Chapter Three (3) of the Worry Less Pray More Book,
When I was assigned to the New Jersey State Police Financial Crimes Unit, I had to investigate a theft of almost a half million dollars. Thankfully, I found out who stole it and how. That led me to my next step, which was to meet with a Superior Court Judge in his private chambers in order to obtain an arrest warrant.
However, I didn’t just walk into the judge’s chambers, put my feet on his desk, and say, “What’s up, Judge?” It doesn’t work that way in the real world, and to be honest it doesn’t work that way with prayer either. As you can imagine, I had to be granted permission to see that particular judge. I also had to go through tight security checks before I gained access to his personal chambers.
The first step toward answered prayer is sort of like that. That’s why we need to learn how to provide our prayer with the proper connection, if not our prayers will be hindered. The word connect means to join together in such a way that it provides access and communication.
So what allows us access and communication to the Lord like that? In other words what could be the most powerful way to approach God in prayer?
Here’s a clue . . .
“Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2-3 NKJV)
As you can see the most powerful way to approach God is from the position of a child, and again unanswered prayer can often be traced right back to this key.
Remember my friend who was confused about my praying about my golf swing? I said to him, “If one of your daughters asked you to teach her how to throw a softball, would you do it?”
“Of course,” he said. “Sure I would.”
And I said, “God’s my Father, and I simply asked Him to teach me how to hit a golf ball.”
So why do we think it’s any different with our Heavenly Father? Should we expect any less with the Lord? No, we shouldn’t. However, sometimes we don’t understand the difference between knowing the Lord as just a God, and knowing Him as a Father.
Here’s how God feels about it:
“Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11 NKJV)
God is a Father, who absolutely loves to being involved in our everyday lives, who loves taking care of us. I wish I knew that growing up, but I didn’t. Actually, I didn’t discover that truth until I was thirty-years old.
Why? Because I first had to overcome yet another huge hindrance to prayer and chances are you will to. What is it? The thought that says, “Aren’t we all children of God?”
As I said before, I used to be a Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Detective, and a great approach for any crime scene detective is to ask questions like, “Why is that door open? Why is that window screen on the floor?”
Let’s approach this question sort of the same way, and look at it from the perspective of a crime scene detective. Look at the following passage from the Bible, and let’s ask why this one word adopt is found there:
“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)
Why is there a need to adopt anyone if we’re already automatically children of God? Would you need to adopt a baby you just gave birth to in a hospital?
The Bible talks about adoption for a reason, and it starts with just two primary types of people we have on the earth; God’s child and God’s creation. We all start out as one of God’s creations, but not everyone is a child of God.
Adam and Eve sinned against God, creating a huge problem which separated them from the Lord. This not only caused sin to enter into the world for the first time, but allowed Adam and Eve to be able to pass on a sinful nature to all of us.
After they adopted a sinful nature they began to have children. Then their children started having children, passing that same sinful nature right on down to each one of us.
We’ve inherited a sinful nature that likes to sin rather than not.
That’s the reason the Bible says this:
“... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ...” (Romans 3:23 New International Version)
According to God’s law, there is only one true way to pay for our sin, death. You see, for us to be truly forgiven, a death must occur, and that death must be sinless:
“For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23 NIV)
I used to think the required payment for sin was more like church attendance or good things that I’ve done. Things that I thought might outweigh all the bad things I’ve done.
So how did I overcome that notion and go on to develop a powerful prayer life? Simply by understanding what the Bible clearly says, instead of what I thought. That death is the only payment accepted for our sin. Now, let’s discover something really awesome by going back to our question, “Why was the word adopt placed in the Bible?”
It’s because God came up with a better plan and offers adoption to correct this problem of sin. Our sin, if not correctly paid for, will not only cost us a prayer life here on earth, but a prayer life in heaven. In other words, we won’t even see the kingdom of heaven.
However, God sent His Son Jesus to be born of a virgin. Why is that so important? Remember, Adam and Eve passed on a sinful nature to each one of us. Well, Jesus was born of a virgin so He wouldn’t inherit that same sinful nature we did. It’s pretty cool when you really think about it. Basically, the sinful nature that was passed down all the way from Adam was interrupted by the virgin birth, making it possible for Jesus to be born sinless.
Yet, that was just the beginning. Jesus started out as a baby and the enemy of our souls was not happy. Satan prompted King Herod to order the murder of innocent children right after the birth of Jesus in an effort to crush out our only chance of forgiveness. Thankfully, an angel advised Jesus’s parents to move Him out of the area and sent them to another land that provided protection.
