2024-07-21

Well, we are continuing our series on / / Prayer & Fasting from the Sermon on the Mount, and specifically what we call / / The Lord’s Prayer, or what I’ve seen it called recently in some of my readings, / / “The Disciple’s Prayer” which I don’t think I’ve ever heard before. But, it is an interesting thought. We call it the Lord’s prayer, because it was the prayer that Jesus taught, but it is in a lot of ways the disciple’s prayer because he was teaching the disciples how to pray.

And by extension, through the gospel writings, He is teaching us, his future disciples, how to pray. And even if you just think about that for a moment, that’s pretty amazing. People have been praying this prayer for 2000 years.

And when we begin to break this prayer down, we see it’s more than just words, but Jesus is giving us a method, or a model in how we ought to always come to God in prayer. Jesus starts with how not to pray, instead of how to pray. He starts with challenging the societal norm when it comes to prayer. With the religious hypocrites, as he called them, praying on the street corners, or in the synagogues loudly so everyone will hear, making a public spectacle of themselves rather than truly engaging with God in prayer. And then to the Greeks and Romans, the other religions, simply put, the Gentiles, who were basically trying to enchant their gods into doing their bidding. Is there a right formula of words, and if we say it enough times, will it be what this particular god requires to do what we need them to do? Like a bribe, or cheat code to prayer.

And this is something to always be aware of. These two things show themselves in different ways at different times.

Culturally, where are we at? We have all these “Christian influencers” on social media, putting their prayer times on the internet, building a following based on their prayer lives. And they maybe started out doing it for good reason. Maybe they still believe it to be that way, but is this what Jesus warns against? And I’m not saying I know the motives of these people, but Jesus says, Don’t do your prayer in public. Why? He says in Matthew 6:5, / / “Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” - the reward being that they wanted to be seen by others, and they were. Maybe they wanted to build a following, as a religious leader, and they have. That was their reward.

And with the challenge to the gentiles, I think there is caution here to watch our motives in prayer.

I’ve also heard people preach, “Pray this specific prayer because it really moves the heart of God.”

And you know what, they aren’t entirely wrong. Anyone remember a book called The Prayer of Jabez? Bruce Wilkerson wrote this little book on 1 Chronicles 4:10, which simply says, starting in vs 9, / / There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. He was the one who prayed to the God of Isreal, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request.

Beautiful prayer. And the book flew off the shelves, selling more than ten million copies. To put that in perspective, most books sell about 10,000 copies, and to become a NYT Best Seller you’ve sold between 10,000 and 100,000 in your first year. So, ten million is huge.

Now, is there really something wrong with that prayer? No, I don’t think so. But, if there is a danger to be seen, it would be wise to heed the words of Jesus. In Matthew 6, in this teaching on prayer that we are looking at, Jesus is talking to Jewish believers in the God of Israel. They aren’t praying to the greek and roman gods, so why give the warning of not falling into the trap of how the gentiles pray? Because that’s actually the point. It’s a warning. Not a chastisement, but a warning. This way of prayer is not what your Father in heaven is drawn to. The words might be great. The prayer itself might be just fine. But you can’t simply force the hand of God by repeating over and over again the same words like some sort of chant or ritual. That is the point. And that is the trap Jesus is helping people avoid.

A prayer like the prayer of Jabez is amazing, and there is real truth in approaching God for our lives, but if you think you’re going to get more stuff, and God’s going to give you all the wonderful things in life just because you say this prayer everyday you’ve missed the point.

This is why, when we begin to look at what Jesus says when he says in Matthew 6:9, / / “Pray then like this:” I don’t believe he’s saying, “Repeat this prayer word for word every time you want to pray, or religiously three times a day.” But that he’s giving us a model, a teaching on HOW we should pray, more than what WORDS we use when we pray.

And again, Jesus is not saying praying the same prayer every day is wrong. He’s saying what is more important is why you are praying, what you are praying and who you are praying too. That matters MORE than the words you use.

