Can I Count On God For My Practical Needs? Series

ON MY OWN? Many Christians don’t count on God to come through but live as though they are on their own.

- Matthew 6:11.

- Most of us as Christians live as though it is up to us to provide for our lives, without any thought of divine help.

- This is proven in a few different ways:

a. Our paltry prayer lives.

- These mostly consist of physical, medical requests, which are the one thing we usually can’t fix ourselves. Just check the prayer requests on a typical Wednesday evening church service - 99% physical. (I concede there are other reasons for that, like our failure to trust each other enough to share more personal details, but this is a big piece of the puzzle.)

b. Our culture’s elevation of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.”

- We like people who do it themselves. We like people who don’t need help.

- And so the idea of depending on God, not just for really bad emergencies but all the time, sounds to some people like weakness.

c. We live in a society of plenty.

- Unlike poorer societies around the world where need is constant and severe, most Americans have their basic needs met. Because of that, we less often go to God with our everyday financial concerns or our common material concerns. We think we can handle it ourselves and so we don’t need God in our finances.

- Maybe if we are faced with an unexpected layoff or if we find ourselves with bankruptcy as a possibility, then we might go to God on these things, but most days we feel like we don’t need any divine intervention.

- Where does that leave us?

- We end up seeing this offer as one that we don’t really need to avail ourselves of. It was nice of Him to offer but we’ve got things under control, thank you very much.

- That is unfortunate because God is offering His help. And we need His help more than just in times of emergency.

One way to think about this line is that it’s more than just saying, “God, give me the bare minimum to exist today. Give me one slice of bread in order to subsist.”

- Rather, we can think of this as an evocative image (“daily bread”) through which we basically ask God, “Can I count on You to provide my needs?”

- It’s more than just a paltry meal. It’s about looking to God in all aspects of our lives as the One who can take care of our needs. It’s putting our trust in Him to care for us. And it’s recognizing that spiritual bread is even more needed than physical bread (and that Jesus is the “bread of life”).

- This brings us to a big issue: many struggle to believe that God actually wants to help us.

- Sure, He might want to help the preacher or that super-spiritual person you know, but not you.

- I want to provide you some encouragement this morning on praying with the confidence that God isn’t just willing but that He’s eager to be there to help you with your needs.

- Toward that end, I want to look at four passages that share truth that lifts us in that direction.

ENCOURAGEMENTS IN BELIEVING THAT GOD WILL ACTUALLY HELP US:

1. Think about how earthly fathers are good to their kids.

- Matthew 7:9-11.

- Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us our first encouragement: look at earthly fathers.

- He is talking here about earthly fathers not because they are intrinsically holier than earthly mothers but just to keep the comparison: earthly fathers and a heavenly Father.

- Now, I know there are horrible, abusive earthly fathers and this passage isn’t denying those exist but Jesus is speaking to the general truth, which is that earthly fathers love their children and are more than willing to sacrifice for them. In fact, that's a whole lot of the job: sacrificing to make sure they have what they need.

- Then Jesus makes the extension of His point: if earthly fathers love and care like that, how much more will your heavenly Father love and care for you?

- Why is this a “much more” situation?

- Because earthly fathers are limited in a number of ways:

a. By sin.

- No earthly father is perfect.

b. In resources.

- There are some things the typical earthly father doesn’t have the money to bring about.

c. In finiteness.

- An earthly father cannot be all places at all times to take care of all situations. He is not omnipresent.

- In comparison, our heavenly Father is unlimited, which gives Him greater capacity.

- This idea of God as Father raises the idea of Him doing these things not out of mandated obligation but out of genuine love.