Pray is vital. Even Jesus needed prayer. Here is part of the mystery that surrounds Christ in his humanity: Jesus, Son of the Living God, Jesus, the Eternal One, Jesus, the Messiah, Jesus, the Great Shepherd, sought out regular communion with His Heavenly Father. As the Son of Man, the Son of God had need of prayer. And if he needed it, my soul, how much more do I need it and do you need it. We need to spend time with our Heavenly Father who art in heaven.

When they heard Him pray, the disciples caught something decidedly different in Jesus’ relationship with God and they wanted what He had. And so they came to Jesus and said, “Lord, teach us to pray . . . “ This is what he taught them: “ . . . When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Luke 11:2 KJV These are the words we have studied thus far. Jesus would have His disciples know that effective prayer, prayer that is modeled after our Lord’s pattern of personal prayer begins when we delight ourselves in the Father’s fellowship. Before we go rushing headlong into our litany of requests: “Father, give me; Help me; Encourage me; Eliminate my depression; Help me with my problems,” we must first spend time honoring God’s name and praying for His Kingdom to come. With that accomplished, then we have the right and privilege of, as the author of Hebrews put it, coming, “. . . boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Next, Jesus taught His disciples to pray about needs; “When ye pray, say . . . Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” KJV

I. WHEN YOU PRAY, PRAY FOR THE NEEDS OF THE DAY

• Luke 11:3 “Give us day by day our daily bread.” KJV
1. our Heavenly Father is concerned about our needs
1. He best expressed that concern when He sent His only begotten Son into the world
2. in His humanity Jesus experienced the demands of physical existence just as we do
1. He knew what it was like sweat and to labor with His hand to earn a living
2. He knew the joy of fellowship and social gatherings like weddings and dinners
3. He knew what it was like to go hungry and sleepless and homeless
4. He knew what it was life to face temptation and unjust accusation
5. He knew what it was like to experience grief, and anger, and frustration and even betrayal
2. in His preaching, Jesus affirmed the message that God knows and cares about the needs of His children
1. we are not to worry about these needs
2. if we are faithful, if we seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness then the necessities of life will be provided by a gracious and loving Father

A. WE ARE TO PRAY FOR OUR NEEDS OF TODAY

1. the construction of this verse in interesting and significant
1. Luke almost seems to use double-speak
2. literally the verse reads, “Give us day-by-day our daily bread.”
2. the phrase is somewhat of a mystery in the Greek language
1. for those of you who are interested in this sort of thing, this is the only place you will find it in the New Testament
2. in fact, the phrase is never found anywhere else in all of Greek literature—which is considerably vast
3. William Barclay, a great Scottish pastor and scholar, has translated it this way: “Give us our bread for the coming day.”
1. the idea behind Barclay’s interpretation is that through faith, the bread we need for tomorrow and which we pray for today will be supplied
4. what is the significance of this kind of prayer you ask?
1. I believe that Jesus it trying to teach His disciples to trust so much in God’s ability to provide, that we can face tomorrow with faith and assurance knowing that God has already met tomorrow’s physical needs in our prayers of today
• ILLUS. I think we have an illustration of this in the Old Testament where God miraculously supplied the Manna to His people on a daily basis. Each morning the Israelites where to gather enough manna for each member of their household. In Exodus 16:18 we read: “And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.” NIV But if they tried to gather more than a day’s need, by morning the extra they had gathered was spoiled and rotting. Have you ever though what God’s motive were? Is it perhaps that God wanted the Israelites to come to regular dependance upon His sufficiency to meet their daily needs?
5. it is this kind of provision that gives us a peace and security so that we can perform the tasks God appoints us to do without worrying about our needs going unmet

B. IN PRAYING FOR OUR NEEDS OF TODAY, WE MUST NOT BE SELFISH IN OUR PRAYERS

1. Jesus uses an interesting choice of pronouns in this model prayer
1. notice he does not tell us to pray, “Give me my daily bread” but “give us our daily bread”
2. there are no singular verbs in the Model Prayer – they are all plural verbs
2. effective prayer always precludes selfishness
1. when we pray a prayer like this we are committing ourselves to take some kind of action to alleviate the needs others have in their lives
3. praying, “give us our daily bread” ought to motivate us to some kind of action on the behalf of others who have needs
• James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” NIV

