When it comes to prayer, the very first words Jesus taught us to use in approaching God is “Our Father.” He is actually asking us to call His Father, Our Father! What welcome we are given as members of the heavenly family! He assures us of our divine relationship with God.

We do not pray to a dumb idol, a mysterious god, or even an unimpressionable Deity. We pray to a paternal Deity. We pray to a Divine Father God who is neither aloof nor distant, but One who is personal and close. He is our Father. Jesus taught us to come to God and see Him as our Father!

When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior, we realize that God, our Father, then adopts us. We can call Him Father because He has adopted us. We have been born again into His heavenly family!

Consider the words of the Apostle John, who wrote, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

When Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father” He is also teaching us that prayer is for the children of God. Satan can not pray to God, because he is not a child of God. There can be no prayer for a person who rejects becoming a child of God.

I am a father of four children, and I can tell you that it is only those four children that my heart and mind has a lasting concern about. There is 16 years between my eldest and my youngest, and I can honestly say that not a day passes that their well-being doesn’t cross my thoughts.

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become children of God. Through faith, we become born again into the family of God. We become adopted by God.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this spiritual adoption in this way: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:14-15).

I happen to be an adopted child, who grew-up with four other adopted children in a family whose adopted father was an adoptee, and one of my four children is my adopted child.

When Scripture says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) I understand that it means that our Father in heaven is assuming responsibility for us and bequeathing every right of His upon us!

If you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, then you haven’t been adopted by God, and your prayers are no more than solicitation attempts, telemarketing calls, or random calls to someone you do not know.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, then you have been adopted by God, and your prayers are received by your Father in heaven. He desires a relationship with you as a Father with a child.

Why not pause now and confess your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and know without a doubt that you are a son or daughter of God?

John 1:12 says “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God” and John 6:47 you have the assurance of Jesus Himself saying “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”