Yea I think those few may mean well they just may be a little lazy about how they present it. But I believe there are some cals who just do not like it at all because of their view of regeneration vs. salvation =election paradigm
I agree with you that some Calvinists don't like it on those grounds, but I also know professing Calvinists who promote the use of a sinner's prayer.
I am not a Calvinist or Arminian, as I see both having the same erroneous bottom line, just packaged differently.
My objection to a sinner's prayer comes from scripture and my own experience. First, scripture declares that God does not listen to sinners.
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. - Isaiah 59:1-2
This was the reference when Jesus healed the blind man and was reviled by the officials. The man replied:
We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. - John 9:31
The Lord is far from the wicked,
But He hears the prayer of the righteous. - Proverbs 15:29
He who turns away his ear from listening to the law,
Even his prayer is an abomination. - Proverbs 28:9
If God does not hear sinners, how can a sinner say a prayer that God will hear? It's simply a false teaching, and a cancerous plague within the church.
It is taught that Romans 10:13, et al, is advocating a sinner's prayer. However, I have not met any of these advocates who are willing to keep reading to verse 20:
And Isaiah is very bold and says,
“I was found by those who did not seek Me,
I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.” - Romans 10:20
If Romans 10:13 teaches that we must ask for Him, why does He say 7 verses later that He was made manifest to those who did NOT ask for Him?
Then, there is my own experience of being suckered into this self-righteous attempt to bring myself into good standing with God. For 20 years I was hindered, not ever hearing the gospel. But I could say that prayer. Yeah, I completely abhor that prayer, as it was nothing more or less than an act of self-righteousness that gave me a false hope for a short time
I'm not saying that everyone who has said this meaningless prayer is condemned, not saying that at all. I believe there are plenty of people who thought they accessed God's grace through this act of self-righteousness, then later had a shift of faith, from this prayer to Christ Himself.
It's no different than someone thinking they access grace through baptism, then later have a shift to faith in Christ. Are there people in the Church of Christ, or Roman Catholic Church, who are under the impression that they accessed grace through a self-righteous work, only to later have this shift in faith? Probably plenty of them. Who knows but God alone?
But just because they can later have a shift of faith, that does not mean they will. Why set them on the wrong road and then hope their faith will shift to Christ Himself?
This prayer is a manifestation of pride in those who are anxious to see some outward sign that someone believed their message.
Not content leaving the results to God, they feel the need to prod the potential convert into some sort of outward act, as if that validates what God is doing inside.
How many farmers plant a seed and then expect to see something pop out of the ground instantly?
God alone makes the seed grow.
