Not only does the Lord want us to pray about God and His glory, but also about man and his needs. In this sermon we explore the 2nd part of the Lord’s Model Prayer in which we see Jesus encouraging us to pray about food for our body, fellowship with our God, and faithfulness in our temptations.
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Prayer For The Believer’s Needs
Luke 11:3-4
Over the last few weeks we have been invited into Christ’s School of Prayer. Jesus is the teacher, and we are the students. The course He is instructing us about is Prayer. The first thing He has taught us about prayer is who we are praying to. We are praying to “Our Father who is in heaven.” God is our Father – loving, tender, and approachable, and God is in Heaven – exalted, transcendent, holy, majestic, and sovereign.
But Jesus has also taught us what we are to pray about. What kinds of things is God pleased for us to talk to Him about when we pray? Well, Jesus begins by focusing our attention on three things that concern God, and then three things that concern us. Remember, that as the One who is in heaven, He calls us to pray about His Name being hallowed, His kingdom coming, and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. As the exalted one in heaven, it is only right for us to make His name, kingdom, and will our top priority. Really, the first request is the supreme one – “Hallowed be Your name”, and every other request we make is for that. We pray that God’s kingdom would come so that His name would be hallowed. We pray that God’s will would be done so that His name would be hallowed. We pray for our daily bread so that we would live and have strength to hallow His name. We pray for the forgiveness of sins so that His name would be hallowed. We pray for victory over sin so that His name would be hallowed.
However, we will learn this morning, that our great God invites us to bring our own needs to Him in prayer. Just as the One in heaven relate to the first three petitions, so too God as our Father relates to the second three petitions. As our Father, He delights to meet our needs. The opening three petitions concern God and His glory. The last three petitions concern man and his need. Now, the Lord knows that the believer has three basic needs. He needs food for his body, fellowship with his God, and faithfulness in his temptations.
Did you notice the shift in emphasis at this point in the Lord’s Model Prayer. Up to this point Jesus has been speaking of Your name, Your kingdom, and Your will. Now, the “Your” shifts to “our” and “us.” “Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
This morning we are going to meditate upon our three basic needs which the Lord has encouraged us to bring before God in prayer: food for our body; fellowship with our God; and faithfulness in our temptations.
1. Food For Our Body
“Give Us Each Day Our Daily Bread”
What Does This Petition Mean? The particular Greek word used for “daily” is used only in this prayer in all of the New Testament. So, it was very difficult to figure out exactly what it meant. However, in the recent past, a papyrus fragment was discovered in extra-Biblical literature with this word on it. It turned out to be a woman’s shopping list! Next to an item on her list was this particular word. It was a reminder for her to buy this particular food for the coming day. Therefore, this petition means “give us each day the bread we need for the coming day.” If we pray this in the morning we would be asking for bread for that same day. If we prayed it in the evening, we would be asking for tomorrow’s bread.
Implications From This Petition
1. The Prosperity Gospel Is Unbiblical. When Jesus gets around to teaching us the kinds of things we may ask for ourselves, what does He tell us? He teaches us we should ask for our daily bread. We are to ask for bread, not gold, or lands, or houses, or money, or wealth, or yachts, or BMWs. And we are told to ask only for the bread for the coming day. We are not to be praying for next week’s bread, or next month’s rent, or next year’s tax payment. Jesus, Himself, was a homeless itinerant preacher. The foxes had dens, the birds of the air had nests, but the son of Man had nowhere to lay His head. Yet, the Prosperity Gospel teaches that God wants His children wealthy and healthy. To be poor, then, is a lack of faith. I guess Jesus must have had a lack of faith, then. As far as the things in this world go, Jesus was not a wealthy man. My friends, any teaching that causes you to take your eyes off of the spiritual and eternal and fasten them on the carnal and temporal is not “sound” doctrine. It is still true that “the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” We are not told to name and claim and confess a big house, new car, or riches in our bank account. No, we are to humbly ask only for the bread we need for the coming day. We are not to pray for our greeds, but for our needs. The problem with the Prosperity Gospel is that it promotes sin. It promotes greed, materialism, covetousness, and discontentment. So, the next time you see Kenneth Copeland, or Paul or Jan Crouch, Benny Hinn or Joel Osteen tell you that God wants you rich, change the channel!
