Powerful Dependance

Matthew 6:9-11 “9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need,”

This is the Word of God for the People of God....Thanks be to God

I think we all know people that get so focused on the urgent that they miss out on the truly important.

They always seem to miss birthdays, family get-togethers, put off family vacations, church, activities you name it chasing things that they think will give them joy, peace of mind, financial security, or Influence over others.

Yet no matter how much they are able to achieve.... in the end all they receive is more isolation, busyness and insecurity.

When people chase after things that are not essential they often catch regret instead of satisfaction.

We work ourselves to the bone and we even convince ourselves that the things we accumulate are essential to our future.

We place our identity on production and getting more and more stuff….when the only thing we really need is Gods presence.

I am not talking about an emotional presence…I am not talking about some electric feeling that God is with us all the time...

I am talking about a presence that is so real that maybe the only way it ca be explained is that it cannot be explained…

The closest thing I can get to is this.....Everyone take a deep breath......let it out......do you feel that....that immediate release of stress....

Now we can either choose to replace that stress with more stress or we can trust that God is with us.

Depending on God for your Future begins with Dependance on God for what we need today.

This is the power of of passage today.

Jesus did not instruct us to pray for extra for tomorrow. Jesus instructs us to pray for what is essential for today.

Matthew 6:11 “11 Give us today the food we need,”

The greek word for daily that is used in this passage is the word Epiousian…the only problems is that it does not easily translate to daily…In fact it is probably better translated....That which is needed for us to be…or that which is essential…

In light of this word we see that Jesus was instructing us as we pray to the Father asking for the bread we need to exist for today.

This not unheard of…in Exodus 16 when God rained down manna bread on the nation of Israel. In fact God was very explicit that they should only gather what they needed for that day…except on the day before the sabbath.

When the Israelites disobeyed God by gathering more than they needed God made the manna inedible…rotten, maggot invested.

In the book of Luke we see a rich farmer that has a bumper crop and builds new barns and fills it with the excess only to be told that this was all in vain because his life would be required of him that night and all of his wealth would go to others.

In one sense this seems very cruel but the truth is that when we fully trust in God for our need daily it eliminates doubt in God’s faithfulness for our future.

In order to live free of anxiousness about our Future we must know how to discern the difference between a need and a want.

Matthew 6:26-27 “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? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”

Most of our anxiety comes from our wants or desires for excess not our needs…

I know that there are exceptions to this but for the most part the things we are the most worried about having in our lives are not really the most essential to our lives.

Let go of those non essential wants that are leading to your anxiety.

When we narrow our choices to those things that are truly important it reduces stress and conflict.

I know this is contrary to the American dream in fact we believe that the more choices we have the more blessed we are....

but this is not true…This is why John Wesley preached the importance of a simple life…free of the turmoil that comes from running after the carrot on the stick.

The Cheesecake Factory has 250 choices on their menu.

Every time I go there to eat I go with the idea that I am going to try something I have never tried before. So I start off reading the menu…until I get overwhelmed and just order the same thing I always do…Teriyaki Chicken and rice and Cherry Cheesecake.

Even though this taste great I always walk away thinking I may have missed out by not trying something new. So it could be said that instead of many choices leading to fulfilment....they can lead to disappointment.

If you and I do not learn to let the Holy Spirit limit our choices we will never be happy with God’s will for our lives. We will always wonder what we are missing.

This Leads to emotions that are always on edge, relationships always seem to be lacking and an inability to enjoy the gift of life that God has given us.

Trusting in God replaces worry or fear of missing out (FOMO) with contentment and joy in the midst of whatever is happing today

Matthew 6:34 “34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

To be clear feasting on what you need to survive today does not means that one will never have trouble.

In fact it would be safe to say that everyday will have at least a small amount trouble.

But if we are feasting on the food the nourishes us instead of the junk food that seems to be most abundant there will be no doubt of God’s presence in our lives.

Willy (not his real name) is a guy who went to high school with my son. This kid is intelligent he has a great family and he has a the ability to have a great life.

However his greatest desire is to be famous. He has all the social media platforms and regularly post some of the most ridiculous things in the world.

I don’t see a lot of his stuff but what I do see seems to be to be self degrading...not empowering.

He is sacrificing his dignity and his emotional well being to achieve something that is not essential to his life.

His choices to seek fame over health has lead to a strained relationship with his family, and most importantly a strained understanding of where his identity really comes from.

His identity is wrapped up is whether or not he is adored by others not in being a child of God.

When we get our worth and Identity from God the natural outcome is the ability to live confidently in the moment.

God wants you to live confidently in the moment. Whether it is as individuals or even as a Community if we are willing to let go of the non essential (PAUSE) our ability to decern what is truly important and what is not significantly improves.

God’s does not want us dependent on the Holy Spirit for the purpose of controlling our behaviour. God wants to give us the greatest possible life.

A life Free of useless turmoil, worry or strife.

When we understand that it is ok to let go of those things that truly non essential it enables us to save our strength for the things that really matter.

Dependance on God for what we need in the present builds needed emotional strength to deal with tomorrows challenges.

Communion/Benediction