The Prerequisite of a Productive Prayer Life

The Bible teaches that only God’s children can experience a productive prayer life.

Thus the only prerequisite for a productive prayer life is that of being a child of God.

The sinner becomes a child of God the moment they are declared justified by the Father through faith in His one and only Son Jesus Christ.

Therefore, only those sinners who have been declared justified by the Father through faith in His one and only Son have the privilege of being called children of God.

Though there is one instance in the Bible in which God hears and answers the prayer of a non-believer, namely Cornelius in Acts 10 (who became a believer), God only hears and answers the prayer requests of His children.

God is the Father of all believers who are sons of God through regeneration (Jn. 1:12-13; Rm. 8:15; Gal. 3:26-28; 4:6; Eph. 2:18).

Regeneration takes place at the moment of justification when a person expresses faith alone in Christ alone (Jn. 3:16-17, 36; Acts 16:31; Gal. 3:26-28).

Those who are sons of God through regeneration are considered by God to be His children as a result of honoring His Son by accepting the Son as Savior.

The Father deals with believers as a father in the natural realm would deal with his children (1 Th. 2:11; Heb. 12:4-13).

Unlike the Greek philosophers of the ancient world and of modern 21st century society, the New Testament considers only those who have accepted Christ as Savior as children of God.

Unbelievers are considered children of the devil and are designated “sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2; 5:6; Col. 3:6; cf. Jn. 8:44).

It is true that as Creator, God is Father of all but in terms of relationship and fellowship, He is the Father of only believers who have been born into the royal family of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 12:7, 9).

One cannot claim to have or know experientially the Father without the Son (1 Jn. 2:22-23; 2 Jn. 9; cf. Jn. 8).

Therefore, a sinner becomes a child of God as a result of being declared justified through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

One of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith is that of the doctrine of justification.

By way of definition, justification is a judicial act of God whereby He declares a person to be righteous as a result of crediting or imputing to that person His righteousness the moment they exercised faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

Consequently, God accepts that person and enters that person into a relationship with Himself since they now possess His righteousness.

The mechanics of justification are as follows: (1) God condemns the sinner, which qualifies them to receive His grace. (2) The sinner believes in Jesus Christ as His Savior. (3) God imputes or credits Christ’s righteousness to the believer. (4) God declares that person as righteous as a result of acknowledging His Son’s righteousness in that person.

The Scriptures teach that the only way that a member of the human race can ever be declared righteous by God is through receiving the gift of divine righteousness by grace through faith alone in Christ alone (cf. Rom. 5:1-2).

Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. (NASB95)

Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (NASB95)

1 John 3:1 I solemnly charge each one of you to carefully consider what kind of love the Father has exercised toward each of us, namely each one of us have been effectually called to be God’s children. Indeed, every one of us are existing in this state. For this reason, the world never at any time recognizes any of us: because it never recognized Him. (My translation)

The apostle John solemnly issues the recipients of First John a command which required that each one carefully consider what kind of love the Father has exercised towards himself and the recipients of this epistle.

He then identifies for them what they should carefully consider, namely they should carefully consider that each of them have been effectually called to be God’s children.

John then emphatically affirms this to be the case.

He is in other words, reassuring the recipients of this epistle in emphatic terms that they are in fact children of God.

In 1 John 3:1, the apostle John teaches that God’s love was the reason why He effectually called them to be His children.

This love is an attribute of each member of the Trinity and was exercised by the Trinity towards John and the recipients of this epistle as well as all believers throughout the church age.

Thus, the believer in Jesus Christ is the beneficiary of this love.

“Regeneration” refers to the spiritual birth of the sinner who is declared justified by the Father through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

Regeneration takes place at the moment of conversion when the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit appropriates for the sinner justified by faith in Jesus Christ, the benefits of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection (cf. Titus 3:4-5).

John 1:12 But as many as received Him (Faith alone in Christ alone), to them He (God) gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name (His Person), 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh (old sin nature), nor of the will of man, but of God. (NASB95)

1 Peter 1:3 Worthy of praise and glorification is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy (grace in action) has caused us to be born again to a living confidence through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (My translation)

1 Peter 1:23 For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. (My translation)

The sinner who has been declared justified by the Father through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ manifests the fact that they have been elected from eternity past by the Father.

Ephesians 1:3 Worthy of praise and glorification is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Person of Christ. 4 When He elected us to privilege in Him before the foundation of the world for the purpose of being holy and blameless before Him. (My translation)

“Elected to privilege” is the verb eklegomai, which means, “elected and set apart for privilege.”

When Paul teaches the Ephesians that they were chosen before the foundation of the world, he is referring to the doctrine of election.

The sinner who has been declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ not only manifests the fact that they have been elected from eternity past by the Father but also that they have been predestined by Him since predestination and election took place together simultaneously in eternity past.

Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. (NASB95)

“He predestined” is the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb proorizo, which is used with reference to the predestination of church age believers.

In Romans 8:29, Paul teaches that God the Father first foreknew the Christian and then predestinated the Christian to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ, thus indicating that predestination is based upon God’s foreknowledge.

Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 And these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (NASB95)

Ephesians 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. (NASB95)

“Predestined” is the verb proorizo, which refers to the fact that God the Father before the foundation of the world determined beforehand or predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ in order to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures also teach that the sinner who has been declared justified by the Father through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ have been adopted into the family of God.

Romans 8:15 teaches that the church age believer has been adopted “Romans style” into the royal family of God.

Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (NASB95)

“Adoption” is the noun huiothesia, which means that every Christian obtains the place of a child and the right to be called a son the moment he believes in Jesus Christ for salvation (Galatians 3:25-26; 4:6; 1 John 3:1-2).

Adoption means that the church age believer is spiritual aristocracy now and is intimately related to all three members of the Trinity.

The adoption of the church age believer means: (1) Privileges as an adult son of God (2) Responsibility to grow to spiritual maturity.