The Lord's Prayer 3: God's Provision
class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;line-height:normal'>Message Title: You Can’t Always Get What You Want, But God Will Provide What You Need
Theme/Series: The Lord’s Prayer III: God’s Provision
Text: Matthew 6:11
Pericope: Matthew 6:5-15
5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Outline:
Introduction
In the words of the great philosopher (tongue in cheek) Mick Jagger. . .
You can't always get what you want (no, no baby)
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need, ah yes...
Why listen?: Are you
- Worried about the economy?
- About your finances?
- Providing for tomorrow in an uncertain future?
Of Note:
- Dave Ramsey: 70% of American’s live pay check to pay check
- According to a series of Gallup Polls conducted Jan. 17-20, 2008, about one in three Americans (34%) say they worried about money "yesterday," with 10% saying they were "very worried" and 24% saying they were "somewhat worried." Lower-income consumers are more likely to worry about money than their higher income counterparts are, but even among higher income Americans, there are many who say they worry about money.
Source: Gauging Americans’ Level of Financial Worry
by Dennis Jacobe
Chief Economist
http://www.gallup.com/poll/103945/Gauging-Americans-Level-Financial-Worry.aspx
I see three responses to these pressures:
(1) Worry – This response is rooted in fear of the future
Matthew 6:25- 34
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
(2) Grumbling—
a. Expectations—unrealistic or out of alignment
b. Inaccurate view of the past
Exodus 16:1 - 21
1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days."
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?" 8 Moses also said, "You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD."
9 Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.' "
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.
11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.' "
13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer [a] for each person you have in your tent.' "
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 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.
19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers [b] for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
(3) Daily application of God’s provision-- Matthew 6: 11 Give us today our daily bread.
I see three principles for living in “our daily bread.”
Prioritize—the promise is for those who seek first the Kingdom of God.
In Jesus’ teaching on worry, he directs us to seek first the kingdom of God and these things would be added unto us.
Notice in the Lord’s Prayer that we pray for our daily needs after pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.”
Seeking the kingdom first is an ordering of our priorities to God’s priorities. It is a focus on obedience to God’s will.
This affects our expectations—this process sets our priorities to align with God’s priorities
The focus is on what we need NOT on what we want.
James 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Yes, but God promises us the desires of our heart!
This implies that the desires of our heart are focused on God’s plan for us.
Is the starting point of your expectations on what you need or want?
When we want something, we will tell ourselves we deserve it. We deserve to be happy! We justify many things that are wrong this way.
Focus---Ask, seek, knock
Our focus begins with “us”—note it doesn’t say give me today my daily bread. There is an awareness of others.
There is no room for selfishness in God’s provision.
It is daily bread—just enough for our needs today. This principle reflects to what we need not what we want.
Ask for it daily--
Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened
Tenacity is implied in the tense of the words used here. Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, Knock and keep on knocking, Don’t give up!
Adopt God’s economics--
Work hard—Our daily bread never exempts us from the need for hard work. We are to apply ourselves to meaningful work. Keeping it in perspective.
Avoid debt—(live within our means)
Worry comes from an over focus on the future—
Debt is the sale of your future for some gratification in the present. Debt feeds this worry.
Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
If we are slave to the lender, then our ball and chain is money. Jesus says, no man can serve two masters. By being in debt we bring another master into our life. It splits our focus and divides our loyalty.
Give joyfully—God’s plan is for us to be free from the love of money and things. When we are free from attachment to money and things, we can become conduits of giving. God loves cheerful givers.
Turn away from our consumerism. We need to repent from consumerism. Repent means a change of direction. We need to change direction from being consumers. Consumerism drives against all the principles we have talked about above. It is at odds with God’s priorities.
- It focuses on wants not needs
- It demands things in the present, which leads to debt
- It focuses on me not we
- It is about getting not giving
Conclusion—
We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We don’t know what the economy is going to do. What we do know is that our Loving Father is already there and will provide for us. We don’t have to worry, we can be confident and have faith in His provision. God wants us to live an abundant life free of worry and fear.