PRAYER IS ABOUT REQUESTING

PRAYER IS ABOUT REQUESTING

Prayer:Dear God, Please bless and take care of our family, friends, and people all over the world. Cover them with Your love and give us strength every day. Remind us daily that our battles are won on our knees. Help us to overcome the challenges in our lives. Please take care of us today. Amen.

Matthew 6:11Give us today our daily bread.

Intro: In the first part of this prayer everything is spiritual. Here, everything seems to be sensual, selfish and fleshly in nature. To turn the spotlight off God and onto ourselves seems petty, selfish and small.

Yet, even this request for personal needs is intensely spiritual in nature. It truth, this petition elevates our hearts and our God! Even though we are here making request for ourselves, the spotlight still rests squarely in the face of the Almighty. For as truly as prayer is about adoration, devotion and worship, it is also asking, dependence and needs. We are going to consider the simple sentence: “Give us today our daily bread.” As we do, we are going to learn that Prayer Is About Requesting.

I. THE DEVOTION OF THIS PRAYER

When we pray”Give us today our daily bread,” we are acknowledging that God is our sustainer and provider. It is a misconception to think that we provide for our needs ourselves. We must trust God daily to provide what he knows we need.

(Ill. By coming to God to request the provision of the basic needs of life, I am entering into a time of profound worship. In reality, no higher form of worship exists than for a child of God to enter into the presence of our heavenly Father and unashamedly declare: “I cannot make it without You! I am totally dependent upon You Lord!”)

A. I Believe In God’s Power – When I pray for God to meet my needs, I am proclaiming my faith in His power to do just that. Are you using what you can’t understand as an excuse for your lack of trust? Admit to God that you don’t have enough faith to trust him. True faith begins in such humility. “For nothing is impossible with God.”(Luke 1:37) “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”(Ephesians 3:21)

(Ill. If our God can create everything from nothing, then He can take care of you! If He can feed two million Israelites for 40 years in a desert, then He can take care of you. If He can do all the great things He did throughout the pages of the Word of God, then you do not need to doubt His ability to take care of you. He is able and He will see to it that your needs are met. Thank God, He is able!)

B. I Believe In God’s Promises – When I pray this simple prayer, I am confessing my faith in the promises God has made to His children. The Bible is very clear when it tells us that the Lord will take care of His Own, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” Psa. 37:25 God provides for his own people. The children of the righteous need not go hungry because other believers can help out in their time of need;

“And My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” Phil. 4:19. We can trust that God will always meet our needs. He has promised to do it and He will do it!

C. I Believe In God’s Personality – When we ask God for the daily needs of life, we are not trying to twist His arm to get Him to give us things that He does not want us to have. We are not trying to overcome His reluctance to meet our needs. We are merely laying hold on His provision. We are humbly acknowledging His willingness to give. Nothing honors God more than His children coming to Him in childlike faith, asking Him for what they need, believing that He loves them and that He is a generous God.

God is not a scrooge Who has to be persuaded to meet our needs. He is our Father and He delights in giving us the good things of life, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32.

(Ill. Look at all the great gifts God has already given; especially consider the great gift of His darling Son Jesus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”John 3:16. He is an open handed God Who rejoices in the opportunity to give to His children. This prayer acknowledges and honors that aspect of God’s personality.)

Conc: Robert McCheyne, a great, Scottish preacher who was mightily used by God until his death at the age of 29 said, “God will either give you what you ask, or something far better.”

Samuel Chadwick said, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless works and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”

Let me encourage you to come to the Father and tell Him about the needs that in your life. Never be afraid; never be ashamed; and never limit your praying to “large matter.” Come to Him and call on His Name, believing that He cares, that He hears and that He will answer you for His glory!

Are there some things you need to pray about this morning? The altar is open and the way to His throne is clear. He wants you come. Will you?