Lies (Part I) The Sinner’s Prayer🏆

Posted on by jackie

Could the “Sinner’s Prayer” be one of the many lies Satan tells us?

YES!!! I believe it is.

I’ve never been able to buy in to the idea that if you repeat a prayer you automatically have your golden ticket into heaven.  Does that sound like the Creator of the universe?  A Holy God? All you have to do is repeat after me and…”Ta-Da!  You WIN!”

I don’t think so…

Now, you can say that’s because I grew up Catholic…and you may have a point.  It probably does play a significant role in how I base my understanding but allow me to dig a little deeper…because while I may not believe that just saying the prayer gets you to heaven, I do believe it’s easy.  Let me tell you why.

There was a time, as a young person growing up, when I was really questioning things.  I didn’t fully understand my religion and all I ever got from anyone I asked was… “You just have to have faith. You just have to trust that the church is right and believe what you’re taught and accept it by faith.”  That’s what they called faith, believing in what the church teaches.

I asked priests, I asked my family, I asked other Catholic friends; they all had the same answers.  “That’s just ‘our faith’, that’s what we believe.”  So I’d question, “Faith in what?”  I was always told the same thing…”Our faith is in what the Catholic Church teaches…It’s just a matter of faith…You just have to put your ‘faith’ in the Catholic Church and believe that what they say, do and teach is the truth.”

I’d say, “but why do we believe all of this?  Why do we…

  • believe that angels and saints can hear my prayers?
  • believe that praying the rosary will earn me points to get to heaven?
  • believe that Mary was born without sin?
  • believe that I can pray for my dead father and earn him points to get out of Purgatory?
  • and speaking of Purgatory…why do we believe that even though Jesus died for my sins, I’ll still have to suffer in the fires of purgatory before I can be purged of my sins and cleansed enough to enter heaven?  WHY???

And I was always told, “We believe this because this is what the church teaches and the pope is the vicar of Christ and we trust in him.”

I now believe that’s part of why I left the Catholic Church in the first place.  You can’t find these “beliefs” anywhere in the Bible but I kept trying to “get it”, kept trying to have enough faith to just believe…but believe what?  I still didn’t understand…Believe that a man in Rome has a direct line to God and he’s the only one who knows the truth and can tell everyone else what’s what?

I don’t think so…

I was never given a Bible verse or encouraged to read the Bible to find the truth…not even by the priests!  As a matter of fact, I was often told much of the Bible was just stories; metaphors that gave guidance but didn’t really happen.  Like the parables Jesus used to teach his followers.  They’d say things like, “Who’s supposed to believe Jonah was really in the belly of a whale?  Or that Noah built a huge ark and all the animals and his family were his passengers?  These are just nice stories, right?”

WRONG!

I’m so frustrated right now as I type this I can hardly stand it!!!  But get this…Since I’ve been reading the Bible I’ve learned that Jesus Himself actually referenced Jonah…here’s what He said:

40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40 (NKJV)

I have decided to put my faith in what the Bible teaches.  I wholeheartedly believe in the Bible…ALL of it!  And I wholeheartedly disagree that “faith” can be found in a church, or a priest, or a pope.  I don’t believe it can be passed down by your family roots or by any means other than what the Bible says… I believe, as the name of my blog states:

Romans 10:17

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.  

So, now that we’ve established that…let’s move on.

The devil is a liar…he’s the father of all lies.  He’s perfectly happy when so called “Christians” repeat a prayer, walk an aisle or go to confession to a priest.  He’s rolling on the floor laughing his you know what off.  Why? Because those are the lies he tells.

  • lies to make you think you’re doing just fine.
  • lies to make you think you’re on the right track.
  • lies that don’t require you to learn anything about Jesus and what He did for you
  • lies that don’t demand repentance for your sin and a heartfelt desire to change the way you think about your sin.

Lies that tell you you’re ok when you’re not!

9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And [a]desperately wicked;
Who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)

The enemy knows it.

But take heart dear reader…Jesus came to deliver us from the evil one.  Satan has already been defeated; Jesus is not a victim…He’s VICTOR! The word of God is true and in it we will find true life.  He came to set us free from our sinful nature.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light and He will give you strength.

All that is required of you is to believe…like the Bible tells us in John 6:28-29:

28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

This is the kind of belief I can sink my teeth into…belief in the word of God.  This is how we eat of His flesh…We digest His word.  Jesus is the word of God!  My faith has grown exponentially since I began listening to and reading the Bible for myself.  And my spirit groans for those who do not yet know this truth.

