Just say this little prayer

How many times have you heard a preacher say at the end of a sermon to "Just say this little prayer, and invite Jesus into your heart"? You know the one, the so called sinner's prayer. Confess you're a sinner and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Boom! Welcome to the Christian family! You were just saved and on your way to Heaven! Or were you? Now before I go any farther, I have no doubt many who have said that prayer were indeed saved. But I also have no doubt that many who said it left with a false sense of eternal security and will/have bust/ed hell wide open. Why would I say that? Let's discuss...
   
First of all, Jesus doesn't need our acceptance. It's actually just the opposite, we need His. Jesus is Lord over all. He will judge every man that has ever lived, whether they believed in Him or not. Also, we don't need to invite Jesus into our hearts, we need Him to change our hearts. To confess we are sinners is a good start, but by definition the word confess means to acknowledge or admit. So by confessing, we admit what God already knows. Confession is good, but if not followed by repentance, then it's of no consequence. A personal example would be like me confessing that I am a procrastinator. I admit it! Guilty as charged, just ask my wife. I wish I wasn't, but I don't lose a lot of sleep over it. So you see, even though I confess, I'm not terribly concerned with changing my way about it. Words mean nothing if a change in the way you act, talk, the people you hang out with, the places you go, the shows you watch, the way you live,etc. remain the same. In other words, if there is no change, you're most likely a false convert.

Secondly, this prayer is found nowhere in the Bible. Jesus taught of Godly repentance. John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” So we must come to Jesus in repentance and faith. We truly have to be born again. Jesus said we will be known by our fruits. How many so called Christians are producing wormy fruit? I'm to my shame guilty of this myself. That's why I strive everyday to be closer to my Lord and Savior. There is nothing good in me, I must lean on Christ daily. Even then the old man is ever present. I just wonder how many people have went to an alter, whispered that little prayer, got up thinking their eternal security was locked in never to come back to church again? My heart shutters at the thought of them or anyone for that matter hearing these words 

Matthew 7:21-23 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Paul say in Romans 10 "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 does not contradict repentance. In fact, if you truly believe, your heart will be grieved to repentance just knowing what Christ suffered for you. To truly believe is to be changed. One simply can not continue to live in sin if the Holy Spirit dwells within him.