To Wilkerson’s point in the Prayer of Jabez. He looked at this prayer and saw this breakdown of approaching God in a way that honors God and invites His purpose and will to be done in someone’s life. He wasn’t teaching witch craft or some new age mantra to twist the arm of God, he was teaching heart and approach.

Because that’s the other side of prayer. That’s the other side of what Jesus is saying. Matthew 6:6, / / But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you… vs 8, …for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

God rewards those who pray.

Hebrews 11:6, / / And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Our confidence to pray comes from the reality that our God is a good God and answers his children when they come to him.

What Jesus is trying to do is help us align our prayers with the heart of God in the first place.

I’m just not sure that if I start praying 100 times a day, “God, give me a million bucks. God, give me a million bucks. God, give me a million bucks.” that he’s going to simply comply and a cool million will show up in my bank. That’s not how this works. BUT, go and read Matthew Barnett’s book “The Cause Within You” which is about his story of becoming pastor of a church in LA. He is the son of a renowned mega church pastor, and there he was with zero people. And in the midst of that he felt like God told him that if he would focus on the people nobody wanted to help, God would bring him the people that everyone wanted. He starting the Dream Center to help the homeless, poor, hungry, addicted, mostly marginalized people in 1994 and now they own a hospital building that has been completely restored and used for recovery, distribution, training and he leads a global network of dream centers all over the world helping people.

What’s the difference?

One of those prayers is about me and does not align at all with God’s will and kingdom. Is it wrong to personally have a million dollars? No, go for it. A lot of people work hard and make a lot of money, and there’s nothing wrong with that in principle. Working hard isn’t wrong. Making money isn’t wrong. What’s wrong, or what can get us into trouble is what money tends to do to the soul. It grips it like a vice. It corrupts. It causes worry, when you have, you don’t know if you have enough, and when you don’t have, you worry where it will come from. / / The love of money…, as 1 Timothy 6:10 says, is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

And we looked at that in our last series on Money Matters.

But the other prayer, “God, help me help the homeless, the broken, the needy…” well, that one aligns perfectly with the heart of God, doesn’t it? What did Jesus say about the end of time, in Matthew 25:31-46? He says that the world will be split into two groups, one group that supposedly gave him water when he was thirsty, fed him when he was hungry, gave him clothing when he was naked, cared for him when he was sick, visited him when he was in prison, and they ask him, “When did we ever see you any of those things?” And he says, “When you did it to the least of humanity, you did it to me.”

One thing that we can most definitely rest assured of is that God sees the hearts and motives of humanity. Through any facade we may put up. Through any mask we might wear. God can see through it all. So when it comes to our prayer, he kind of knows what our motive is.

My point is this. The prayer of Jabez isn’t a bad prayer. Praying the Lord’s prayer everyday isn’t bad. Repeating prayers isn’t bad. But what matters more is the heart they come from.

Don’t pray to be seen as spiritual, you forfeit your reward, but pray in private.

Pray for His will and His kingdom to supersede your own. Pray for His authority to be more important than your authority, His kingdom to be more valuable and more powerful than any kingdom you’ve ever tried to build yourself, and pray that His will will overtake your will. That you would fall so in love with Him that His desires truly become your desires.

King David understood this. He wrote in Psalm 37:3-7:

/ / Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.

He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.

Each one of those lines has a preemptive statement to the statement we WANT in our lives.

/ / Live safely in the land and prosper! We all want that, right? But what does it start with? / / Trust in the Lord AND DO GOOD.

/ / God will give you the desire of your heart… amen and amen, right??? / / Delight yourself in the Lord…and he will give you the desires of your heart.

What do you think your desires will be if you delight yourself in the Lord? If you focus on God and His purposes, what do you think YOUR desires will become, if what he cares about matters more to you than what you care about? Your desires will be his desires.

/ / God will help you! Oh man, another good one. We pray that one. We tell people that one. We’re all about it. What’s it start with? / / Commit EVERYTHING you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.

You know that ol’ saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” Well, David is saying, “Actually, God helps those who commit everything they do to Him, NOT to themselves.”

