Sinner’s prayer

A Christian prayer in which a person confesses sin and asks God for forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ. It is commonly associated with conversion and evangelical outreach.

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Conversion to Christianity: A person’s adoption of Christian belief and identity, whether gradual or marked by a decisive change. The prayer is often presented as an expression or beginning of conversion.
Baptismal regeneration: The doctrine that baptism is a means through which God grants or conveys new life. It locates initiation into Christian life in baptism rather than a conversion prayer alone.
Billy Graham: An American evangelical preacher whose large revival meetings and broadcasts reached millions during the twentieth century. His evangelistic campaigns popularized invitations to make a personal decision for Christ.
Evangelism: The communication of the Christian gospel with the aim of inviting belief or commitment. The prayer is commonly offered as a response within evangelistic appeals.
Lordship salvation: A view that saving faith includes submission to Christ’s lordship and therefore produces a changed life. Its advocates challenge treating a one-time prayer as sufficient evidence of salvation.
Salvation in Christianity: Deliverance from sin and its consequences through God’s action, understood differently across Christian traditions. The prayer explicitly asks for the salvation it names.
Infant baptism: The practice of baptizing infants, often understood as entry into the church or a sign of covenant grace. It contrasts with approaches that center a person’s conscious prayer of conversion.
Finneyite revivalism: A revivalist approach associated with Charles Grandison Finney that used planned methods to prompt religious conversion. Its techniques helped shape the public invitation practices later associated with conversion prayers.
Evangelicalism: A diverse Protestant movement emphasizing conversion, the Bible, the cross, and active proclamation of the gospel. The prayer is especially widespread in evangelical settings that stress personal conversion.
Perseverance of the saints: The doctrine that those truly saved by God will continue in faith to the end. It frames debate over whether a past prayer guarantees salvation without continuing faith.