We’re in a message series called “Praying with Jesus.” In this series, we’re looking in detail at the phrases in the Lord’s prayer to help us grow in praying more effective prayers. Prayer is the most powerful force available to the believer, because it connects us with the unstoppable power of God. I want to learn to pray more powerful and effective prayers and I’m sure you do as well. As we’ve looked at the Lord’s prayer, the first phrases had to do with God’s name, His kingdom and His will. So, our prayers as well, should give priority to God, placing our will in submission to His. Today, we begin to talk about our own requests with the petition found in
Matthew 6:11 (NIV) Give us today our daily bread.
Just a six word request, but there is a lot packed into it. First of all, this request acknowledges our reliance on God to meet our needs. We admit that we can’t meet our needs on our own. Secondly, this request is for our daily bread. So we ought to pray every day for God to meet our need. Thirdly, the prayer is for our needs to be met today. This request is intended for us to ask God concerning our specific needs for the day, trusting Him to meet them. What is our daily bread? I believe it refers to our physical needs, but also to our spiritual needs, our need to hear from God every day.
John 6:35 (NIV) Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
Jesus Himself is our daily bread who meets every need of our lives. So, this request is a powerful aspect of our prayer lives, when we keep it in perspective. Our needs come lower in priority then God’s kingdom.
Today, my message is entitled “The Antidote for Worry.” We’re going to learn that prayer is the antidote for worry. When we rely on God to give us our daily bread, there is no need to worry at all.
Philippians 4:6 (NIV) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
So, when you have a need, don’t worry about it, but simply ask God to meet that need. However, all of us fall into the temptation on majoring on our needs in prayer. Asking God for things that have nothing to do with His kingdom or His will for our lives. Prayer is not about meeting our frivolous wants, it’s about praying for God’s kingdom and seeing Him meet our needs to advance His kingdom in and through our lives. When problems or needs arise in our lives, we are going to see from Jesus’ teaching how prayer can replace worry in our lives.