And then vs 7 is just so powerful. / / Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for HIM to act. We are really good at going headstrong into what we desire, what we want. David says over and over again in different ways, “Slow down, reorient yourself on God and His purpose, commit your actions, your thoughts, your heart, your attitude toward Him, wait patiently upon His presence, THEN when you act, when you do, when you go, He will be with you, bless what you do and you will see His work in your life.”

Does God bless us without all that. Yes, he does, he’s just that good. God sends rain on the righteous and the wicked alike, that’s what Jesus says in Matthew 5:45, / / …he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

A band I listened to in my youth wrote a song called Why Good People Suffer, and the main line of the chorus said, “God showers blessings on the righteous and the wicked, I only know that that covers me.”

An honest reflection of God’s infinite and divine supremacy in the universe. God will do what God will do. And these blessings of God, the warm sun on a beautiful day, the rain that helps our crops grow. They are available to all, and Paul would later write this is truly how we know that God exists - we see his handiwork all around us.

But when it comes to our lives, our prayer, our commitment, David and Jesus and I would say virtually every other writer of scripture agrees, / / When you commit your way to the Lord, you are intentionally aligning yourself with the presence and work of the powerful Spirit of God who WANTS to work in and through you.

So this is the heart behind prayer that Jesus is sharing. And the first two parts, what we’ve looked at so far, / / Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Both of those are positionally focused statements.

/ / Who are you praying to? God, your Father, who is both loving, kind, compassionate, AND fierce, all powerful, creator of the universe. Holy, and worthy to be worshipped. Whom we offer our lives to, over our own desires. We want His authority, His kingdom, His power to supersede our own. His purpose and His will done rather than ours. He knows better than us!

THEN, as we get into vs 11 this morning, Jesus brings in a personal element. Those first two parts are all about our focus to God. Who He is and what He wants, that we are saying we want to desire as well. Now this is when Jesus brings an element of personal provision, personal request.

Matthew 6:11, / / “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Short, simple, to the point.

The NLT says it this way, / / “Give us today the food we need.”

It’s short, but there’s three parts to this verse I want to look at this morning:

/ / The Request

The Need

The Timing

/ / 1. The Request

“Give us this day our daily bread.” or “Give us today the food we need.”

You know how I talk about biblehub.com sometimes, where it gives you a bunch of different translations of scripture. This scripture is almost exactly the same down the entire page. There’s hardly any variation.

We have a today. We need to eat. We’re asking God for help. It’s a simple prayer, isn’t it?

I think what makes the simplicity of this prayer so beautiful is that it’s not by itself. Jesus didn’t say, “When you pray, pray like this: God, give us what we need. Thanks!”

You have to look at this within the context of the entire prayer. Starting with who we are praying to, Our Father. And then that we desire his purpose, his plan, his authority, MORE than we desire our own. So now we’re not praying for the Lambo or the mansion, or the million bucks… those may be nice, but they pale in comparison, and we come to God with our true needs.

And this is it. God wants you to feel comfortable and confident to ask him for what you need!, but His desire is that it comes from the true relationship of a Father and their child, he wants us to recognize these things first.

Think about it. If you’re a parent, and your kids come home from school, or wherever, they walk into the house. OR, you come home and walk into your house and your kids are home, and the first thing out of their mouths is, “Daddy Daddy, Can I have ….” or “Mommy, Mommy, Can I ……”

If you’re anything like me, you make a point to say something like, “How ‘bout a hello! How was your day. I love you. Your my favorite…”

Do I want my daughter to always feel comfortable asking me for what she needs or even what she wants? Of course I do. But also, I want to matter more to her than my wallet does.

So, there’s an order to things here. There’s a way to approach God that is honoring of who he is, respecting of His authority, and invites the ability to ask.

Now, as easy as praying for stuff is, there’s an underlying issue here. / / Do you actually believe that God wants to do what He has said he will do?

I’ve often said that, / / One of our greatest desires as humans is to know that God is who He says He is and will do what He said He will do.

Well, how confident are you in the provision of God? Remember from our Money Matters series. Jesus says in Matthew 6:26, / / “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?” and follows that up in Matthew 10:31, / / “So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable than a whole flock of sparrows…”

Do we understand, do we believe the heart of God as provider, the one who loves us, the one who wants to give us what we need?

