THE LORD’S PRAYER - PROVISION
A college student walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. This involved removing it from the frame. In doing this, the studio owner noticed the inscription on the back of the photograph: "My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity." It was signed "Diane," and it contained a P.S.: "If we ever break up, I want this picture back." When you receive Christ as your savior you never have to worry about a P.S. because God will never leave you or forsake you. We are His. We belong to Him -- forever. We have this position in Christ but we often fail to cultivate our relationship with Him in prayer.
Matt 6:11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
We serve a faithful God who meets all of our needs – both physical and spiritual. When we come to prayer we recognize His faithfulness and pledge our own.
1. Give us Today – needs for the day (physical)
God is faithful in that He provides everything that we physically need from day to day. The children of Israel new this provision when they wandered in the wilderness. Every day they would wake to find that God had supplied again their needs for the day.
In prayer we recognize our needs and acknowledge God’s provision of those needs. These words are not to remind God of His duty to us but to remind us of His love. God knows what you need and has promised to supply all of your needs.
Dr. Helen Roseveare, missionary to Zaire, told the following story. "A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister. One of the girls responded, ’Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead. And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won’t feel so lonely.’ That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so earnestly started to dig deeper, exclaiming, ’If God sent that, I’m sure He also sent a doll!’ And she was right! The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child’s sincere requests, and 5 months earlier He had led a ladies’ group to include both of those specific articles." E.g. the Doulos
Matt 6:31 So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Are you worried about anything this morning? Odds are that someone here is. Worry seems to be an epidemic in the world in which we live. Some years ago, the Mayo Clinic stated that statistically 80 percent to 85 percent of their total case load were ill either in reality or artificially due directly to mental stress.
According to the National Bureau of Standards, a dense fog covering seven city blocks to a depth of 100 feet is composed of something less than one glass of water. This can be compared to the things we worry about. If we could see into the future and if we could see our problems in their true light, they wouldn’t blind us to the world -- to living itself -- but instead could be relegated to their true size and place. And if all the things most people worry about were reduced to their true size, you could probably stick them all into a water glass, too.
It is important to always acknowledge and reflect on God’s provision. This is why we teach children to say grace before meals.
My friend Bob was trying to teach his daughter, Jenny, how to say grace before meals. After a few weeks of coaching, Bob decided Jenny was ready to say grace all by herself. Jenny started out fine, thanking God for her mommy and daddy and brother and sister and for the rolls and the salad, etc. She ended with a big, "Thank you, God, for the spaghetti!" and lifted her head. The tradition in Bob’s house, though, was to end each prayer with "In Jesus’ name, Amen." So Bob prompted Jenny, "In ..." At first, Jenny seemed confused. Then she proudly exclaimed, "In tomato sauce. Amen."
2. Forgive us our Debts – need for forgiveness (spiritual)
In prayer we not only remember God’s provision for our physical needs but also, more importantly, for our spiritual needs.
"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior."
In the movie The Mission, Jesuit missionaries in Brazil seek to bring Christ to the native peoples. Others seek to conquer and capture the natives and make them slaves. The worst of the slave traders is a soldier called Mendoza (Robert De Niro). When Mendoza murders his brother he is overcome with guilt and seeks God but feels that he is unworthy of forgiveness. As penance to make up for his sins, he takes all his old armor and swords, everything he used to use in the slave trade, and drags them through the mountains of the jungle following the Jesuits. Eventually they meet the tribal people he had once sought to enslave. The result is forgiveness: (show movie clip)
Our greatest need in life is for forgiveness because our greatest problem in life is sin. When you accepted Christ as Savior then Christ paid for your sin. Your have been justified through His sacrifice. However, sin continues to come between us and God. Forgiveness is something that we must daily constantly seek because we daily sin. Our salvation does not depend on it but our intimacy with God does.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
3. As we also have forgiven our Debtors – need to forgive others
As important as it is to seek forgiveness from God we need to offer forgiveness to others. Jesus specifically addresses this right after He had taught the disciples this prayer. Certainly forgiving others is a major part of the prayer.
Matt 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Unforgiveness is a cancer in our spiritual lives. Everyone in life gets hurt to some degree. While we often do not have a say it what is done to us we do have a say in what we do with our pain.
What is the cost of unforgiveness:
a. It affects our relationship with God. John tells us that it is impossible to love God and at the same time hate another person (made in the image of God). Unforgiveness sets us against God and gives the enemy a foothold into our lives.
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
b. It affects our relationship with one another. Unforgiveness becomes bitterness which eventually if unchecked becomes a driving force in our lives. No one likes being around bitter people.
Heb 12:15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
c. It affects us personally (emotionally and physically). Unforgiveness is sin, and sin in our lives always has consequences. Harboring unforgiveness in your heart leads to all sorts of emotional and physical problems.
Psalm 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
