the powers of darkness
- You have now been translated into the Kingdom of God
- You have now been given a brand new heart of flesh
- You have now received the Holy Spirit Himself
As a result of having the Holy Spirit now literally living on the inside of you – you have now become a brand new creation and you have now been made fully alive!
You also have God’s supernatural power available to you to help transform and sanctify you.
As a result of now having the Holy Spirit residing on the inside of you – you now have His supernatural power to defeat the powers of darkness, whether they be attacking you or anyone else that may be close to you.
This is why the Bible is specifically telling us in the above verse that you have now been delivered from the powers of darkness. Satan and his demons no longer have any ability to continue to have any kind of hold or sway on you because you now have the power of God operating through the Holy Spirit to defeat any demons who may try and come against you.
Another incredible benefit that you will get as a result of having the Holy Spirit now residing on the inside of you is that you will now be given a brand new heart.
In the above verse from Ezekiel, God says that He will take out your heart of stone, which is a hard type of heart, and replace it with a heart of flesh, which is tender type of heart that is now capable of feeling compassion and empathy for other people.
As a result of now making Jesus Lord over your life, this means that you have now been given a brand new life with a brand new start. God will now be placing you into His perfect plan and destiny for your life.
God, through His Holy Spirit, will now be leading and guiding you down the path that He will want you to follow in this life. God will be letting you know exactly what your call, what your purpose, and what your divine destiny is going to be in Him.
Your brand new life will now have real meaning and purpose to it – because you will now be finding out exactly why God created you in the first place and exactly what God wants to do with your life.
As a result of this brand new life that God will now be placing out before you, all old things will now past away.
You can now finally let go of all of your past, along with all of the hurts and heartaches of your past.
No matter what has happened to you in your past, no matter how many sins you may have committed, and no matter how bad and how vile some of those sins may have been – God can fully forgive you of all of your sins.
God can now wipe your slate fully clean. He can also help clean up any loose ends from your past that may be trying to hold you back from being able to propel full steam ahead into the divine destiny that He now has set up for you and your life.
This is why getting a person saved and born again is the greatest thing you can do for another person this side of heaven.
Not only will you get them saved from the fires of a real, live, living hell when they die and cross over – but you will also be giving them a brand new life, with a brand new start, and a brand new direction to follow.
The gift of eternal salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, is without question, the greatest and most life-altering experience any person can have this side of heaven.
And God the Father can use each and everyone of you over the course of your life to lead a certain amount of people to this free gift that He is only too happy and too anxious to give to all of those who are willing to repent and believe on Him for this gift.
Confess With Your Mouth – Believe From Your Heart
All of the above verses will give you some major live ammunition to use when you start to try and witness to others about the basics of salvation through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit will also be there to help you out with all of this.
The Holy Spirit will also anoint your words as you are speaking them out.
And then once those anointed words have been spoken out and they have entered into that person’s mind and spirit – then the Holy Spirit can start to work behind the scenes to help illuminate and enlighten this person’s mind and intellect so they can fully understand what God’s message of eternal salvation is really all about.
The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will wrestle and strive with a man in an effort to try and show them the errors of their ways and the errors of their thinking.
This wrestling match that will occur between the unsaved sinner and the Holy Spirit can last anywhere from a few minutes, to a few days, to a few weeks, to several years, to many years – and in some cases, literally right up to the deathbed of that person.
Many people have actually been saved right on their deathbeds.
However, in other cases, the Holy Spirit will wrestle, strive, and chase after a person for a good portion of their lives, but that person keeps rejecting His strivings over and over again.
The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will not strive with a man forever.
This means that there is a limit to God’s patience.
And once that breaking point has been reached with God the Father – then it is over – and that person is then doomed to spend the rest of all of eternity in the most horrible place imaginable when they die and cross over.
God will win some and God will lose some in His efforts and strategies to try and get as many people saved as He possibly can before they die and cross over.
And it will be the same with you. Some people you will be able to lead to the Lord and others you will not – no matter how hard you witness to them, and no matter how hard you may pray for them.
Man will always have his free will on all of this – and not even God Himself will force anyone to accept the pardon and redemption that He is willing to offer them through the blood and death of His Son Jesus Christ.
However, there will be many that will accept what Jesus has done for them, especially if they are being properly witnessed to by an anointed, Spirit-filled believer who knows how to flow and operate with his leadings from the Holy Spirit.
Once a sinner has seen the light and the real truth of the Gospel, then they are now ready to be led into a true salvation-conversion experience with the Lord. And this is where the above type of Sinners Prayer will now come into play.
Here is the verse from Scripture that will show you how a person will actually get saved.
This particular verse has to be one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture – because in this verse is complete revelation on how a person is able to get saved and born again in the Lord.
Here is the verse, and then I will show you how it lines up with how the above Sinner’s Prayer is worded.
“… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.” (Romans 10:9)
Notice the following:
1. In the above Sinner’s Prayer, you are instructed to say the prayer out loud. If by chance the person cannot verbally speak the prayer out loud for whatever reason – then they can say the Sinner’s Prayer silently in their own mind to themselves. However, if they can verbally speak out loud without any problems or impediments, then the Sinner’s Prayer should really be said out loud.
