Prayer Is About Requesting
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The Lords Prayer
The Lords Prayer
In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
I want to start a 3 part series on what prayer is about based on what we see in the Lord’s prayer. So for my next 3 sermons we are going delve more into this idea. Right at the start the Lord lets us know that this prayer is a pattern of content, not in identical words or form. It’s more of a model, so we understand what kind of content should be in or prayers. It opens with an exclusive desire to bring honor and glory to God. We are taught to pray for His glory, His kingdom, and His will.
Give us this day our daily bread.
In verse 11, however, we are taught to pray for ourselves. It’s a simple statement and on the surface, this petition seems narrow and selfish, compared to the broad and unselfish attitude manifested in the first part of the prayer. Yet, even this request for personal needs is intensely spiritual in nature. Prayer is about adoration, devotion, and worship. It is also about asking, dependence, and needs. Let’s consider the simple sentence “Give us this day our daily bread.” As we do, we are going to learn that prayer is about requesting.
The Devotion of This Prayer
The Devotion of This Prayer
By coming to God to ask for the basic needs of life, we are entering into a time of profound worship. In reality, no higher form of worship exists than that for a child of God to enter into the presence of his or her heavenly Father and unashamedly declare, “I cannot make it without You! I am totally dependent upon You, Lord!”
We believe in God’s power.
We believe in God’s power.
When we pray for God to meet our needs, we are proclaiming our faith in His power to do just that. We are telling our Father that we believe He is able to take care of us. This is the Bible’s testimony concerning our God
“I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
We believe in God’s promises
We believe in God’s promises
When we pray this simple prayer, we are confessing our 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 have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
We believe in God’s personality
We 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 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 and believing that He loves them and that He is a generous God.
God is not a miser who must be persuaded to meet our needs. He is our Father, and He delights in giving us the good things of life.
“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
The Dependence Of This Prayer
The Dependence Of This Prayer
Not only does this prayer honor the Lord by worshiping Him as the great Giver, it also expresses the total dependence of God’s children upon their heavenly Father. Notice what this prayer says about us and our relationship to the heavenly Father
It is a prayer of confession
It is a prayer of confession
This simple statement says, “I can’t meet my own needs, but You can.” When we pray this prayer, we are confessing our own weaknesses and limitations and confessing that we believe God is able where we are not. When we pray this prayer, we are not resting in our own ability to work and provide food for our tables.
It is a prayer of confidence
It is a prayer of confidence
The idea of this simple prayer is this: “Give us day by day the things that are necessary for life.” This is not a request for God to meet needs that have not yet arisen; it is an expression of faith in God that says, “I believe You will take care of me one day at a time”
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
It is a prayer of contentment
It is a prayer of contentment
This simple prayer says, “I am willing to accept the things You will send into my life today.” We may not always like the bread God sends our way, but we can trust Him to send us exactly what we need day by day. So, if we are called upon to eat the bread of sorrow and affliction, He knows best. If we are allowed to feast on angel’s food and heavenly manna, that is also His choice for us. Our duty is to trust Him to do in our lives exactly what needs to be done every day
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Let look at these next verses
Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:
“The LORD is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The practice of contentment is one of the greatest challenges believers face. Yet, it is what God expects from us.
The Depth Of This Prayer
The Depth Of This Prayer
On the surface, this request—“Give us this day our daily bread”—is a simple, straightforward request, and yet, when you think about it, this prayer is very large in its scope.
It is a communal prayer
It is a communal prayer
Notice the words “us” and “our.” This is not a prayer that can be prayed selfishly. It is not just about getting “my” needs met; it is about praying for the needs of the family of God. We are challenged and commanded to have the best interests of our brothers and sisters at heart as we pass through this life and as we pray.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
Doesn’t look like we are to pray for one another? Pray for preachers, teachers, missionaries, single mothers, struggling teenagers, families that are suffering, and those who are sick; and for every conceivable need in the lives of others.
It is a comprehensive prayer
It is a comprehensive prayer
One commentator said this phrase could be expressed in this way: “Give us this day the things sufficient for our subsistence.” This is more than a prayer for food on our plates; this is a humble request for God to provide everything we need to make it through each day. If we could ever get to the place where we truly trust Him for all we need, day by day, worry would no longer be a part of our lives. We would be in a place of contentment and peace, knowing that our heavenly Father is in perfect control of all the situations in our lives.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Look at this verse.
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
It is not wrong to pray for our needs. Some people will not pray for themselves, believing it to be selfish and not spiritual. Jesus clearly commands us to pray for the necessities of life; therefore, let us not be ashamed to bring every need and every matter to Him, knowing that He will hear us, sustain us, and supply us as we move through this world
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
May the Lord help His people realize that we are to ask, and if we will ask, we will receive. God is not a tight-fisted, mean-spirited, heartless dictator who delights in watching His children struggle. He is a gracious, loving heavenly Father who delights in giving His best gifts to those who know Him!
I’m encouraging us all to come to the Father and tell Him about the needs in your life. Never be afraid, never be ashamed, and never limit your praying to “important” matters. Come to Him and call on His Name, believing that He cares, that He hears, and that He will answer you for His glory!
In my next look into this prayer we’ll find that Prayer is about releasing.