Let’s just set a biblical baseline here, ok. I’m going to throw a bunch of scripture at you. Jesus says in Mark 11:24, / / “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.”

Matthew 7:7, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

John 15:7, / / “But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!”

Philippians 4:6, / / Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

And of course Hebrews 11:6, / / Anyone who wants to come to [God] must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

And I love this one, James 1:5, / / If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Now, that’s a funny line, eh? “He will not rebuke you for asking.” Why say that?

As I was thinking about this I realized, we really do get conditioned to expect rebuke when we ask.

So many people fear asking for things. We don’t want to seem needy. Even as a pastor, when people ask me things they will sometimes say, “I know you’re busy. I don’t want to bother you.” Sure, I respect that, I appreciate that. but also, my life’s work, not just my job, but my purpose in God’s great earth is to love and help pastor people. There’s a lot of things I can’t help with. But when it comes to that. Don’t go through life with questions if I can help you find answers!

But there’s an issue. We’ve been told not to ask “Stupid questions.” But who defines what’s stupid? We don’t know until we ask, and so thinking that we should know the answer to something already, we don’t ask those who might know for fear of looking stupid.

As kids were were probably told at some point, “Not now, I’m busy.” or “Go ask your mother” “Go ask your father.” or “I don’t have time for this.” or “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Listen I’m a dad, and one of the things I’ve been saying these last few weeks is that it is critically important that we understand God as Father - but not by our own personal definition of father, not by our own experience, whether that is good or bad. God is the perfect Father, and for many of us, if not all of us, the definition of Father has to be rewritten BY the Spirit of God because He is perfect. I for one, am not. Maybe you won’t relate to this, but I’ve fallen into this one before. I get asked a question and maybe I’m not in the right frame of mind in the moment, and my humanity and un-healed-ness kicks in, and I know I have responded with, “Why are you asking me that?”… oops.

I have been so irrational with myself because of my responses to my daughter sometimes. It can be over the dumbest stuff too. I know, none of you have done this. So I’m hanging myself out here.

“Daddy, can I go play outside?” …. “No, why would you ask that? There’s mosquitos. It’s dusk. You’re just about to go to bed.”

“Daddy, can I have a snack?” … “No, you just ate, why would you ask me that? You’re not hungry.” “But I am.” “No, you’re not…go drink a glass of water.”

“Daddy, can we go by McDonalds and get a happy meal?” … “No, you know we have perfectly good food at home, why would you ask that?!?”

My goodness. What am I doing. Now, it’s not like I’m damaging my child, but the contrast is laughable at the very least. “Your heavenly Father will not rebuke you for asking…”

Now, let’s not pull this out of context too much, James is saying when we’re asking for wisdom. But look at my examples. Play outside, Have a snack, get a happy meal. None of those are unreasonable requests, yet my response was completely unreasonable. And I have had to learn to notice those things. So, now, maybe a little more healed, I’ve actually said, “Ya know what, go for it. I don’t know why I responded that way. Of course. just grab a good snack.” And she’ll be like, “Can I have some cucumber…” Of COURSE you can have some cucumber. Gosh…

God is a good Father and he’s really really ok with us coming to him with our needs. He’s actually inviting it. And he would much rather us come to him instead of living in some sort of fear or apprehension that he wouldn’t want us to ask.

And this is important, because if you, or maybe your parents are anything like how ridiculous I an be, you need some healing. Kaylee has kind of been hanging around me looked like she wants to ask me something, or maybe even started to ask and then pulls back, and I’ll say, “What’s up?” And she’ll say, “Never mind.” “No, no, come on, what’s on your mind?” “I wanted to ask you a question, but I didn’t want to bother you.” or “I didn’t want you to say no.” or “I thought you’d say no.”

Now, this is where it’s just got to be so confusing for her. What’s my response then? “Honey, of course not! You can ALWAYS ask me anything…” Really? Because my previous responses haven’t always backed that up, have they? “Why would you ask that?”

