Well, if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, you can join me in Matthew 6. And while you're turning there, I just want to remind you one final time: Easter is next week. I know Pastor David's been mentioning that to you as well. Let me just encourage you, invite people. This is a great opportunity for us as a church to talk about the hope that the resurrection brings.
And we got a big weekend planned next weekend.
So be here, bring somebody with you. And also, one thing, don't forget, you can do this. You know, I hope you've already been doing this, but be praying for the services next weekend. Be praying for guests to show up, for people that don't know Jesus. I was super encouraged.
I talked to a couple of people this week who have been passing out invite cards to their neighbors and different people in the community, which is awesome.
So, we're just praying that people would come and that we'd have a great day next week.
So, it's going to be awesome. Be here, bring somebody with you, and be praying for the services if you would.
Well, listen, today we're continuing a series we've been in. I'm going to make this kind of brief here today just because we have had a lot going on here today. But we're in a series entitled The Blueprint of Prayer. And I know the young people are just kind of catching into this. And so we've been in a series on prayer from Matthew chapter number 6 when Jesus actually teaches us on how to pray.
So, if you've ever wondered, like, what am I supposed to pray for? How am I supposed to pray? What does this look like? What's okay to, you know, to make it onto my prayer list, and what isn't, and different things, he gives us really a blueprint or a model here in Matthew 6. We're going to read it together.
He's preaching during his Sermon on the Mount. And he says in verse 5, when thou prayest. In other words, he's expecting us to pray.
So if you know Jesus as your Savior, this is an expectation for you. You should be in a relationship and you should be talking with God through prayer. He says, Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets. that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
So he tells us, don't be like the hypocrites. They like to get attention and they like to impress people with their prayers. Prayer is not a time for you to have to impress anybody around you. Prayer is between you and the Lord. He goes on, verse 6.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy father, which is in secret. And thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee. Openly. But when you pray, don't use vain repetitions. That just means babbling or think you have to use all of these big words in your prayers.
as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them. Because your father knoweth what things ye have need of before you ask him. And so he goes on, verse 9, and he tells us how to pray. He says, After this manner, therefore pray ye, our father.
Which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
So, so far, so what we're doing in this series, we're looking at a different aspect of what we call the Lord's Prayer. And so, week one, we looked at our Father which art in heaven. And then we looked at hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That was last week. And then today, verse 11 is where we're going to be at this morning.
Give us this day our daily breast. Can we say this together, that prayer, verse 11, together? Give us this day our daily bread.
So far in this series We've seen Jesus instruct us or really petition us. with prayers about his name, his kingdom. And his will. which are all really about the glory of God. And now He turns our attention after you really give Him glory in your prayer time and give Him praise, He now turns attention a little bit to needs.
Things like, give us this day our daily bread, forgiveness, lead us not into temptation. The first few prayers about his name, his kingdom, and his will all express our devotion to God. The remainder of the petition, starting with give us this day our daily bread. It's talking more from our dependence on him.
So, the first few prayers are all about devotion to him, and now the rest of these are all about our dependence upon him.
Now, I do want to say up front, because I think this will help us as we look at this together, that there is a. a thought that like Christianity Is something spiritual and private, but it doesn't really intersect or work in everyday life. And there's some people that believe that. And perhaps maybe you are a follower of Jesus and you kind of have wondered how they intersect. Like, is our faith, is it something just personal and private?
Or does our faith actually impact? You know, everyday life when it comes to the daily needs that we have. The daily responsibilities that we have? Does faith actually intertwine and work and really make a difference? in our personal life when it comes to food, when it comes to bills, when it comes to physical needs, when it comes to your health?
Is fate just this private thing that you do on Sunday? Or does it actually intersect in everyday life?
Well, I want you to understand that we would answer the question: of course, it does intersect in your everyday life.
Some people could probably come up here and testify to the fact that their faith has impacted different areas of their life when it comes to provision, and when it comes to health, and when it comes to our daily life.
So, I don't ever want you to view that faith as just something personal and private and it doesn't impact your everyday life. And the reason is that the one that saved your life, don't miss this, the one that saved your life is still the one that is going to feed your stomach. That's what he's trying to say here. The one that clothes us with the righteousness of Jesus. is also the one that provides the clothing that we wear today.
It's total dependence on him. The one who gave us eternal life. He still gives us the food that we're going to eat. at lunch and dinner here today.
So the point is, Christianity is not isolated from your everyday life. Life. No, this is actually a prayer where we must pray total dependence on Him.
So let's look at it today. Three points if you take notes. And you can really boil this down into three specific words we're going to look at. But give us this day, number one, give us this day our daily bread. It is a prayer of provision.
