While discussing lessons he’s learned from 50 years of open-air preaching, evangelist Ray Comfort admitted he’s not a fan of the so-called “sinner’s prayer.” Comfort, founder of Living Waters Publications, spoke to CBN News about ministry insights he’s passing along to the next generation of Christians.
Comfort, a New Zealand native who’s lived in Southern California since 1989, co-founded The Way of the Master with actor Kirk Cameron in 2002. At age 75, the evangelist still shares the gospel at a local college twice daily—and at Huntington Beach on Saturdays.
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But when CBN’s Billy Hallowell asked Comfort how often people profess faith as the result of his efforts, the evangelist deflected credit. “I can’t save anybody,” said Comfort. “It’s God that saves. All I do is plant the seed, others water, but God causes the increase. So salvation is of the Lord, and I’ve understood that for many years.”
Ray Comfort Is ‘Not a Big Believer in the Sinner’s Prayer’
Admitting that his take would “cause problems,” Ray Comfort explained, “I am not a big believer in the sinner’s prayer. In fact, it’s unbiblical. It’s not in Scripture.” Referencing 2 Samuel 12, the evangelist noted, “Nathan didn’t say to David, ‘Repeat this prayer after me.’ No, he left it to David’s conviction to get before the Lord and say, ‘O, have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness.’”
Comfort used the analogy of a husband who committed adultery but then is willing to say sorry to his wife. “I don’t need to go to the door, knock…say, ‘Your husband’s here to apologize,’” and then lead the husband in a responsive prayer, said Comfort.
That wife will “slam the door, because she doesn’t want some reparative prayer,” he added. “She wants sorrow to spill from the heart, and that’s what I aim at with people I witness to.”
With people who are “ready to repent,” Comfort asks if they’re sorry for their sins. If they answer yes, he prays “that God would open their heart [and] they’d understand the cross and find a place of genuine repentance and this day be born again.”
Gospel-Sharing Advice from Ray Comfort
Ray Comfort also said he isn’t a fan of the word evangelism because it scares people off. The term “has got as much excitement for the average Christian as the words ‘root canal,’” he said. “It’s just something we don’t want.”
But sharing the gospel is more important than ever, according to Comfort. Millions of people die every year, he said, so Christians must pray for courage to speak up—just as the disciples did in the book of Acts. “They weren’t wimps,” Comfort noted, “and that’s because they were filled with the Holy Spirit, who gave them courage and wisdom. And they knew what to say because God helped them.”
Christians must “ignore our fears” of proclaiming Jesus, Comfort said. “You’d never stand there and let a 4-year-old drown because you don’t want to get your feet wet or because it’s cold water,” he said. “No, if you see a child drowning, you would jump in and, even if it was icy water, you’d forget your flesh and just pull them out. And that’s what evangelism is.”
