Contributor:
Chad Roberts
Most people will face situations where they need prayer. If you pay attention to social media, you will constantly see people requesting friends to pray for them. But does just anyone have the right to pray? Can anyone bring their needs before the Lord and place their burdens at His throne and expect to receive His help?
The Biblical answer may surprise you. If you read the Bible carefully and study its truths, you will discover that not everyone can pray.
His Own did not Receive Him
You would have thought Israel was ready for her Redeemer. King David, the Prophet Isaiah and many others had foretold that God was going to send a deliverer and keep His covenant with His people. When Jesus was born, the world was a dangerous and volatile place. Rome ruled the world and it also occupied the Holy Land.
To make matters worse, there was not a prophet in Israel speaking from the Lord. God had been silent for over 400 years. That seems like a long time to us, but to the Lord it is not. The Bible reminds us, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8.
John describes the kind of reception Jesus received when he records Nathanael’s first response to Christ in John 1:45, “…Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Clearly the Jews rejected Jesus. Luke records Peter’s piercing sermon in Acts 2:27 when he told the leaders of Jerusalem, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” Aaing Peter says in Acts 4:11, “ This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” But One commentator said it well, “How many wonderful truths of Scripture swing from this small hinge?” There is a great transition that takes place in this verse. It is the difference between the world of the Old Testament and the world of the New Testament.
What was once a covenant reserved for only the Jewish people will now be good news for all people’s for all time! What was once a nation is now going to be the Kingdom of God! How fitting that the author of Hebrews describes this new Kingdom like this, “ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” Hebrews 12:28.
To all who did Receive Him
The word “Receive” is quite interesting. One commentary suggests this word does not imply an intellectual agreement with some facts, but instead has to do with “welcoming and submitting” God into our lives as a relationship.
Have you received God into your life in a welcoming and submissive way? If you are someone who is willing to walk away from sin and embrace Christ fully, submitting your life to His complete will, then I believe you have “received” Christ in a Biblical way.
Who Believed on His Name
There is a big spiritual problem we have in our Western culture. It is the problem that so many believe in God. The problem with only believing is that believing is not enough! According to James 2:19, “ Even the demons believe—and shudder!” So belief is not enough! There must be a belief that leads to repentance, a belief that leads to life change. This is a called, A Saving Faith.
Do you recall what Jesus said to Thomas in John 20:29? Thomas refuses to get caught up in the hype of his fellow disciples as they are celebrating that Christ has rose from the dead. History has dubbed him, “Doubting Thomas” because he refused to believe what he could not see. Then Jesus appears through the wall and calls him out and here is what Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed;blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Do you realize that we are part of that group Jesus calls “Blessed” because we believe on His Name? But is your belief similar to that of a religious experience or is it based on the life changing power of the Gospel? Have you truly “believed” (saving faith) on His Name?
He Gave the Right
Now this is one of the most exciting truths in the Bible. John uses a very deliberate and intentional word when he writes that we have been given the, “Right” to be children of God. The Greek word John uses is, Exousia. This may not seem like a very exciting word in our English language, but listen to the meaning this beautiful word and see if you do not greatly appreciate its meaning in your own life.
Exousia is a legal, judicial word. It means to have legal rights. The kind of legal rights that will win you an argument in a court of law. This word has eternal ramifications for us. Paul teaches in Colossians 2:13-15, “By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
What “record of debt” and “legal demands” did Satan have over us? The Law demands that sinners be judged. The Law is the record of debt. Paul says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”
The word, “Redemption” literally means to “Buy back.” Because Christ redeemed us, we now literally, legally and eternally belong to Him. Think how amazing it is when Satan or even sin tries to tell you that you do not belong to God. You can now remind yourself that because of Christ’s atoning work on the cross, because He redeemed you, because of His great love for you, you now have the legal, judicial right to be a Child of God!
To Become the Children of God
There is a great misconception that all people are the children of God. The Bible does not teach this. As a matter of fact, it directly opposes it. This is why the teaching of being “Born Again” matters. Apart from being born again, you will not see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).
Have you ever wondered why Christianity is spoken of in terms of a family? We refer to God as our Father. We refer to Christ as God’s Son. We even refer to one another as brothers and sisters. Do you know why? Because Christianity is not an organization you join. Christianity is not a religion you claim. Christianity is a family you must be born into.
I love that at the beginning of the Gospels, the Apostle John explains how we, “Become the Children of God.” But when writing toward the end of his life, he teaches in 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
Our hope as believers is not that we will one day reach the status as God’s children, but rather, that we are now, at the present moment, children of God. What a tremendous statement!
Why do we Pray so Little?
See Child of God, this is why you can come now, at this moment, and approach your Father in prayer! He has given you the power, the right, the privilege, the access to approach Him. No wonder the author of Hebrews says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:16.
Can you now understand what an incredible privilege it is to pray? If it is a right we have been given, then why do we do it so little? Why is it the last place we go rather than the first place we turn?
Not everyone has access to God to find His help in time of need. The Bible teaches that it is for those who have been given the right (Exousia), the legal ability, to be called Children of God. Have you called on the Name of the Lord for salvation? Have you looked to Him for saving faith? If not, dump your religion and ask Jesus to redeem you and to give you the right to be a child of God.
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