I guess it makes me feel guilty to see how much time I spend in this gift of prayer asking for things rather than praising and adoring the God who loves us so much and to whom we belong. As we ponder this, think about your worldly relationships. If all you spend time talking about to your spouse, children, friends, even acquaintances, is your wants and needs, do you think they will want to spend time with you? Our Lord loves us and we are his people and ever since Pentecost we are his people who dwell in his presence and through whom his presence comes to our dark world. We are salt and light to the world. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore we have the privilege of calling God "abba father!" Why is it that we would spend so much time in prayer asking for things rather than talking to the God who so desperately wants to have a relationship with us? So much so that HE sent HIS Son to die for you and me!
We will look at the way Jesus did not worry about HIS physical needs. We know he told the disciples in the Sermon on the Mount not to worry about what we should eat or what we should wear:
Matthew 6: 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 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. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus would set this example when he is followed by thousands and then simply tells Philip to feed them in our Gospel lesson from John 6:5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.7 Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages[a] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
Jesus rebukes the winds and waves, sleeps through storms, pays the temple tax with money from fish, takes care of the wedding wine with water etc.... It is not a huge deal, the things that cause us anxiety, to our LORD. Martin Luther in a pamphlet entitled "Luther's quiet time" told his barber that he spent 3 to 4 hours every morning in prayer, more if he had a busy day! When asked how he prayed he said he used the ACTS prayer model which means Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Adoration, confession and thanksgiving are all relationship oriented. The Supplications are the requests and they are at the end. Our Lord wants us to be in a great relationship with him, sharing our hearts and minds as well as our desires and needs.
May we be a people who understand the privilege of prayer. May we be a people of the promise and the people of the presence who understand the power of prayer. May we be a people who live by faith and know that the Lord is good and his steadfast love endures forever and as in our Old Testament reading from Psalm 145: The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.[c] 14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. This is a Psalm, as is the High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Acts 4 and Aaron's prayer in Lev 16 that are models of HOW TO PRAY for us. We are a praying people. Jesus, Peter, Paul, Luther etc.. all exemplified the importance of prayer. Please join me in praying during this Lenten Season to help us know that we BELONG and WE BELIEVE THE LORD HAS OUR BACK AND THAT WE CAN BECOME LIKE HIM KNOWING WE ARE CHOSEN AND THAT WE ARE LIGHT AND SALT TO A DESPERATE AND DARK WORLD!
Please pray for the anointing and POURING OUT of the HOLY SPIRIT as we worship both at EMU and ALIVE! in Lenawee County!! I want us all to walk with Adoration, Confession and thanksgiving on our lips only spending a short time with Supplications and being still and knowing the our Lord knows what we need and trusting that HE WILL PROVIDE!
The Fourth Petition From Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation Questions and Bible References:
Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean?
God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil
people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to
receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily bread? Daily bread includes everything that has to do with
the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house,
home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children,
devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace,
health, selfcontrol, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
219. Why do we pray to God for daily bread?
We pray to God for daily bread, which includes everything that has to do with the
support and needs of the body, because Christ wants us to
A. realize that our entire life and that of everyone else depends on God;
766 Ps. 145:15-16 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You
open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
767 Matt. 5:45 He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous
and the unrighteous.
768 Acts 17:28 In Him we live and move and have our being.
769 James 4:15 You ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
B. receive all our physical blessings with thanks giving;
770 Ps. 106:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.
771 Eph. 5:19-20 Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the
Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
772 1 Tim. 4:4-5 Everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with
thanks giving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
C. look to God for physical as well as spiritual blessings.
773 Ps. 91:15 He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver
him and honor him.
774 Matt. 6:33 Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to
you as well.
775 Luke 7:3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to
come and heal his servant.
Bible narratives: Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). Jesus healed 10 lepers (Luke
17:11-19).
220. How does God provide our daily bread?
He makes the earth fruitful and blesses us with the ability to work for the things we need.
776 Ps. 104:14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-bringing forth
food from the earth.
777 2 Thess. 3:10-12 Even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work,
he shall not eat." We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are
busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and
earn the bread they eat.
221. What does God want us to do for those who are unable to work for daily food?
God does not want us to be selfish but to share with those who are unable to work and to include them in our prayers for daily bread.
778 1 Tim. 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family,
he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
779 Heb. 13:16 Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is
pleased.
780 1 John 3:17-18 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no
pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or
tongue but with actions and in truth.
222. Why does Jesus have us say "this day" and "daily"?
These words teach us not to be greedy or wasteful or to worry about the future but to
live contentedly in the confidence that the Lord will give us what we need.
781 Prov. 30:8-9 Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I
may have too much and disown You and say, "Who is the Lord?" Or I may become poor and
steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
782 Matt. 6:34 Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own.
783 John 6:12 When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, "Gather the pieces
that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."
784 1 Tim. 6:8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
785 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
Bible narrative: The parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:15-21).
The parable of the rich fool tells us that we should not worry or store up treasures on earth but as Jesus goes on to say in Luke 12:22-34 that we are more precious than the lilies or ravens.
I can't wait to see what the Lord is doing and will do as HIS People and HIS Church pray!
Love in Christ,
Pastor
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