Can we all say that word provision together? Provision.
So, give us this day our daily bread as a prayer of provision. Here's why. Bread is symbolic. of the daily food that you need to survive.
Okay.
So bread symbolizes the physical and material needs that you have. We all have them, right? I mean, some of the material needs that we have each and every day. Think about it. The ability to wake up every morning.
Okay.
The ability to go to work. If you're a young person, the ability to go to school and to learn and to accomplish the things that your teacher wants you to accomplish. The ability to play a sport. Or how about this, shelter? That you get to go home to today, right?
Food? Transportation. Employment? Finances, health. Bills?
Mortgage payments? College bill? All of those things are material and physical needs that all of us have in this place. I mean, you understand. All of us have something on there.
It's like, yep, I have that need in my life today. And what we have to understand, that is what bread here is symbolizing. It is the asking of God to pray to Him as our provider, recognizing that we are totally dependent upon Him for all of the provision that we have in life. This is a prayer of needs. Not once.
Everybody understand that? It's needs, not want. I mean, he didn't say, give us this daily dessert, did he? No, he said.
Now, some of you, you take that very literal, right? He didn't say, give us this day our daily dessert. No, he says, give us this day our daily bread. In other words, he's talking about the necessities of life, the physical and material needs that you have in life, not just the luxuries that you want. This prayer addresses need.
Not greed. Does everybody understand that? And so, what this prayer is saying is: Jesus, as He's instructing us on how to pray. He's saying that when we pray We need to recognize that He's our provider. That you're dependent upon him.
For the breath that you breathe, the food that you take, the ability that you have just to get up and go do whatever it is that you have to do today, you should remember when you pray to thank Him and to ask Him to provide for everything that you need that day. You see, it's a prayer of provision. But not only that, number two, give us this day our daily bread, it's a prayer of dependence.
So it's a prayer provision. It's a prayer of dependence. Can we all say the word dependence together? Dependence. Notice he says This day.
That literally means Today. Right?
So what you need today, that's why prayer should be a daily thing in your life. You know, Jesus, you should pray every day. And here's what's interesting: He says, Give us this day our daily bread. Not next week. Not next month.
Not next.
Next year. No, he says, give us this day our daily. Bread. You say, what is he meaning? He's really commanding us to trust God for what we need today.
Right?
I mean, think about it. If you have a cell phone. Right, which many of us do, probably most all do. And you got a phone, and when you charge your your phone, okay? You don't just charge it one time and that time be for the whole week, do you?
No. You charge it every single day. And just like your phone. Just like, you know, my phone, when I, you know, at night, I have a charger right by my bed. I plug it in before I go to bed.
That's my routine every single night. Here's what I'll tell you. My phone needs charging every single day. And here's what I'll tell you. Just like your phone needs charging every day, your soul.
needs to depend upon hi upon him every day.
So, just like this needs everyday charging, not just one time for the entire week. We come before God in prayer every single day, recognizing that we are dependent upon Him every single day. Does everybody understand? It's like, remember the Old Testament? When the Israelites, they're in the wilderness.
Right. And they're in the wilderness, they're wandering around, and they start complaining. They're like, God, did you just bring us out here and you're going to just leave us for dead out here in the middle of the desert? And they have no food and they have none of that. And so God says, I'm going to show you that I'm going to provide for your everyday needs.
So he starts dropping manna from heaven. It's like bread from heaven, or whatever your favorite food is. Just imagine it dropping from heaven, all right? It's amazing. One of my favorite snacks is Cheez-Its, the white shedder groove Cheez-Its.
You know what I'm talking about? Those are good. All right. I love those things. And so I imagine that it was like, you know, that.
I mean, it's incredible. But you know what God says when the man fell from heaven? He gave them specific instructions, and they could only gather enough. for that particular day. In fact, he instructed them specifically: don't gather a bunch so that it'll last you for the rest of the week or the next few weeks for your family.
No, here's all you're supposed to do: every morning when you get up, gather enough for just that day. And the reason he did that is he wanted them to lay their head on their pillow that night. And to say, I'm going to bed relaxing because as much as I trusted him today. I'm going to wake up tomorrow and trust him just the same. As much as we're dependent upon him today, we're going to wake up tomorrow just as dependent upon him.
Because as his followers, let's just be honest, we get so bogged down with what we need next month, next year, next season. And here's what I want you to know: what you need to do, God will reveal what he wants you to know in his time. You need to wake up every single day, recognizing your total dependence upon him for today. And trust him every single morning. The second thing I want you to see there is this daily bread.
