The Magic Prayer

My husband shared with me yesterday that years ago, he had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a stranger who seemed genuinely interested, but when the point came to actually pray a prayer of repentance and surrender, an urgent need pulled the stranger away. My husband's witnessing teammates lamented that the stranger was so close to accepting Christ and yet was pulled away at the last minute before he could pray the sinner's prayer (as it is often called). Chris was taken aback by their poor theology. 

Want to know a secret? The Sinner's Prayer is not in the Bible.

Not possible, you say. How did people become Christians if they didn't pray the Sinner's Prayer? Throughout the chapter of Acts, the author, Luke, records that people believed and were added to the number of those being saved. Does belief require a prayer?

I have always been pressured to proselytize weekly, if not daily, based on the Great Commission passages, where Jesus basically says, "Go everywhere and be my witnesses." A few people have created programs intended to ease the intimidating task of telling people they are sinners going to Hell who need to repent and surrender. They always end with the Sinner's Prayer, whereby the heathen admits to God his need for him and requests, oh so politely, that the Jesus come into his heart.

I call it, "The Magic Prayer."

In fact, there's nothing magical about the Sinner's Prayer. Saying the prayer won't secure your place in Heaven. If you said the magic prayer and your life didn't change, I attest that you didn't believe at that time. My modern-day paraphrase of Matthew 7:22 reads like this: "Jesus said, 'Many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, didn't we faithfully attend our church outreach program; didn't we go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night; didn't we give a lot of money to the church and other charitable organizations; didn't we organize the men's breakfast and women's potlucks; didn't we go on mission trips to other countries; didn't we preach in your name?" And I will say to them, "Depart from me, I never knew you."'"

The Magic Prayer has blinded many church-goers of their true state of despair apart from Jesus. When you come to a true point of understanding the wretchedness of your unrighteousness, true repentance, and absolute surrender to obey Jesus in actions, words, and reactions on a daily basis, you often need no prayer. The Spirit changes your heart. "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new."

Examine your fruit. The fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal. 5:22 never mentions giving a lot of money or attending a church service or filling out a form or doing a Bible study workbook or eating with people you deem a lower class than yourself or helping the needy, although those things may occur as a result of salvation. The fruit of the Spirit deals with your attitude and motivation: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

If you examine your fruit with an honest heart and still have trouble identifying your true heart motivation, look specifically at your reactions. People often have the volition to affect their actions--I can choose to behave in an appropriate way to avoid consequences, to earn social standing, or for recognition, or a variety of other reasons. It's much more difficult to reign in our reactions--the first thought we have toward a person or situation that confronts us in an urgent or demanding way. Check your reactions against the fruit of the Spirit. If love, joy, and peace rarely make their home in your heart, consider heavily whether the Spirit resides there at all.

The road to Hell is paved with the Magic Prayer. Don't be deceived on your way.