This is the “Good News”; this is the Gospel.

Friends, we know the end of the story…Jesus wins!  And because He wins, you can rest assured that if you’ve put your trust in Him and Him alone you are on the winning team!

  • You will overcome the enemy.
  • You will be victorious.
  • You can have eternal life
  • and the Bible even says you can know that you do.  THAT is the gift of salvation.

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, [a]and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 1 John 5:13

May the peace of God that passes all understanding be yours tonight.

18 thoughts on “Lies (Part I) The Sinner’s Prayer🏆”

  1. Sister, wow! This is such a powerful message. Thanks.

    Love this: “The devil is a liar…he’s the father of all lies. He’s perfectly happy when so called “Christians” repeat a prayer, walk an aisle or go to confession to a priest. He’s rolling on the floor laughing his you know what off. Why? Because those are the lies he tells.”

    The truth is in the word of God. Amen!

    Be blessed. God is in a good mood.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for the encouragement…I’ve been feeling like writing more lately. God has put a lot on my heart and I want to get it out. I don’t think I’ll ever catch up to you though! A couple of times a week is about my limit. I was up way too late last night getting that one out. I’m too tired tonight.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Wow! Thanks for this link…I’ve been reading and reading. What a blessing. And thank you for such a encouraging comment Michael…I am honored to share what He has been putting on my heart. I believe as I do He will see to it that it gets to those who need to hear it and will confirm to me to keep sharing.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Thank you for reading and commenting, Jackie! There’s growing ecumenism out there so to write anything critical of Roman Catholicism is “politically incorrect.” But we can make an eternal impact, even if it’s for only one soul!

        Liked by 2 people

  4. Hey Jackie, I love your passion! You have a heart that is pure and lovely and a desire to go deeper. However, I don’t believe that the “sinners prayer” itself is the lie, but what comes after it. Here’s the Word on my point.
    Romans 10:8-10 NKJV
    But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): [9] 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. [10] For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
    This is the basis, I believe, of the sinners prayer and so in and off itself it is biblically sound, but where it gets twisted is when it’s left at just that. When there’s no repentance and no transformation; when there’s no change in the way that you live your life, then where are you? Dan Mohler puts it this way. He believes that the sinners prayer is a good contact of faith, but there’s got to be more, it needs to go deeper.
    So yes, just saying a prayer isn’t the Golden ticket into Heaven, but meaning what you say when you pray and letting it change you is.
    Besides all that, I believe that Jesus didn’t die just to get us to Heaven, but to bring Heaven into us. Me wanting to get to Heaven someday is selfish. Getting Heaven into me and sharing that with others and getting them on board and getting Heaven into them is what I want for my life and for theirs. Then God gets all the glory.

    Think about it.
    KEEP THE LIGHT ON!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh absolutely I agree with this statement: So yes, just saying a prayer isn’t the Golden ticket into Heaven, but meaning what you say when you pray and letting it change you is.
      I guess I wasn’t clear in my post. Thank you for addressing that. If a person is truly sincere when they say that prayer it will be followed by change. And change doesn’t always happen instantly which is why we need fellowship with like-minded believers. I’ve heard it said, the church is like a hospital for sinners. The believers who have already accepted Christ and are born again are there to serve (as Christ did) those who are still lost and searching for Jesus. We all need each other. Thank you for your kind response!

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  7. Reblogged this on Jon's Place and commented:
    I think jackie1227 hit the nail on the head with this one. Being raised hard core catholic and having had a Knights of Columbus father I was indoctrinated into the dogma and ritual at an early age, coupled with going to a Catholic school and pretty much forced to be an alter boy, well, lets say it had a profound effect on my childhood and teenagerdom. Thanks for this insight Jackie.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. How in the world did I never see this comment until now? I was just scrolling through “comments” in the sidebar/manage section. I’ve never been here before but saw it and thought I’d take a look b/c there was an old comment I was looking for. Suddenly, I came across this…which has been “pending” since August.??? Thank you Jon for reading, replying and reblogging! My goodness…I don’t know how I could have missed this not to mention all those things put together! I’m glad you liked it…I think there were some very good and wise comments along with it too. Being a fairly new creation in Christ I can sometimes come across a little overzealous. 😉

      Like

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