2. God Is Concerned About Our Physical Needs as Well as His Glory. He is concerned with our bodies as well as our souls. He’s not just concerned with His glory, His kingdom, and His will. He’s also concerned about you getting enough food to survive. Sometimes we might come away with the idea that God cares only for our spiritual lives and has no interest at all in anything else. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christ healed men’s bodies as well as saved their souls. Christ cast out demons. Christ multiplied fish and loaves because He felt compassion for the multitude and didn’t want them to faint as they traveled home. Christ felt compassion for the widow who lost her son, because He knew she would have no one in this world to take care of her. In this passage we learn that we may pray for all the things which are necessary to sustain our physical lives. By extension, I believe we can extend this application to include such things as your clothing, your shelter, your rent money, and your electric bill. Sometimes we get the idea that the Lord is only concerned about answering the big prayer requests for His glory or for people to be saved. However, we learn here that God is delighted to answer the “little” requests as well. He delights to show His love to His children by taking care of their physical needs. Are you out of work? Ask Him to provide a job! Are you out of food? Ask Him to provide food for the family! Are you lacking the money needed to pay your bills? Do you need a car? Go to the Lord and ask Him to provide the things that you need.
3. The Supply of our Physical Needs is a Gift from God. “Give us each day our daily bread.” That’s why we stop to thank Him before eating a meal. It’s simply a recognition that this food comes from His hands, and we are grateful. We “return thanks.” In the first century, Jesus’ disciples knew this truth very well. Men and women lived, by and large, in an agrarian society. Unless God sent the rain and the sun, and protected the land from the frost and drought, there would be no food on the table. They knew when they sat down to eat, that it was God who gave their bread to them. You know what? That’s still true! Even if you never planted a seed in your life, and have just gone down to the corner grocery store your whole life, your food is still a gift from God. James 1:17 says “every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights.” A Christian knows that God is behind every blessing in life, no matter how big or small. Do you know that it is because of God that you have a home, and food, and clothing? Do you thank Him for providing your needs? We ought to!
4. We Need to Learn To Depend Completely on our Father. Jesus taught His disciples to pray for their bread for the coming day. This reminds me of the children of Israel as they were traveling through the wilderness. God provided their bread for the coming day. This bread was called “manna.” Every morning they had to go out and gather it up. But if they decided they would collect enough manna to last for two or three days in case God didn’t come through, the manna would breed worms and become foul. I believe Jesus must have had this in mind when He taught His disciples to ask each day for their daily bread. We need to go to God each day and ask Him to provide enough for our needs for that day. We need to learn to refuse to become anxious and worried about what might happen in the future. Jesus said in Mt. 6:34, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Many people live in fear of what might happen one day. They are afraid of a future nuclear war, or of a terrorist attack, or of one of their children being kidnapped, or of getting cancer. Folks, we need to start trusting God one day at a time and refuse to worry about the future.
2. Fellowship With Our God
“And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us”
What Does This Petition Mean? Well, it’s important to notice who Jesus is speaking to? He’s not telling lost people to pray this prayer. He’s speaking to His disciples, those who address God as Father. Clearly, these are Christians. We can easily make the mistake that Jesus is telling sinners that they should be praying and asking God to forgive their sins. No, that’s not His meaning. However, the problem comes when we consider why Jesus would teach believers to ask God to forgive them. Aren’t they already forgiven? Col. 2:13 says, “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.” Not some transgressions, but all our transgressions. 1 John 2:12 says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.” Rom 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Well, to be justified is to not have our sins imputed to us, and instead have Christ’s righteousness imputed to us. So, it is clear that the moment we believe in Jesus Christ, all our sins have been forgiven and we receive the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Well, what then does Jesus mean when He tells believers to ask God to forgive them? I think the answer to this is that in this prayer we are not coming to a judge to find forgiveness for a crime, but to a Father to find forgiveness for an offense. In other words, Jesus is not talking about judicial forgiveness, but parental forgiveness. Every Christian has already received judicial forgiveness. God, the Judge, has forgiven him of all sins when He justified Him. However, daily we do and think and say things that offend our Father. I have a son named Jonathan who lives in Columbia. No matter what Jonathan does, he will always be my son. Nothing will ever change that. However, let’s say that when he was 17 years old, he came home drunk. When I confronted him about it, he got angry and hit me in the face, cursing and swearing the whole time. Now, when he hit me and cursed me, did he stop being my son? No, of course not. However, he sinned against me, and until he confesses his sin and asks for forgiveness, there is going to be a breach in our relationship. The strain in our relationship will not go away, until my son deals with his sin and repents. So it is with us in our relationship with God. We will always be God’s children if we have been saved. However, when we commit sins against Him, we need to come to Him, confess them, and ask for forgiveness, in order for our communion with God to be unbroken. The most important thing in all the world for a Christian is to have the smile of his Father upon him.
