The Sinner's Prayer

What it is

The sinner's prayer, or prayer of salvation, is viewed by many non-Catholic Christians as the moment one accepts Christ. Billy Graham's version reads:

Dear God, I know I'm a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is your Son. I believe that he died for my sin and that you raised him to life. I want to trust him as my Savior and follow him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Is it in the Bible?

No specific sinner's prayer appears in Scripture. The closest parallel is Romans 10:9-10: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Psalm 51, David's plea for mercy, is another. But reciting such a prayer does not guarantee salvation. Salvation is God's gift first received in baptism (John 3:3-5; Acts 22:16) and lived out in obedience to Christ (see Matthew 10:32). Paul did not teach eternal security (Romans 2:6-8; 11:22).

God hears every contrite heart; he knocks and waits (see Matthew 7:7-8). True conversion requires more than words: a change of heart.

What the Church teaches

Seeking forgiveness and following Christ is good, made possible by grace. But one prayer does not make one "once saved, always saved." A sincere prayer should lead to baptism, as Christ commanded and the apostles did at Pentecost (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:37-42), to confession for sins after baptism (John 20:21-23), and to the Eucharist (Luke 22:19-20; see John 6:51-58; 1 Corinthians 10:14-22). The Christian life includes the sacraments, prayer, study of Scripture, service and evangelization, and fellowship.

Repentance

The Catechism calls repentance a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return to God with all our heart, turning from evil, with resolve to change and trust in God's grace (CCC 1431). It is metanoia, a change of mind, expressed outwardly in confession, fasting, prayer and almsgiving (CCC 1434). It is daily: we must take up our cross and follow Christ (Matthew 16:24-26).

Salvation

Salvation is God's free gift, received at baptism, which cleanses original sin, marks the soul and makes us God's children (CCC 1262-1264), and maintained through confession, the Eucharist and daily life in Christ. Faith is lived in love and obedience (Galatians 5:6; James 2:17). All need salvation, having inherited original sin (Romans 5:12), except Mary, preserved from it. God sent his Son to redeem us (John 3:16-17); there is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12), the one mediator (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

Psalm 51 and the Act of Contrition

Psalm 51 ("Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love") is a model of contrition, often given as a penance. The Act of Contrition may be prayed anytime:

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins because of your just punishments, but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.

Children may pray a sinner's prayer if they understand it, though it does not save instantly and irrevocably. An act of contrition for children:

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy. Amen.

A lifelong journey

Salvation is a lifelong process of conversion (Matthew 24:13). We do not earn it, but we must work it out with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). The sinner's prayer can open the door; it is not an unlosable guarantee.