Notice in the above verse that it says “with the MOUTH confession is made to salvation” and “if you confess with your MOUTH the Lord Jesus.” Both phrases are using the word “mouth.”
Your mouth is what you speak things out with.
This verse is thus telling you that you need to make a public confession out loud with your mouth to God and Jesus when you start saying the Sinner’s Prayer to receive Their gift of eternal salvation.
This is why you always have the pastors, evangelists, and other believers have the unsaved sinner say the Sinner’s Prayer out loud based upon the specific wording of this verse.
2. The second thing I have listed in the above Sinner’s Prayer is that in addition to confessing all of this out loud – that you also have to believe in all of this from your heart.
The wording in the above verse says that you have to “believe in your heart” that God has raised Jesus from the dead.
The Bible tells us that God will give each person a certain measure of faith in order to be able to believe in all of this.
This is why the Bible tells us that a person cannot be brought into a true salvation experience unless the Holy Spirit is moving and working with that person. The Holy Spirit will be the One to give this person enough faith and belief to be able to believe in all of this.
3. In the above Sinner’s Prayer, you first have the person start out by stating that they now believe in who Jesus Christ really is.
This will help set the stage for being able to accept what Jesus’ death on the cross really means for them.
The first part of the Sinner’s Prayer thus starts out with a very basic statement in that the sinner is now believing that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, that Jesus then came down to our earth in the flesh, and that He then went to die on the cross for all of the sins of this world.
This opening statement then ends with the specific wording that the sinner now believes that God has raised Jesus from the dead on the third day from His crucifixion.
The above verse says that you have to believe that God had raised Jesus from the dead. If you do not believe that Jesus literally resurrected from the dead on the third day – then you cannot get saved and brought into God’s kingdom.
The death and resurrection of Jesus go hand in hand, and both doctrines have to be fully believed before you can get saved and born again.
4. After this opening statement has been made, then the unsaved sinner will confess out all of the wrong and sinful things they have ever done in their lives. In the above caption titled “True Repentance Will Lead to Salvation” – a person cannot enter into a true salvation experience with the Lord unless they are willing to admit that they are a sinner – and then be willing to confess those sins out – and then be willing to repent and turn away from those sins.
The person does not have to list out each one of their sins individually at this time unless the Lord is specifically wanting them to do so.
The Lord may deal with them a little bit later on in the privacy of their own thoughts and life – as this may take some additional time depending on how much of a bad past this person may have.
But for the purposes of getting this person saved, born again and crossed over into the arms of the Lord – all they have to be willing to do at this time is to admit that they are a sinner, and then be willing to confess all of their sins in “general” to God and Jesus.
Notice that you have the person make the statement that they are now willing to confess all of their sins to Jesus – and then they ask God to please forgive them from all of their sins by the blood that Jesus has personally shed for them on the cross.
5. After the above confession is made out on their sins, then the person ends the Sinner’s Prayer by stating that they are now ready to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and then they will ask Jesus to come into their lives and live with them for all of eternity.
This sinner’s prayer is short, simple, and straight-to-the-point. If this sinner’s prayer is confessed and said out loud, and believed from the heart before the Lord, then that person will become saved and born again – right there on the spot where they complete this prayer. It can literally be that quick and that simple!
A sinner can get saved anywhere at anytime. It can happen at an altar call at a church, or as you are witnessing to someone in the privacy of your own home or their home.
It can also happen out in a public setting such as a shopping mall, street corner, or in a car, train, or plane.
It can also happen to someone all by themselves as they are watching a TV minister preach over the TV and then he has them recite the Sinner’s Prayer out loud as he gives them the specific words to say.
Many people have been saved right over their TV sets. The Holy Spirit can literally move into a person’s house right off the anointing that a TV minister may have operating through him.
There is no end to the different ways that God will use to try and get someone saved. And in many of these situations, God is wanting to pull that person in through another believer.
The Bible tells us that God the Father wants all of us to become fisherman for Him.
As such, every single Christian should always keep their radars up and be very sensitive to any leadings, promptings, or unctions they may receive from the Holy Spirit to work with an unsaved person.
Conclusion
As I said at the top of this article, leading an unsaved person into the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has to be the greatest and most awesome experience that either you or the unsaved person can have this side of heaven.
For the person that you will lead into eternal salvation – you will give them the greatest gift that anyone can give to them down here in this life – the gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.
The personal reward that you will receive for leading a sinner into God’s gift of eternal salvation is the personal satisfaction that you will have that will last for all of eternity – knowing that God had personally used you to release His knowledge, power, and anointing through to save that sinner from the fires of a real, live, living hell.
When you really step back and look out at the real big picture – the only thing that really matters in this life is that people get saved, born again, and brought home to the Lord when they die and cross over.
All of the money these sinners will make, all of the friends they will make in this life, and all of the things they will accomplish in this life will all be for naught if they do not get saved and born again before they die and cross over.
