February 15, 1999 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - I received the following letter from a reader friend who visited a church that we had listed on our directory. He correctly identified the church as one that practices "easy prayerism," and I am glad that he wrote to inform us of this matter. We call it "EASY PRAYERISM" not because true salvation is necessarily hard (though Jesus Christ said it is strait and narrow—Matt. 7:14) but because they make salvation into a mere prayer, and it is not a mere prayer. The Bible salvation that Paul preached is repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). It is not repentance only; it is not faith only; it is repentance and faith; or it is a repentant faith. Bible salvation is a divine miracle whereby the individual is regenerated and made into a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; John 3:3). In true Bible salvation, "old things are passed away behold all things are become new," but in easy prayerism a massive percentage of the ones who pray, demonstrate no change whatsoever. They are not new creatures and old things do not pass away. This methodology could also be called "QUICK PRAYERISM," because those who practice it are quick to push people into praying a sinner’s prayer even if there is no evidence of repentance and Holy Spirit conviction, quick to count them saved though there is no evidence thereof, quick to give them assurance of their salvation even though the Bible never promises eternal life to those who are not regenerated, and quick to get them baptized even if there is no fruit meet for repentance (Luke 3:7-8; Acts 26:20). This manmade methodology of evangelism could also be called "MANIPULATION PRAYERISM," as it teaches methods whereby people are manipulating into praying a prayer and then proclaimed "saved" regardless of whether or not there is any evidence of repentance and regeneration.

Now to the letter about the church that practices easy prayerism:

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Dear Brother,

You have listed -------- Baptist Church in ---------, California. I went there this last Sunday for the two services. They have what appears to me to be a severe problem of extreme easy prayerism. In the services, they mentioned how the teenagers had 40 saved in soul winning on Wednesday, one guy had 11 saved, and so forth. The pastor mentioned that this year they had met last year’s mark of 2,600 saved already. Yet they had maybe 100 people in the morning service not including all these kids bussed in and about 30 adults in the evening service. This, with 2,600 "saved" this year alone! They have only one tract, which does not give a complete gospel presentation and is geared to producing a prayer. In the evening service he also spoke about how there are all these people who are going around slandering Jack Hyles. They appear to have a zeal for the lost which is very commendable, and they appear to have good Biblical standards, but this unscriptural gospel presentation is a very bad thing. I thought you should know that, and I think it is worth putting on the list next to their name, since this is at least as important as believing TULIP rather than Biblical non-Calvinism.

Grace be with you,

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For more about this subject see the following articles under the Evangelism section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life web site http://www.wayoflife.org/

"Easy Prayerism or Bible Evangelism"

"Unscriptural Methods of Evangelism"

"Pentecost vs. Hylescost"

"Does Salvation Make a Difference?"