I am learning to be a good father. God is already the perfect Father. He operates in complete reason and self assurance. He is in control of himself, his emotions, his attitude, he doesn’t waver, he doesn’t fly off the handle, he can handle stupid questions, good questions, and he’s 100% confident enough in him self to say “no” when we as his children need to hear “no”, but what he won’t do is rebuke you for asking. He will not turn you away. He will not scold you for asking him the question.

Now, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t correct. He absolutely does. He does set us right. He does help us see our errors. But he does it in a loving and kind way. In James, when he says that God will not rebuke us, the word means to reproach, or mock, revile. That is not our perfect Father. God is not going to mock you for asking. But, we see how Jesus, of which Hebrews says he is the perfect representation of the Father, and who Jesus himself says, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. In Luke 9, Jesus and the disciples have gone by a Samaritan village and the people of the village reject him, because they don’t like that he’s on his way to Jerusalem. James and John, the two brothers that Jesus calls the Sons of Thunder, come to Jesus and say in Luke 9:54, / / “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” and the next verse says, / / But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

This ‘rebuke’ is a different word and it means to verbally correct someone. Jesus needs to step in and say, “No, no, boys, there will be no fire from heaven today…” But notice what He’s not doing? It’s not a, “Why are you asking that, you idiots!” it’s a, “Guys, calm down. That’s not how this works. There is a better way. Let me teach you how to love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you.”

We need to understand the heart of the Father, when we ask, he hears our request, and even if the request is not a good one for us, the response will not come in anger, or disappointment or disapproval. Yes, you might get a no. Sure, you might not get what you pray for because your motive is wrong. James 4:3 says, / / …when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong - you want only what will give you pleasure.

There’s that critical difference, praying in line with the will and kingdom of our Father, vs. “Give me a million bucks…”

/ / 2. The Need

We’re skipping around this like a bit, but Jesus says, / / Give us this day our daily BREAD.

Jesus is inviting us to give specific words to our specific prayers. You need bread, ask for bread. or you could read this as “provision”. Give us today what we need to survive. to live. We read it a few minutes ago, but Philippians 4:6 says, / / Tell God what you need…

And let me tell you, This is an antidote for worry. To be specific and confident about what you need.

James continues saying, in James 1:6-8, / / But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

If your child comes to you and says, “So, I was wondering if I could have… i mean… i don’t want to… ummm… i don’t want to put you out…. but I was wondering…i dunno…”

What do we say? “Come on, spit it out, what do you need?”

I can’t help you if you don’t ask. And I can’t give you what you need unless you articulate what it is you need.

Now, I’m married, and this happens on the regular to couples all over the world. They’re about to plan dinner, or go out, and the question is asked, “What do you want?” And the response is, “I don’t know. Whatever you want is fine by me.” “Ok, do you want pizza…” “no, not pizza tonight. we had that the other night.” “Ok, what about tacos?” “No, it’s not tuesday…” “ok, umm…a burger?” “I don’t know if that’s what I want…you choose!” “WHAT DO YOU WANT??!?!?!?!”

Now, we can’t get too crazy with this, I think there’s a balance to be had here. We’re not so loose that we wake up in the morning and say, “God, whatever you do is whatever, I trust you, it’s good with me.” and consider that praying for our daily needs. And it’s also not, “God, would you provide me bacon and eggs for breakfast, and I want a burger with a salad for lunch, and I want a steak with mashed potatoes for dinner, and some strawberry sherbet for dessert.” We’re not giving him our shopping list here, but we are being honest with God, “I have needs, and I am asking you to help me.”

“I have a need. and I know you love me. And I know you’re God almighty, and my loving compassionate caring father, and I can’t do this one, I need you.”

And maybe, the prayer is, “I’m not asking you to just trop it in my lap. But I am asking you to lead me in this day. To help me see where to go to receive what I need.”

We know this. God often works through natural means in supernatural ways. He took the very natural bread and fish and multiplied them. He spit on the ground, made mud and wiped it on a mans eyes to work a miracle of healing. Why? I don’t know. But I know God often uses natural means, what we have in our hands, to work supernaturally in our lives.

