How Should We Pray? Pt. 3
Back to the Basics • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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We have been in a series called Back to the Basics and are in a section on prayer.
I did a little research on wealth and religion, and here is what I found.
Research shows a striking difference between the wealthiest and poorest nations in their need for religion.
In your poorest nations, such as Ethiopia and Senegal, 97% or more of the population sees a huge need for religion.
Some of your wealthiest nations, like Germany, Spain, the UK, South Korea, Australia, and Japan, range from 21% to 11% in their need for religion.
The United States is the only exception on the list of wealthy nations, but even then the US only comes in around 50%.
I don’t think that is much of a surprise to many of us who have lived a little, especially if you are up on current events.
However, what was sad was what we learned about some people here in Natchitoches and about prayer.
A little over a year ago, Jensen and I, along with some of our youth, went out into our community to see who we could pray for.
We found that people in the affluent neighborhoods either did not answer their doors or told us they didn’t need prayer, whereas those who were less well off were more than grateful to have us pray for them.
Perhaps we should take note of Matthew 19:24, where Jesus said,
“Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
While I realize this verse is primarily about Salvation, I have found that most people, when it comes to prayer, sometimes forget it or consider it less important when things are going well, with the bills paid, food in the fridge, and the family healthy.
But before we go much further, let’s read today’s text.
Let’s read together Matthew 6:9-13
We began a couple of weeks ago a study of the Lord’s Prayer.
We saw that in the first part of the Lord’s Prayer, we must come to Him in worship!
In the second part of the Lord’s Prayer, we must be in complete submission to Him.
The Third point of the Lord’s Prayer is to come to Him in Dependence!
Prayer is Dependence
Prayer is Dependence
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
There are two things I would like us to consider this morning as we think about Dependence.
First, we should be dependent on God for our “Physical Needs”…
Physical Needs
Physical Needs
When Jesus spoke of bread, He meant actual bread—as a symbol of daily provisions.
God cares about everyday things, and we should pray about them.
All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time.
You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it.
Time and again, Jesus reminded His disciples that if God takes care of the animals, how much more will He delight in caring for us?
But when I think of “Daily Bread,” I can’t help but picture the Israelites after they had left Egypt and were in the desert.
They had no food to eat, so God provided the Mana.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.
“On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”
“This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.’ ”
The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.
When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.
Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.”
But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them.
Have you ever left fishing worms in a container too long, only to have the smell hit you in the face when you open it?
Now take that smell and multiply it by, most likely, hundreds of thousands, who did not obey God’s command.
Here’s the point.
God was faithful in providing for the Israelites throughout their time in the desert, but He desired that they depend on Him daily.
When we decide we don’t need to rely on Him.
When we take matters into our own hands, it is like opening a container of stinky, smelly, half-rotten worms.
Self dependence will always end in rot.
Whereas daily dependence on God is sweet to the soul.
What is even better is that when we learn to depend on God, when we really lean into Him and seek Him for our daily needs, He loves to overwhelm us not just with daily bread but with so much more.
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
When we do not depend on God for our daily living, we often depend on ourselves. When our dependence is on ourselves, Satan loves to disrupt, corrupt, and discourage us every time.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Not only did God provide bread by Mana, but He also provided meat with quail, water for them to drink, and even ensured that their clothes and shoes would not wear out.
“I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.
When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we need to remember that if God can keep roughly 2-3 million people fed and clothed in the wilderness for 40 years, you can certainly depend on Him to provide for you.
Throughout my life, I have seen God faithfully supply needs, both physical and otherwise, not only for myself and my family but also for others who faithfully prayed for their needs to be met.
I will say this.
When we pray, we should pray for our “Needs, not our Greeds.”
I believe we sometimes get our priorities out of whack, thinking we must have the newest gadget, the most expensive car, or the latest clothing, or that our needs include eating steak every night.
May I suggest that it is probably not a need but a greed…
Now, certainly, God sometimes provides in amazing ways, and there is nothing wrong with having nice things, but don’t mistake an unanswered greed for God not meeting your need.
As we consider what it means to have full dependence on God for our needs, the first and most accurate interpretation of this verse is certainly about our “Physical Needs.”
However, I would like for you to consider a second dependence that we can take by way of application.
That is, when we read “Give us this day our daily bread,” we can apply it as asking God to meet our daily “Spiritual Needs.”
Spiritual Needs
Spiritual Needs
Where do I get this from?
After Jesus instructs on the example prayer model we refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer,” He talks about fasting and the danger of dependence on earthly treasures, but then He gives the cure for anxiety.
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
He is letting us know that this is a foregone conclusion.
I have your daily needs met.
Yes, pray for them because I want you to depend on my daily, but this is something I delight in doing for you.
In other words, give it to me and stop worrying about it.
He gives several reasons why we need not worry, but now skip down to verse 33.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Ahh… that’s it!
This is the part where God says, I have your back, but you have one thing that is needful, and that is to seek me.
When you do this, all these other things will fall into place for you, and you don’t need to worry because your dependence is now fully on me.
It’s like the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10.
Mary was bustling about, trying to do everything and provide, yet she forgot that the very man she was working so hard for had already taken a few fish and a few loaves of bread and fed 5000.
She needed to sit at His feet with Mary.
What she needed was to seek Him first!
Dwight L. Moody tells the story of a minister who was moving his library upstairs.
His young son wanted to help, so his father told him to grab an armful and carry them up.
Halfway up the stairs, the little boy tried to carry the single largest, heaviest book in the collection.
He couldn't lift it, became overwhelmed, sat down, and cried.
His father walked up, scooped the boy and the huge book into his arms, and carried them both to the top.
How many of us are like the little boy, trying to help God out by taking on something only He can do?
But what I love about our Savior is that, like the dad, He is there to scoop us up into His loving arms.
Yes, God sustains us physically and even meets life’s less tangible needs.
More than that, He fulfills our spiritual needs: He is the bread that satisfies our spiritual hunger and sustains our hearts.
When we ask God for our daily bread, we humbly acknowledge Him as the sole source of all we need.
We live one day and one step at a time, trusting in simple faith that He will provide exactly what we need, when we need it—in every area of life.
Today and moving forward, my prayer for you is that as you pray and ask God, “Give us this day our daily bread,” you do so in full acknowledgment that life, both physical and spiritual, comes only from Him.
Let me end with this final thought… In the book of John, Jesus often refers to Himself as the bread of life!
So for some of you this morning, when you hear me talk about “Give us this day our daily bread,” this prayer, this request, it really doesn’t apply to you unless you have a relationship with THE BREAD of LIFE.
That is Jesus Christ!
While yes, we are talking about prayer this morning, I want to make sure that y’all understand that real life can only be found in Jesus.
Do you know Him this morning?
If not, today is the day.
With every head bowed, I want you all to seek your hearts this morning.
John 14:6 NASB95
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
How do we come to the Father? How do we have a relationship with Jesus?
We simply believe we are sinners in need of salvation. We believe that Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection were a sufficient payment to satisfy God's wrath against sin and against us.
Once we believe, we truly seek to follow Jesus with all our hearts, souls, and minds.
If this is you this morning, I want you to come forward and give your heart to Jesus.
Secondly, if you are a believer but have been living in your own strength and have not sought God for your daily bread, either physically or spiritually, then today is the day to submit to Him and fully lay every burden and every care in His wonderful, capable hands.
Let me pray for us.
