praying effectively: You Must Be Born Again (John 3)

(John 3:1-21)  Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Reminder:  "praying effectively" involves knowing God's will.  When we pray in His will (in His name), He may choose to not answer those prayers in the time period that we would like, or HOW we would like - but He will answer those prayers!

It is God's will:

- that we must be born again by the Spirit in order to enter heaven (3:3-7)

- that we believe in Jesus in order to be saved and have eternal life (3:15-16)

Today's prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, we cannot thank You enough for leaving heaven and coming to earth to pay the price for all sin - for all time.  And we cannot thank You enough that You offer everyone salvation as a free gift.  And all we have to do is put away our pride and go to You, knowing that we need You to save us.  Stepping off our own throne, and putting You in that place!  Putting our belief and trust in You - the Light of the world!!!

Yes, You expose our sins, but when we become believers - You cleanse us completely in Your eyes.  And while we are still on earth, You continue to expose our sins - which shows us that there is something there that shouldn't be, and You help us sort that out so we can experience a fuller life in Your love, peace and joy.  And once we "graduate" and see You face to face, You will not judge us, but accept us into Your eternal glory.

Religion is what man does in efforts to try to reach You.  But no matter how good we try to be, this is completely impossible to do.  Christianity is You reaching out to us - and doing it for us!  You want us to come to You, and You have made it possible.  Thank You for changing us from the inside out.  Not because we have to be, but help us to want to be steadfast and obedient.  We follow You and only You!  It's in our name "Christian" - Christ-follower!  

Convict the hearts and minds of those who call themselves "Christian" but do not know You.  Help the world see a difference in us, because we have You in our hearts!  Let us allow You to shine in our lives, so that we can be a shining light to the world, to let the world know about You, so that they can get to know You personally.  Amen.