Jesus grew up and the time came for Him to go and face temptation like Adam did. Adam failed, of course. Jesus went into a desert for forty days without food while Satan threw everything he had at Jesus Christ in an all out effort to get Him to sin. Satan tried to kill Jesus when He was a baby, then later tried to tempt Him to sin, and then reversed his entire attack in the end by trying to get Jesus to give up on us altogether by not going to the cross.
Of course, He won those battles and remained sinless! Now, we have a first, a person who was sinless like Adam, and tempted like Adam. However, Jesus, unlike Adam, made it through temptation, through those battles. Jesus is truly the first sinless person to ever walk this earth, qualifying Him to be able to die for our sin. However, that wasn’t so easy either.
Guess what happened just before Jesus went to die on the cross? The enemy of your soul showed up again and made one last effort. Jesus was praying and asked His Father if there was another way, another way for you and I to be forgiven.
We know the Father must have said there was no other way because Jesus finished praying by saying, “Not My will, but Yours be done.” Then He went on to be beaten and then crucified. Jesus battled Satan every step of the way, from His birth to His death, all for you and me.
Now, if everyone were automatically a child of God, there would be no need to adopt anyone. There would be no need for forgiveness, and there would be no need to send Jesus through a virgin birth, through forty days of temptation, and finally through a beating and then a death upon a cross.
Yet, there is a need. It’s because the law requires death for our sins. Think of it this way; a little boy goes into a candy store and steals some candy. He gets caught by the store owner and the law allows the store owner to lawfully whip that child. No one can stop it or hold the store owner accountable because it’s the law of the land.
However, as the store owner is preparing to whip this little boy, the boy’s father walks up. The little boy is crying, scared, and looks over at his dad and says, “I’m sorry dad.” The father then looks at the store owner and says, “I know my son has stolen from you. I know you are allowed to whip him for it.” As he is talking to the owner, he takes off his shirt, kneels down, and turns his back to the owner. He then says, “Sir, would you please whip me instead?”
Nobody forces the dad; he does it all on his own out of sheer love. The dad satisfies the requirement of the law by allowing his body to be beaten instead of his son’s. That’s what Jesus has done for you and me. Nobody forced Him, but He came to earth, went through one battle after the other, and laid down His body. He allowed it to be beaten out of sheer love. He satisfied the requirement of a death needed to pay for your sin.
He was mocked, spit on, punched, and whipped, not because He was overpowered or forced, but because of love.
Therefore, adoption is the only option and it’s the legal process that God uses to bring you and me into a right relationship with Him, which is a Father-daughter or a Father-son relationship. Jesus, because of all He faced and all He has done and the legal way He did it, paved the way to make things right between us and God.
“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)
I love that verse because it tells of how God made a decision a long time ago to adopt you and me. To adopt us where? Into His very own family. Yes, right into His own home, and how did He manage to do it? He did it by bringing you and me to Himself, through the means of Jesus Christ. The verse ends by saying, and it gave God great pleasure!
You see, when, and only when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your sins become paid in full, and you become properly connected to God as His very own child. Now, you have access to a heavenly Father anytime you want, because Jesus paved the way for you!
This whole process provides your prayer with the proper connection and provides you with eternal life! However, only if you take advantage of it.
You need to ask to be forgiven as an act of your own free will, and that’s important. God will not force anyone to become His child and become forgiven. For it to be a legal move, you have to decide.
Imagine if you desire someone to be your friend. Suppose it was someone you would love to hang out with the rest of your days, and all you had to do was press a button to get it done. So you do just that; you press a little button, and all of a sudden this person is now your friend for life. You hang out, you get along, and everything is fantastic everyday, all day!
However, one day you realize that the only reason this person is your friend is because you pressed that button. They didn’t choose to be your friend. No, you forced the issue by pressing a button. It’s more like they were a robot with no choice involved.
God wants to be chosen. He’d rather have you make the choice on your own than have Him make it for you. If He forced you, then you’d be like a robot. That’s the reason the Bible describes a party in heaven every time someone accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior.
“In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (Luke 15:10 NLT)
Why? It’s because it was your choice. Now, if you understand that, then you’re starting to understand that it really is your choice. If you’re ready to make that choice of knowing God as your Father, then here’s a prayer that’ll help you. Just understand, that it’s not so much the prayer, as it is the decision of your heart.
“Dear Lord, thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for sending Your Son Jesus to die in my place. Thank you for giving me the chance to know You as a Father. Today, I officially ask to be forgiven for my sins, and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Lord, please take my life and change it by teaching me how to enjoy You as a Father, in Jesus name, Amen.”
If you’ve said that prayer, awesome! You now truly believe Jesus died for your sins. You’re now truly adopted into the family of God and you’re forgiven! Yes, you’re now properly connected to God as a Father! And now, you’re ready to build a prayer life that packs a punch!