It simply amazes me that so many people are only living this life for the temporary pleasures and luxuries they can get out of this life while they still can – while all the while thinking they will never really die or have to face God Almighty Himself for any kind of a personal judgment. If there is one thing that we all know for sure – every single one of us is going to physically die and depart from this life sooner or later – with absolutely no exceptions!
As much as science likes to think they have a lot of the answers to everything, and that we do not need a divine God to answer to or live for – not one of them has yet to find or come up with any kind of solution that will give man personal immortality down here on this earth. No one has yet been able to stop the aging process and the eventual physical death of our bodies. And not only can we not stop the aging and death process, but we can’t even control when and how we are going to die.
Yet man still continues to live thinking that he is going to live forever, and that he will never have to face what may be lying on the other side when he does die and cross over.
The big picture is a real bone chilling scenario. Each man and each woman only has one chance, one shot, and one opportunity to see the light and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ before they die and cross over.
They will not be given a second chance to see the light and truth of His Gospel once they die and cross over. If they wait until they die – it will have already been too late! Each man and woman thus walks out this life never knowing when the next day may literally be their last day on this earth.
Knowing this is the kind of big picture that we all have to face in this life, each and every Christian should always keep themselves open to being able to be used by the Lord to try and get other people saved.
So many of these unsaved and hardened sinners are totally clueless as to how close they really are to falling into the fires of a real, live, living hell. And the only thing that may be standing between them and this real, live, living hell may be you and what God can possibly do through you to reach that hardened sinner’s mind and heart with the truth of His Word.
Remember, you have the power of the Holy Spirit Himself operating through you to be able to effectively witness to others. God will set the stages for you. He can lead you as to who you should be witnessing to, when you are to witness to them, how long you will need to stay with each one of them, and exactly what to say and how to handle each one of them.
God is calling each and every Christian at this time to become a powerful and anointed eagle for Him. You only have a certain number of years on this earth to accomplish everything that God would like for you to accomplish for Him. You only have one shot in the eternal scheme of things to be able to be used by God to save a sinner from a fate of eternal torment and agony.
Don’t lose your one and only chance in being able to be used by God for a major rescue and deliverance mission. Lives are hanging in the balance.
You personally may be the difference as to whether or not a certain number of sinners will ever see the love, mercy, and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ before they die and cross over.
Remember – the Word of God is your Sword. Keep this Sinner’s Prayer on the tip of your Sword – and always be ready to move into action should the Holy Spirit ever call upon you to literally save the day for a soul that may be headed straight into the pits of a real, live, living hell.
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What is the sinner’s prayer?
The sinners prayer is a Christian term for a prayer that is said when someone wants to repent of their sin, ask God for forgiveness and state belief in the life, death, and saving resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-10 says that “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.”
Millions have come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ through church services, friends, and family leading them in a salvation prayer. However it is not words in a prayer that save. Jesus Christ alone has the power to save through faith. J.D Greerer explains it well – “It’s not the prayer that saves; it’s the repentance and faith behind the prayer that lays hold of salvation. My concern is that over-emphasizing the prayer has often (though unintentionally) obscured the primary instruments for laying hold of salvation: repentance and faith.”
The four examples below of the sinners prayer can help you communicate with God that you repent of your sin, accept His forgiveness, and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
The Sinner’s Prayer (by Dr. Ray Pritchard)
Lord Jesus, for too long I’ve kept you out of my life. I know that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. No longer will I close the door when I hear you knocking. By faith I gratefully receive your gift of salvation. I am ready to trust you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to earth. I believe you are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead on the third day. Thank you for bearing my sins and giving me the gift of eternal life. I believe your words are true. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and be my Savior. Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer in sincere faith, you may want to put your initials by the prayer along with today’s date as a reminder that you have come to Christ in faith, trusting him as your Lord and Savior.
Sinner’s Prayer From Scripture – (Psalm 51, King David)
“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.
Against You, You only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight,
so that You are proved right when You speak
and justified when You judge.
Surely I have been a sinner from birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me…
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me and I will be whiter than snow…
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
Then will I teach transgressors Your ways,
and sinners will turn back to You.
The Sinners Prayer (by John Barnett)
The following prayer expresses the desire to transfer trust to Christ alone for eternal salvation. If its words speak of your own heart’s desire, praying them can be the link that will connect you to God.
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and there is nothing that I can do to save myself. I confess my complete helplessness to forgive my own sin or to work my way to heaven. At this moment I trust Christ alone as the One who bore my sin when He died on the cross. I believe that He did all that will ever be necessary for me to stand in your holy presence. I thank you that Christ was raised from the dead as a guarantee of my own resurrection. As best as I can, I now transfer my trust to Him. I am grateful that He has promised to receive me despite my many sins and failures. Father, I take you at your word. I thank you that I can face death now that you are my Savior. Thank you for the assurance that you will walk with me through the deep valley. Thank you for hearing this prayer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Are you ready to live a life for Christ and profess your faith? Join our large praying community in the comments below and be encouraged as others celebrate with you!
This article is part of our larger Prayers resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and God knows your heart even if you can’t find the words to pray.
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