What is the Saint and Sinner Prayer?

In the long and quiet history of Christian devotion, some of the most helpful prayers are the simplest. They are the ones that steady our hearts and remind us of who God is and who we are before Him.

One such prayer, which builds carefully on a foundation laid centuries ago, is this one. We might call it the Saint and Sinner Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me, a sinner
justified by grace through faith.

You may notice a tension in those last two lines. How can one be a "sinner" who needs mercy and, at the same time, be "justified"? The answer to that question reveals the very heart of the Christian faith. To understand the comfort this prayer offers, let's first look at its ancient and hallowed beginnings.

The Ancient Foundation: The Jesus Prayer

The first two lines of this prayer are not new. They form the revered Jesus Prayer, a devotion that has been a cornerstone of Christian spirituality since the earliest days of the Church. It is a prayer woven directly from the words of Scripture.

• It carries the humble spirit of the tax collector in Jesus's parable (Luke 18:13), who stood at a distance, beat his breast, and pleaded, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." This gives the prayer its posture—one of honest humility, knowing our deep need for God.
• It echoes the desperate cry of blind Bartimaeus on the roadside (Mark 10:47), who called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" This gives the prayer its focus—a direct, personal appeal to the only one who can help.
• It professes the great confession of faith, like that of the Apostle Peter (Matthew 16:16), acknowledging Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God."

For centuries, especially in the quiet of monasteries, Christians have repeated this simple prayer to draw near to God. It is a prayer of complete reliance. It teaches us to see Jesus as Lord, to see ourselves honestly as sinners, and to know that our only hope is in His bottomless mercy. This is the right and proper place for every Christian prayer to begin.

The Added Line: The Comfort of the Gospel

The Saint and Sinner Prayer cherishes this ancient foundation. It keeps the humble posture and the heartfelt plea for mercy. But it then adds a final, crucial line that brings the full comfort of the Gospel to bear on our hearts: "...justified by grace through faith."

This line does not erase the line before it. Instead, it speaks a word of profound assurance. It answers the quiet, anxious question that can linger in a sinner's heart: "In spite of my failings, what is my true standing before God?"

Let's gently unpack the weight of that final phrase.

• "Justified"
  This is a word of divine declaration. To be justified does not mean we have been made perfect in our behavior. It means that God, the loving and righteous Judge, has declared us to be righteous in His sight. He looks upon us, and for the sake of His Son, Jesus, He pronounces us forgiven and accepted. Our status before Him has been changed forever, based not on what we have done, but on what Christ has done for us.
• "by Grace"
  This explains how such a wonderful verdict is possible. It is a gift of grace—God's pure, unearned favor. We did nothing to merit it. We could never earn it. It is given freely from the heart of a loving Father. Remembering that our justification is "by grace" keeps us humble, for we know we bring nothing to our salvation except the sin that made it necessary.
• "through Faith"
  This is how we receive this gift. Faith is not our contribution; it is the open and empty hand that receives what God is so freely offering. It is simply trusting in God's promise that in Christ, we are forgiven. It is looking away from ourselves and our own efforts and looking only to Christ.

The Christian's Comfort: Simultaneously Saint and Sinner

And here we find the deep pastoral value of this prayer. It helps us hold two foundational truths together, truths that must always be kept in balance for a healthy spiritual life:

1. In ourselves, we remain sinners. In our daily walk, we stumble. We fall short of the glory of God. We are in genuine, moment-by-moment need of His mercy and forgiveness. The prayer acknowledges this honestly and without excuse.
2. In Christ, we are saints. At the very same time, God has declared us holy in His sight. Our identity is no longer defined by our sin, but by our Savior. Before the throne of God, we stand clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus. We are His beloved children.

This is the beautiful paradox of the Christian life. Martin Luther described it as being simul justus et peccator—simultaneously righteous and a sinner.

This prayer gives us the words to express that reality. It keeps us from two common spiritual dangers: despair, by forgetting the victory Christ has won for us, and pride, by forgetting our daily need for grace. The prayer's humble plea for mercy keeps us returning to the foot of the cross, where we belong.

In a few short lines, this prayer allows us to bring our whole selves before God—our failures and our faith, our sin and our salvation. It is a prayer of honest confession that leads directly to joyful confidence, resting entirely on the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ.