As you know, we call most kingdoms around the world, nations. Few nations have kings or queens. So, we don’t call them KINGdoms. However, Jesus is the King of God’s Kingdom. Meeting Him and getting acquainted with His attitudes and character will help you. It will help you be glad He will be in charge of your rights, privileges, and laws.

We have all been born in a nation or kingdom and are citizens of that land by birth. That is what Jesus was saying about the Kingdom of God. The only way a person can become a citizen of God’s Kingdom is by birth. That probably wasn’t something Nicodemus had a question on.

Like us, Nicodemus had problems that were challenging his life. He was hoping Jesus would help him get them solved. And, believe it or not, that WAS what Jesus was doing. Nicodemus wasn’t going to be healed and helped with his problems UNTIL he got born into God’s Kingdom. The moment he heard the words “born again” that created a whole new question in his mind. Like Nicodemus, you probably didn’t see any need for being born again. Nicodemus didn’t even known there was such a thing as being born again.

Nicodemus was a Jew and they were considered to be God’s chosen people. God had made a whole lot of promises to those who belonged to that nation. Nicodemus probably assumed he was automatically a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Jesus was telling him that wasn’t true. The same is true of us; it’s not a national, family, or group decision. We can be born in a Christian family, go to church, be baptized as an infant or young child, study all kinds of Bible lessons and even memorize Scripture verses, and still not be born again.

If you were born in a certain nation or kingdom and you illegally entered another nation or kingdom, you wouldn’t have citizen rights and privileges. If you were born to one set of parents and you tried to sneak into another family, you wouldn’t be given family rights and privileges. That only comes through being born in that family or by being adopted into that family by those parents.

As long as you haven’t been born again into God’s family and Kingdom, you don’t get MANY of the benefits that come from that relationship. In other words, that is the reason why MANY of our prayers don’t get answered by God prior to salvation. He requires that we join His family and Kingdom BEFORE we start getting MANY of the benefits that come from Him. This may not make any sense to you right now; but it will soon.

Why do some people ask God for things and not get them? Why can we pray about such issues as marriage and not seem to get helped? Many of these people lack family and citizen rights of healing and help with their finances, relationships, emotions, physical problems, and spiritual needs. You have been praying the only kind of prayers God is willing to listen to prior to you being born again.

If God wouldn’t listen to ANY prayers we pray prior to salvation, then us praying for salvation wouldn’t be heard. You have been praying prayers that are asking Jesus to help you understand these things about being born again and receiving salvation. These are prayers that are vital for empowering you to be born again.

Jesus doesn’t want to trick you into salvation. He doesn’t want you to have any misunderstanding about what you are trying to get. Jesus only deals in the realm of the truth. He is answering all these prayers you are praying so you can be born again with a full understanding of what that means. Then after this new birth, all kinds of your prayers will get answered.

We all have a pretty good idea how human birth takes place. The big question is, how is it possible to be born AGAIN? Nicodemus could see some real problems with a grown man being “born again.” So he did what you need to learn to start doing; he asked Jesus a question. If you don’t understand or agree with something you hear about the Bible or read in the Bible, don’t get upset. Present the question to Jesus, to us, and to your Christian friends. He will see to it you get the answer at the right time.