“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 6:5-13

This week we learn that when we pray, “give us today our daily bread” we are assuming our dependence on God and recognizing that we can do nothing outside of Him. We are inherently needy creatures that rely on a source of energy that is outside of ourselves in order to survive. And even though we cannot meet our needs on our own, we still tend to be greedy and even become ungrateful when God does not meet the needs that we think are our top priorities.

God provides all that we need, but sometimes what we think we need, God knows will derail us. The needs we bring to God reveal what is most important to us, and while God loves to provide for us, He is not in the business of sponsoring our idols. We need to switch our mindsets to understand that Jesus is our daily bread and because of that he is our provider, our portion, and we have plenty. We should not worry about tomorrow, because our God is able to supply our needs today.

Next Step Questions:

  1. What needs are keeping you up at night that God is able to give you?
  2. Who can be changed because of your surplus?
  3. Give…

Catch up on earlier Teach Us to Pray sermons: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5