Implications From This Petition
1. We Need to Keep Short Accounts With God. We should learn to go to God immediately when we sin. The problem occurs when we sin, but refuse to go to God and confess it. We know if we confess it, we will have to forsake it, and inwardly we want to continue in this sin. So, we do what Adam and Eve did. We hide from God. My friend, as long as you are covering up your sin, you are going to be miserable. Much better to confess your sin to God as soon as possible, and regain His smile and favor in your life. This is the only way to maintain unbroken fellowship with God. So, let’s say you have just been rude or impatient with a family member. What should you do? Immediately go to God, and confess that it was sin. The word “confess” means to “say the say thing as” God says. If God says your behavior is sin, then agree with God and say the same thing about it that He says. Ask for the Lord’s forgiveness, then go on your way, happy and rejoicing in God.
2. Unforgiveness Will Impede Our Relationship With God. Jesus said “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” The implication is that if we will not forgive others, we will not receive forgiveness. This is not saying that your eternal salvation depends on your forgiving others. It is saying that your experience of fellowship with God is related to your forgiving others. If you refuse to forgive someone of their offenses to you, it is going to hinder your relationship to God. It is similar to what Peter says to husbands, “show your wife honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life so that your prayers will not be hindered” (1Pet.3:7). If I harbor unforgiveness toward someone, my relationship with God will grow distant. Folks, your relationship with God is far too important. Far better to release that person who has sinned against you and have the favor of God! If we would realize the great debt which God has forgiven us of, we would have no problem letting go of the little debt that this other person owes me!
3. Faithfulness In Our Temptations
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
What Does This Petition Mean? Why should we have to ask God not to lead us into temptation? Shouldn’t we take that for granted? I think the answer to this question is that we have here a literary device called a “litotes.” It’s a figure of speech that expresses a truth by negating its opposite. In other words, the expression “not a few”, means “many.” The expression “not into temptation” means “into righteousness.” It will also help us to know the meaning of this phrase, but looking at the second half of the sentence – “but deliver us from evil.” Deliverance from evil is what it means to not be led into temptation. What Jesus is telling us to ask for in prayer is victory over our temptations. This third petition we are to ask of God is for holiness of life.
Implications From This Petition
1. The Christian Longs To Be Holy. Sin grieves him. It makes him uncomfortable. It distresses his soul. There lies within the heart of every true child of God a longing to be holy as God is holy. We yearn to be like our Master. Folks, if a man only cares about being saved from hell, but doesn’t long to be saved from his sin, he’s probably not saved! When God saves a man, He plants His own nature within him. It is a nature that hates sin and loves holiness. We are not content with being justified. We long to be sanctified!
2. The Christian Is Dependent on God for Holiness. We know that instinctively, don’t we? We realize that if we are ever going to make progress in holiness, God is going to have to grant us His grace and power. We have tried and failed so many times to overcome certain sins and evil habits, and fallen again. We want to be holy, but feel like we make so little progress. So, Jesus teaches us to pray about holiness. He teaches us to feel our complete dependence on God for progress in holiness. And this is in perfect accord with God’s Word. Romans 8:13, “if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” 1 Thess.4:7-8, “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” The clear implication in this passage is that God gives His Holy Spirit for the purpose of sanctifying us. Phil. 2:12-13 says, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” The good news is that God has not left us on our own to try to fight our temptations. He has given us His Word filled with God’s promises to fill us with faith in the battle, He has given us the weapon of prayer by which we can cry out for help in the midst of the battle, and He has given His Spirit to empower us to fight in the battle. Yes, Christian, you are responsible to grow in holiness. However, you don’t have to do this on your own. God, Himself, has pledged Himself to be your strength in this great undertaking. Depend on Him. Cry to Him. Seek Him. Trust Him!
Conclusion
In this passage, Jesus has given us some rich instruction on prayer. He has given us a sampling of the kinds of things that we should be praying about. When it comes to God, pray that He will cause His name to be regarded as holy, His kingdom to grow and increase, and His will to be done, on earth the same way these things are taking place in heaven.
But, having prayed for God and His glory, you then may pray for you and your needs. Pray for your physical needs. Pray for a job, rent money, a car, physical healing, and food to last until your next check.
When you sin, confess it to God, and ask Him for forgiveness, so that your relationship with Him will not suffer. And forgive anyone who has offended you so that your fellowship with God will not be blocked.
Ask God to grant you faithfulness in your temptations. Pray that you will not sucuumb to temptation. Each of us has temptations that we face. It may be drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, pornography, gossip, cheesecake, gambling, video games or TV. Now, many of these things are not wrong in and of themselves, but if God has told you no to pursue some of these things, then they become a sinful temptation. When you confront them, cry to God. Be in blood earnest about defeating them! Don’t take the passive approach, “Oh, it’s not such a big deal. It’s just a little thing. Surely, God won’t really mind.” No, fight these things with the fight of faith. Store up God’s Word, so you can bring them back to mind and pray through them when you are being tempted. May God enable us to pray for our needs, fellowship with God, and holiness of life this week. Amen.
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