My therapist said something to me this week that echos what I often say when it comes to praying for miracles in our lives. If I am praying for a miracle I am also going to walk in the direction of my healing, and if I find myself, by a miracle, 10 steps further than I should be, I will give God praise, and if I have to take each of those ten steps, I will praise Him for sustaining me in the journey!

Pray for the miracle. Pray for the need. But also, remember Psalm 37, commit your way to the Lord, follow his leading, his direction.

Now, yes, there are sometimes that it seems there’s nothing we can do. And that is ok also. It’s ok to admit defeat. It’s ok to admit something is beyond us, or too big for us, or too overwhelming. And you just need a miracle. God to act! Maybe a family member is sick. Or you’re down to the wire on a bill that needs to get paid. Or you are out of food in the cupboard but also out of money in the bank. God I need you to act on my behalf. This is what I need.

And he will not rebuke you for asking. He will hear with an open ear. And Jesus’ invitation as recognized by David and other writers of scripture, when we align ourselves to God’s will and authority, the follow through is finding ourselves within the provision of God.

Sometimes he provides the cup of water when we are thirsty, sometimes he points us in the direction of the watering hole. But until we are willing to humble ourselves and come to Him and ask, it’s very difficult to either receive the provision, or receive the instruction.

And if I can add this simple thought. Don’t limit yourself to hearing only what you want to hear. Be open to the leading of God in your life that may bring you to a road that you don’t want to walk, but that will lead to life. Listen, this is my journey right now. Being in the hospital was a major wake up call. My life was out of order. I was praying for help. Help has presented itself, but it also comes with a lot of hard work. Jesus says that the road to life is narrow and difficult, but the road to destruction is wide and easy and more people choose it than they do the road to life.

Be honest with God. Tell him what you need, and be open to His leading in your life.

/ / 3. The Timing

Remember earlier I said, maybe I should start praying “Give me a million bucks…” over and over again and see what happens. This is like saying, “Give us this day our lifelong need for bread.” Ok, a Million maybe doesn’t go as far as it once did, but it’s basically saying, “God give me 20 years of provision immediately.” What’s Jesus say when he is teaching his disciples how to pray? “Give us this day…” “Give us today the food we need.”

I’ve quoted the serenity prayer a couple times, there’s one part that says this, / / “Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time;”

There’s something about that. What if we took this approach throughout the whole prayer?

One day at a time I will worship You.

One day at a time I will honor you with my life.

One day at a time I will seek to know you more as Father, Almighty God AND loving, caring Daddy.

One day at a time I will learn what it means to lay down my own desires and follow yours.

One day at a time I will try again. I may fail, I may falter, but I will get up and try again. I Will get up and give it another go. Will you be with me as I do? Will you walk with me, sustain me, uphold me and encourage me as I commit my way to yours. And today, I have needs for today. Would you provide what I need today.

Nothing wrong with planning, nothing wrong with having a retirement goal, but again, this is Jesus teaching us to be now focused with a God who is present now. If I have all the money in the world and I am relying on my bank account to sustain my life then I will lose opportunity to rely on Him for my daily bread. Not that we live in a state of constant lack, but that we live in a state of constant desire for His provision.

Psalm 30:7-9 says, / / O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

This is a beautiful way of explaining this thought of timing in the Lord’s prayer. Give us this day our DAILY bread. Or, Give us today what we need to eat. I don’t need more than what I need for today. I don’t want less either. God would you provide!

So, what’s that mean for us?

Well, in breaking down this single line of the Lord’s prayer we are seeing this thought:

/ / 1. Make the Request

God is 100% ok with us making requests for natural things.

/ / 2. Be Intentional with The Need

God is aware of our needs, yet desires us to have the type of relationship with him as Father where we are comfortable and confident to come to him for our lives.

/ / 3. Make This A Daily Habit (The Timing)

God is leading us to a place of confidence and contentment in His provision. Just like Paul, who found a place of contentment and said, “I’ve had a little and I’ve had a lot, and the key to both is that in Christ I have all that I need.” Jesus is helping us rely on God for today, without living in worry for tomorrow.