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.
- It’s easy to think of God’s response to us being in the category of major retailer customer service. You call the number, they aren’t particularly helpful, whatever help they do provide is begrudging, you end up frustrated, and you don’t feel like they really care about you at all. That's the approach a lot of people subconsciously have as they pray - I’m not sure this is going to do any good but here goes nothing.
- It’s important that we remember that Jesus here tells us that God is relating to us as a Father, not a customer service representative. That gives us a framework in which to look at our prayer life that is encouraging and hopeful.
- God loves us. Stop and ponder that for a moment. God loves us. Not “God puts up with us” or “God won’t completely reject us” or “God thinks we are ok.” God loves us.
2. Know that God has compassion for those hanging by a thread.
- Matthew 12:20.
- I want to look at a somewhat confusing and obscure verse that is quoted by Matthew. It’s a quote from Isaiah 42 and it’s about Jesus.
- There is a whole sermon in the larger quotation shared here, but I just want to focus on one little phrase: “a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” What does that mean?
- A smoldering wick refers to a candle wick that is barely still lit. It’s hanging on by a thread and about ready to go out. Sometimes we are like that wick in our own lives - barely hanging by a thread and about ready to go out. We are at the end of our rope. We are struggling. We are a smoldering wick.
- Then it tells us something about the nature of Jesus: a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. What’s that mean? It means that when He comes upon someone in that situation - at the end of their rope, barely hanging by a thread, struggling, a smoldering wick - He will not put them out. In other words, He will not be the one to bring the final blow to a struggling person.
- What does that speak to? It speaks to compassion for the struggling person. Jesus doesn’t look at the struggling person and kick them while they’re down. No, He has a compassionate heart.
- This is something we see throughout His ministry. Again and again, He has a heart for those on the edges and those who are at the bottom of the barrel.
- What does this have to do with our prayer lives?
- Well, we know from Jesus’ words that He and the Father are one. That means they are unified in their values, priorities, and goals. That tells us that the Father shares Jesus’ compassion for the smoldering wick.
- This is an encouragement to us as we come to God in prayer about our daily needs. Given the nature of daily needs, we might often be coming to Him in a weakened or even desperate state. We are, in essence, a smoldering wick.
- How will God see us in that moment? Like a ruthless businessman who steps on people when they are down? Like an indifferent passerby who leaves someone on the street to their own problems? Or like someone who won’t snuff out a smoldering wick?
- When we talk to our heavenly Father, we are talking to someone who has compassion for the weak, the struggling, the smoldering wick. That is a huge thing to know as we come to Him in prayer in our weakened condition!
3. Understand that God encourages multiple conversations.
- Luke 18:1-8.
- When we have a big problem and bring it to God, that situation probably isn’t going to be successfully resolved on Day One. (It’s great when it does, but that's very infrequently.)
- As we walk through the problem, sometimes we feel like we are bugging God if we go back to Him day after day bringing up the same things over and over again. We feel like we are bothering Him. We think of it the way we usually do when a friend calls us day after day to bring up the same subject - at a certain point, we just wear out hearing about it. Enough already!
- God is not the same as we are, though. He specifically invited us to be persistent.
- Unpack Luke 18:1-8.
One side of this coin is that God is willing to listen day after day. The other side is that persistence is required to get prayer answered.
- It shows that we are continuing to look to Him for the answer. It shows that we are trusting in Him.
- Often we pray in passing for something and then never return to it. That's not good prayer. We need to come back to it until we see the answer. Not necessarily every single day, but regularly.
- Persistence is needed for answered prayer.
- One final thing on this point: the connection between worry and prayer.
- We are told not to worry but instead to bring our requests to God in prayer. Prayer is connected to the things we worry about.
- Worry is persistent. We get something stuck in our minds and go over it again and again. We can’t put it down.
- This is where the truth of Luke 18 is important. We are not just invited to pray for something once a day but no more. No, we can bring it to God as often as it comes to mind.
- That's where worry and prayer meet. When we find ourselves worrying again, we can stop and say, “Worry is ineffective. Instead, I’m going take this concern of my heart to the Father again. He has invited me to.” And it’s ok if we do that many times a day.
4. Pursue the practical insight God has given about how to best be in position to receive answers.
- John 15:7.
- John 15:7 (and a few parallel verses) teach us something crucial about answered prayer: obedience to the teaching of Christ sets us up for success.
- Now, when you think about it, this makes perfect sense. When we are living out the teachings of Christ, we are going to have hearts and minds that are far more in tune with what He wants us to be doing in our lives. As we become that changed person, our priorities, goals, and values are going to be in line with Christ’s.
- What practical impact does that have? There are many impacts but the one that is relevant to us right now is that we are going to ask for things that are in line with what God is eager to do. Gone will be shallow and worldly requests. Present will be Kingdom requests. This, of course, makes for requests that God is eager to answer.
- When we talk about God wanting to help us with our practical needs, we need to understand that we are not pointing toward God lavishing us with worldly success so that we can live in a worldly way. No, He wants to meet our needs and make sure we are taken care of, but He wants to see the Kingdom expand.
- This will manifest itself in practical ways. The material things that we long for will fade in the light of more important, spiritual priorities. Now, that doesn’t mean that we don’t need a car to drive, a house to live in, food to eat, and clothes to wear. And He is willing to supply those needs, which is why we are praying as Jesus instructs us in the Lord’s Prayer.
- But it also means that the things we deeply desire and the things we truly long for will shift.
- One final note, which is saying largely the same thing from a different direction.
- Some want to take the Lord’s Prayer “daily bread” as a way to make God take care of our financial needs while leaving the rest of our lives alone. It’s a comforting promise to know that God will be a help to us in that way but we want His help without asking for any other changes in our lives. It doesn’t work like that.
- God’s larger goal is to transform us into Christlikeness. That goal permeates every part of our lives, including our prayer life.
A FINAL VERSE TO ENCOURAGE US: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
- Hebrews 4:16.
- As we finish up, I’ve shared one final verse as an encouragement in this direction.
- There are two phrases I want you to focus on.
a. “Come boldly.”
- We have been invited to approach the throne of grace with boldness. That's wild!
- Let’s avail ourselves of this generous invitation.
b. “In time of need.”
- This takes us back to the “daily bread.”
- When you bring the two together, a good point to close on this morning is to know that when we have a need we have been invited to come boldly to God with our request.
- What needs do you have today to bring boldly to Him?
