We have been examining the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) and looking at its significance. As stated in earlier issues, I remember as a boy praying this prayer consistently, realizing years later after I became a born-again Christian just how profound this prayer model that Jesus gave us to follow was. We don’t have to pray exactly as shown to us because Jesus is giving us a blueprint on how to pray and approach God. It is the following:
Matthew 6:9-13 – KJV – “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen”.
Last issue, we covered the portion of the prayer “…thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” This issue we will look at “Give us this day our daily bread.”
What was Jesus trying to express to us here? He was encouraging us to pray to God, asking for the things that we need, such as life’s necessities and daily essentials. God is more than willing to supply our daily needs, and we can come before Him and ask. Scripture puts it like this:
Philippians 4:6-7 – NLT – Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
We must remember that God is a Father who desires to meet our needs. He may not always give us what we want if it is something that will be destructive to our lives. But He certainly will fulfill all of our needs. But we have to ask Him.
Now because of some of our past “religious” training, which may have been very “legalistic”, many believers are often afraid to ask God to meet their daily needs. We may have a distorted concept of God as some kind of “miser” and we think it’s a crime to ask Him for anything, whether our needs or just things we may desire. I’m not referring to the popular “Prosperity Gospel” that teaches that you aren’t spiritual enough if you don’t have the largest most expensive car, the biggest house or millions of dollars in the bank. Those things in themselves are not evil, but they don’t prove that you are spiritual either, because there are some very ungodly people who have no fear of God whatsoever who have those things. I’m talking about a mindset that is literally afraid to ask God for anything because of fear. And I can say that I have battled with this for a time in my life because I felt like I was never “good enough” to ask God for things. This was a distortion of my thinking about God and I had to come to the revelation that God was my Heavenly Father, who loves to bless His people. If you are struggling with this, realize that God is your Heavenly Father, that He loves you and that He is more than willing to meet your needs and, yes, even some things you may desire, as long as it’s not asked with impure motives (James 4:2). We’ll never be “good enough”, but we are “loved enough” by God Himself. Scripture says this:
Matthew 7:7-11 – NLT – “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
This Scripture helps us understand the heart of God toward His children when we ask Him for things. And those things don’t always have to be something material; they could be emotional or spiritual needs as well. How often have I been disturbed by something or someone and then get before the Lord and pray and He gave me peace? That’s a need met just as powerful as any material need! We can pray for peace in difficult situations, pray for God to step into any situation and ask Him to give us boldness when we are afraid. That’s the heart of our Father!
We will continue our study next issue. God Bless!