C. IN PRAYING FOR OUR NEEDS OF TODAY, WE MUST BE GOOD STEWARDS IN OUR PRAYERS

1. notice that the prayer is for “bread” not “filet mignons”
2. there is something time honored and God blessed in living the simple life which makes resources more readily available for our fellow man
3. we are to pray for our needs of today

II. WHEN YOU PRAY, PRAY FOR THE NEEDS OF YESTERDAY

• Luke 11:4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us . . .” NIV
1. before I go any further, please notice the little conjunction and which connects verse four to verse three
1. it’s as though Jesus is conveying these requests as continuous daily actions . . .
1. Father, day-by-day, feed us . . .
2. day-by-day, forgive us . . .
3. and as we shall see in a moment, day-by-day, deliver us

A. OUR NEED OF YESTERDAY IS FOR FORGIVENESS OF SIN AND FOR A FORGIVING SPIRIT

1. day-by-day we need to seek God’s forgiveness and to each day forgive those who have sinned against us
1. a great deal of our problems within the church today centers around this arena of forgiveness
1. too many of God’s people have made themselves useless to the Kingdom because they suffer from the pangs of self-imposed guilt in an effort to atone for sins that God readily forgives
2. God has forgiven them in Christ, but they have never allowed themselves to experience that forgiveness
2. another sizable group of God’s people have made themselves equally useless to the Kingdom because they are harboring grudges and hatreds which they refuse to release by forgiving those who have wronged them in some way
2. I think that Matthew’s gospel gives us an interesting commentary to our Lord’s concept of grace
1. in that gospel, Jesus indicates that our willingness and ability to forgive others is a key indicator that we ourselves have truly experienced God’s forgiving grace in our own lives
• Matthew 6:14-15 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” KJV
3. that’s pretty heavy stuff, isn’t it?
1. remember, we are searching for effectiveness in prayer
2. the Psalmist said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” Psalm 66:18 KJV

B. ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS OF SIN IMPLIES OUR CONFESSION OF SIN

1. confession does not let God know that we have sinned
1. God is already well aware of our sin before we ever confess it to Him
2. then why confess it if He knows about it?
2. confession is for our benefit
1. the word confess actually means to agree with
3. when we confess our sin to God we are agreeing with Him that, “Yes indeed Lord; your holy Word says this action I’ve taken is sin and now I’m agreeing with you that it is sin and I repent of it.”
1. confession reminds us that we are in a relationship with a holy God and that sin interrupts the sweetness of that fellowship with Him
2. our confession of sin, and God’s forgiveness of that sin restores the rightness of our relationship with Him
4. when you pray, pray for the needs of yesterday

III. WHEN YOU PRAY, PRAY FOR THE NEEDS OF TOMORROW

• Luke 11:4 “. . . And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” KJV
1. our greatest need for tomorrow is strength to live for God
• 1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” NIV
2. we live in a world that does not make it easy for us to be holy
1. materialism, and hedonism, and secularism all bear down with amazing force to squeeze us into the image of the evil one
3. Jesus tells His disciples to pray for something different

A. WE ARE TO PRAY FOR DELIVERANCE FROM TEMPTATION

1. the last half of verse four as translated in most versions of the Bible, has caused many to ask, “Does God lead us into temptation?”
1. the answer to that question is a resounding “NO”
2. the Apostle James clearly tells us, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” James 1:13-14 NKJV
3. so what does Jesus mean when he says, “And day-by-day, lead us not into temptation?”
2. if we take the verse in its original Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, and translate what he said into English directly from the Aramaic, the phrase reads, “and let us not yield unto temptation.”
3. temptation is real
1. we all face it
2. Satan—the evil one—knows our weakest spots
4. once again the force of the conjunction and comes into play: “Day-by-day, Lord, don’t let me yield unto temptation!”
1. Jesus tells His disciples to pray daily for power to live for God tomorrow
2. God will honor the prayer of those who seek strength over the temptations of life
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” NIV
5. when you pray, pray for the needs of tomorrow—especially for victory of the temptations you will face

There you have it—the concerns and the needs which Jesus would have us to be aware of. The needs of the day—bread: The need of yesterday—forgiveness: And the needs of tomorrow—strength to endure the temptations and trials that will come our way.