Matthew 6:9-13 (NLT)
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
[10] May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done here on earth,
just as it is in heaven.
[11] Give us our food for today,
[12] and forgive us our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
[13] And don't let us yield to temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

Being born or having a religion does not make us the children of God. In the Old Testament God dealt with people not as His children but as their creator, Lord, lawgiver, covenant provider. The promise was given to a people to be His children were fulfilled in the New Testament.

God is not just an impersonal creator
God is not just the lawgiver of the Old Testament
God is not just the judge of the living and the dead
God is more than a Faithful God in covenant

God became Our Father in Christ through the new birth. Our relationship is not based on law, creation, accountability, or even covenant but as His children. Children receive the highest privileges, blessings, relationship, and favor.

Jesus forever changed our relationship between God and those who are born again. If we are going to live healthy and happy Christian lives we must see the great shift in our relationship with God. In this age of grace we receive the highest relationship with God a created being can have. It is now a relationship of love and partnership.

Galatians 3:26 (KJV)
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus

Romans 8:15 (KJV)
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 8:16 (Msg)
God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.

1 John 3:2 (NLT)
Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

Romans 8:21 (NIV)
that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Your destiny is to be delivered from corruption and sin. We are no longer under its power but we are being restored to the glory of the image of God. Our prayers will be answered because we are His children. Our inheritance is to destroy the corruption that is in the world. When we pray we are to give God glory by restoring His will in the earth.

We like Jesus are about our Father’s business
Jesus is the prototype of our relationship between God and mankind

Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

We are to live our lives not under fear as God a judge, lawgiver, and impersonal creator but as His children. We represent God’s heart, will, character, and truth. We are responsible to represent our Father before the world. It is a relationship free of condemnation, guilt, and fear but of awesome and joyful responsibility.

Matthew 5:48 (NLT)
But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Matthew 5:48 (Msg)
"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.