The Legitimate Argument Against Quick Prayerism

Romans 10:13-17, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Proverbs 14:25, “A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.”

I found this video online. This is a very common practice in Baptist churches, leading people to pray a “123, follow me” type of prayer to be saved. At 17:30 minutes into the video, the teacher leads the children to pray a sinner's prayer to be saved...

I do believe some of these people get saved, but this is not the Bible way to lead people to the Lord. The Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” In the Gospel of John we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times, without any mention of the word “repent” or “prayer” to be saved. Jesus said in John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Jesus never told anyone to pray to be saved. 

I love something that Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) said: “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” I hear many preachers citing Romans 10:13 as a reference to justify praying to be saved. But let's read the following verses too! Romans 10:13-15, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Notice that calling upon the Lord is the natural result of believing to be saved. We are saved by believing, and then we call because we believe. 

That is what Romans 10:9-10 means, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Again, I have heard many preachers cite this Scripture passage in an attempt to teach that a person must publicly confess Christ to be saved. The Church of Christ is a big culprit in this area, requiring confession to be saved. 

We know this is NOT true, because the Bible says “many” of the chief rulers “believed” on Jesus in John 12:42-43, but they DID NOT CONFESS HIM. They didn't confess Him because they were afraid of persecution by the unbelieving Pharisees. The Bible says in John 12:43 that they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God, which is a sin. This passage disproves the heresy of Lordship Salvation. Clearly, they were not mature enough yet as believers to follow the Lord. They were saved, but ashamed to be associated with Him.

The preceding video is not really bad. It is all doctrinally accurate. I am thankful that the young man is zealous to preach the Gospel and lead children to Jesus Christ. Kids need to hear the truth of the Gospel. However, leading people to “pray” to be saved is not the way to be saved, it is the result of being saved. In fairness to the speaker, he does make it clear to the children that we are saved by “believing the Gospel.” Albeit, he doesn't tell them that prayer does NOT save them. 

Perhaps you think I am splitting hairs, being picky. You need to know that I was saved at age 13, but for the next 7 years I lived in worry, fear and misery wondering if I was really saved, because of the faulty type of quick prayerism. Now, I do believe in quick believism to be saved. I am not a Calvinist at all. In fact, I vehemently hate all 5 points of Calvinism. There is no such thing as a Christian 5 point Calvinist. Charles Spurgeon was a mild Calvinist. Spurgeon believed in the heresy of Limited Atonement (i.e., the false teaching that Jesus only died for the saints). Bless God, Jesus died for the aint's too! I love Pastor Spurgeon, but he was not as great a theologian as he was an intelligent man and orator. Still, I love the man as a Baptist preacher, including his flaws, as we all have.

I am not saying that none of those children got saved in the preceding video, but prayer is not necessary to be saved. Believing in all that is required. A believing heart may desire to walk a church isle, pray a prayer, or invite Jesus into one's life, but these are NOT necessary to be saved. In my humble opinion, and from my own painful experience for 7 years, adding a prayer to the Gospel is a risky thing to do. I do believe that many people misunderstand the Gospel because of this unbiblical practice, causing them to miss salvation.

Again, to clarify, I do believe in instantaneous salvation, simply by faith alone in the GOOD NEWS of Jesus crucified, buried and risen from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). I disagree with those who say that you cannot merely claim to be saved and that's it. Dr. Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University since 2014) teaches this junk theology. You can be saved immediately, and that's it! Eternal life is a free gift from God, paid for in full by Jesus' precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). Since Jesus paid it all, there is NO COST to anyone for salvation. I am sick and tired of hearing Steve Pettit and Dr. John MacArthur say that salvation costs us. There is no cost, because Jesus paid it all.

I do not like the term “quick prayerism,” because it implies that you cannot be saved quickly. Some people use disparaging terms; such as, “cheap grace” and “greasy grace” and “easy believism.” Grace is not “cheap” dear reader, it is completely FREE! It cost God His only begotten Son, and it cost Jesus' His earthly life; but it is FREE to you and me. Simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He is bodily risen from the dead, and you are saved. It is a gift. Salvation is free, easy and simple.

Albeit, I have to agree to an extent with the criticism against leading someone to pray a “123, follow me” type of prayer to be saved. That is not what the Bible teaches. Only by taking obscure passages of Scripture out of context can you come up with such a teaching. The Apostle Paul didn't ask the Corinthians if they had prayed. 1st Corinthians 2:2, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”