That's talking about the daily physical and material needs that we have.
So every single day.
Okay.
We should wake up and we should Thank him. For the physical and material needs, and pray to him that he would provide for that. It's a. It's a matter, this prayer that Jesus is instructing us to pray. It's a prayer of trust.
Right?
It's a prayer that I'm trusting him that he can. And that he will provide. For me. Matthew 6:34 says this: Take therefore no thought for the morrow. Right?
And take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. In other words, when you pray to him, you leave your worries with him. You leave your stresses with them. All of your to-do list, just leave it with him and you can relax recognizing that you're totally dependent upon him. Listen, what Jesus is teaching us here is this.
It's a good thing. I never want to say it's a bad thing to be wise about tomorrow. No, no, no, no. It's a good thing to be wise about tomorrow. It's a bad thing to be worried about tomorrow.
Does everybody understand that? How many of you are worriers in here? Just be honest, okay? We're all worries. We worry about things like things at work and things with our kids and.
And all that kind of stuff we worry about, all this different stuff. And here's what Jesus is saying: Jesus is saying, every single day. Come before him. Recognizing that he is our provider for all things, the big things in life, but also the small things in life. Like your food and the clothes and the ability just to breathe and get up and about and the different things that we have.
He's our provider for all that, and we are totally dependent upon him.
So every single day we will pray: give us this day our daily bread. And we will leave our request to him and not worry about tomorrow. Corey Tinboom said it this way: don't miss this. Worry. does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow.
It empties today. of its strength. Worry doesn't help anything. Another writer said it this way: worry borrows sorrow. for tomorrow or from tomorrow.
Listen, number three, give us this day our daily bread. It's a prayer for others.
So it's a prayer of provision. It's a prayer of dependence. And then, number three, it's a prayer for others. Can we say others together? Others.
You see, Jesus. He didn't instruct us to pray, give Me this daily bread. Isn't that interesting? Because just a few verses before this, he says it's a private thing, get in your closet and pray privately. He didn't say.
Pray for just you. He said, give us. Give us. This daily prayer. Bread.
This is a prayer for community. Listen, as much as you need bread or you need food and you need the daily necessities of life, your friends and family need bread as well. It's a prayer for others.
And so, what he's teaching us is this: yes, we do pray by ourselves, but we don't just pray for ourselves. And so I'd encourage you to look at your personal prayer life. Is your prayer life just about your to-do list? Is your prayer life just about what you have to do and all the needs that you have? Or are there issues on your prayer list where you are praying for others?
Because what Jesus is saying is this: give us this daily bread. We should be praying for others that they could experience the provision and the dependence upon God just like we want to experience in our life. It's a prayer for for others. And so as we look at this, Jesus is instructing us: our Father, That's the basis by which we approach God. We are His children, and He is our Father.
Hallowed be your name. That's the adoration that frames, that's the praise that frames every aspect of our prayer life. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's a prayer for us to experience the rule and reign of God today. And then give us this daily bread.
That's a prayer of total dependence upon God for the needs. Both material and physical needs that we have each and every. Day. Listen, that's what Jesus is instructing us to pray for. Listen, if it matters to you, it matters to God.
If it matters to you, it matters to God, so pray for it. I mean, in scripture, you have all sorts of people praying for things. I mean, Zachariah and Elizabeth prayed for a son.
Solomon prayed for wisdom. David prayed for forgiveness and that God would give him a clean heart. Elijah Prayer. Afraid that it wouldn't rain. Paul, he prayed that the thorn in his side, whatever that was, you know, could have been physical.
You're like, man, the thorn in my flesh is sitting next to me. All right. And so. But he prayed that the thorn would be taken from him. Be careful how you pray for that if it is the person next to you, okay?
Disciples, they prayed for boldness. Jesus commanded us to pray for the lost, and he commanded us to pray that people would go to the lost. The apostles, they prayed that Jesus would return. Jarius prayed for his daughter to be healed. James commanded us to pray for the sick.
And pray for the afflicted, those who are discouraged. Here's what I'm telling you: you probably relate to some degree with any of those prayers. Like you have a need in your life. You have a need in your life. It could be something at work.
It could be something at your school. It could be something at your family. It could be something on your ball team. It could be something physical. It could be healing.
It could be for a child. It could be for any of those things. Here's what I'll tell you: every single person in here has a need in their life. And what Jesus is instructing us to do. It's to every day.
Go before God, and as we. Remember the basis by which we come to him as we praise and glorify his name and we ask him to rule and to reign in our life. Then we pray, give us this day. Our daily Bread.
