Teach Us to Pray: A Study of the Lord’s Prayer

2. Teach Us to Pray:A Study of the Lord’s Prayer Trusting in God’s Provision Matthew 6:11

3. James 4:3 • 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids. Zondervan.

4. Hotel Owner is a stranger. You get what you order, even if it’s bad for you. Employees exist to serve you. You can order from a diverse menu. God’s House Owner is our Father. You only receive good and perfect gifts. You’re expected to serve others. You receive what’s served to you for the day. Contrast: Hotel vs. God’s House

5. Matthew 6:11 • 11 Give us today our daily bread. Jesus is teaching us here to go ahead and make requests of God in prayer. Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

6. Prayer Should Be a Daily Expression • Some people are in the weekly prayer plan. • Some people reserve prayer for emergency use only. • The Lord intended prayer to be a daily practice.

7. Dwight Moody • “A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God’s boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.”

8. Prayer • Prayer can become a positive source of power in our life only when we develop a custom of praying everyday. • It doesn’t have to be a particularly long time. • Make daily prayer the same time every day.

9. Somebody once said… • “Seven days without prayer makes one weak.”

10. Prayer Should Be a Daily Expression of Dependency on God • When the Israelites left their slavery in Egypt, God provided manna for them to eat every morning. • God was teaching His people to depend upon Him for daily food. • God was teaching them that if they obeyed His commandment to observe the Sabbath, He would provide food for that extra day as well. • God was teaching them to learn to be content with the basics and not to demand more.

11. Jesus taught His disciples to pray… • Jesus was teaching them to be content with what God would provide for them in taking care of their daily needs.

12. Revelation 3:17 • 17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

13. Jesus taught His disciples to pray… • Jesus was teaching them to be content with what God would provide for them in taking care of their daily needs. • So when we pray give us today our daily bread, we’re acknowledging our total dependence upon God.

14. Several Benefits from Praying for Daily Bread • It reduces anxiety.

15. Philippians 4:6-7 • 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

16. Several Benefits from Praying for Daily Bread • It reduces anxiety. • This prayer helps us to increase our contentment.

17. 1 Timothy 6:6-8 • 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

18. Several Benefits from Praying for Daily Bread • It reduces anxiety. • This prayer helps us to increase our contentment. • This prayer enhances our appreciation for each day.

19. Perspectives on Appreciation • David said… • “There is just one step between me and death.” • James said… • “You don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Your life is a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” • Psalmist… • “This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

20. Several Benefits from Praying for Daily Bread • It reduces anxiety. • This prayer helps us to increase our contentment. • This prayer enhances our appreciation for each day. • This prayer replenishes our spiritual energy.”

21. Jesus said… • “Man doesn’t live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.”

22. Isaiah 33:2 • 2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

23. Daily Unselfish Expression of Our Dependency upon God. • Notice the sequence of it. • Before we say my, we say Thy.

24. Dr. David Jeremiah • “How can we pray v:11 selfishly, tritely, and materialistically when we’ve just finished praying ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ We can’t. When we pray according to Jesus, our petition is in the proper context. ‘Lord, in the context of Your will being done on this earth, please meet the need that I have for today. You know better what those needs are than I do.’ What we think is best at one stage in life may be just the opposite of what we experience later.”

25. Alan Redpath, Victorious Praying • “Give us this day bread suited for our needs.”

26. Daily Unselfish Expression of Our Dependency upon God. • Notice the sequence of it. • Before we say my, we say Thy. • Notice the plurality of it. • We’re to pray, give usthis day our daily bread. So when we pray Lord give us today our daily bread, we’re praying unselfishly.

27. Stan Curtis • Founder of… • U.S.A. Harvest • Kentucky Harvest

28. 1 John 3:17 • 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

29. John Piper • “Making a million-dollar salary is not a sin. The evil, however, is in thinking that a million-dollar salary must be accompanied by a million-dollar lifestyle. God has made us to be the conduits of His grace and the danger is in thinking that the conduit should be lined with gold.”

30. James 2:16-17 • 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

31. Another Difference Between A Hotel and God’s House • In a hotel, you stay temporarily; you’re only a guest. And when you leave, you pay for every service you used. • In the Father’s house, you’re the member of a family forever; you belong. And you receive all the riches of the Father’s grace free from His hand.

32. John 6:47-51 • 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.