Prayer Is Partnership

This is me of my beloved friend Philip Newell, whose father, William R. Newell, wrote that song. And Philip Newell was the director of the Great Commission Prayer League for many years. I was on that board.

And he told me one day, he said, every time you hear At Calvary written by my father, just remember he wrote it because of me. Apparently, Phil was somewhat of a rebel at one point, and then came to the Lord and had a marvelous ministry at the Moody Bible Institute and other places. And he said he wrote that song because of me.

Well, he wrote it because of me. Never forget that the cross of Jesus Christ is a plus sign. It reconciles us to God and to one another, our Father.

We've been discovering that effective prayer involves that relationship, my relationship to you and my relationship to God. It also involves worship. Hallowed be your name.

Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. And it involves kingship. When I pray, I have to keep reminding myself I'm at a throne of grace.

Because it's grace, there is sympathy, and because there's a throne, there's authority. And when we pray, we have the sympathy of our Savior. He knows how you feel better than you know how you feel.

He feels those burdens more than we do. And there's authority to back up our praying. Your kingdom come.

Prayer involves kingship, doesn't it? And prayer involves partnership, and that's our thought for today. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I've already said, and I'm not sure who made this statement originally, the purpose of prayer is not to get our will done in heaven.

It's to get God's will done on earth. And we don't come to the throne to tell God what to do. We come to the throne for Him to tell us what to do.

And so when we pray, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we're becoming partners with God. Now, there are some answers to prayer that I cannot have a part in, except to pray. There are other answers to prayer that I can have a part in.

I'm sure you heard about the rather well-to-do Christian businessman who was leading his family in devotions, and he was especially praying for missionaries who needed financial help. No sooner had he said, Amen, than his little boy, and little boys usually speak up. My Swedish grandfather used to say that little children and drunks always tell the truth.

I'm not so sure about the drunks, but the children I'm pretty sure about. And the little boy spoke up and said, Daddy, if I had your checkbook, I could answer your prayers. That's somewhat intimidating.

Prayer is a partnership between the believer and God. When I think of the marvel of prayer, it involves two intercessors, doesn't it? The Lord Jesus is interceding for us up in heaven. The Holy Spirit is interceding within.

According to Romans chapter 8, that we might pray in the will of God. And so as I yield to the Spirit and come through the Son to the Father, God puts together that amazing thing called prayer. Alas, too many times I'm not praying in the Spirit.

My praying is selfish. Too many times I don't really come in the name of the Lord Jesus. I come in my own name with what I want, trying to tell God what to do.

Partnership. Now, if we are going to pray in the will of God, there are certain basic principles that we have to understand. John wrote and said in 1 John chapter 5 that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Again, George MacDonald said, in whatever man does without prayer, he must fail miserably or succeed more miserably. He gave them their request and sent leanness to their souls. What are these principles? I want to suggest four of them to you.

We're praying, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Your will be done. Principle number one is found in Psalm 33, verse 11.

It's this. Write it down. The will of God comes from the heart of God.

Psalm 33, verse 11 says this. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of his heart to all generations.

I didn't even know that verse was in the Bible. I know I'd read it. Have you ever had the experience of looking at a verse and saying, where'd that come from? You say, is that in every version? You go, yeah, there it is.

It's even in the Hebrew and the Greek. We were in our first pastorate. Now, first pastorates are difficult because you have stars in your eyes and little money in your pocket, and they're keeping you poor and God is keeping you humble, and we were in a building program.

I was pastoring a church while going to seminary. It was an old metal building that the city had condemned and been too kind to make us tear down. And, of course, the dear people loved that building, and I don't criticize them for that.

We get attached to buildings. Some of them had been married in that building. They'd had friends and loved ones buried from that building, babies dedicated, people saved.

And we just had to replace that building. We talked to several financial experts. An expert is an ordinary spurt under pressure.

And they said, you can't do it. You just think you don't have the resources to do it. But we started anyway and tore down.

By the way, the old building was taken by a Spanish congregation on the other side of town. They came and said, we need a building. Fine, you can have it.

Of course, as we tore it down, people stood there and wept, but I don't criticize them for that. This was a landmark that was being taken away. Well, I am not a builder.

I couldn't build a birdhouse if you put a revolver to my head. I'm not mechanical. I can't read blueprints.

And here I am pastoring a church that's building a building. God knew that. And I got discouraged.

Now, you've never been discouraged, but I got discouraged. We were on a little vacation, went to see my wife's family up in Wisconsin, and I was sitting in the backyard of their house feeling sorry for myself, licking my wounds and saying, this building program is going to kill me. And I picked up my little pocket New Testament and began to read in the Psalms, and I got to Psalm 33, verse 11, and about fell out of the deck chair.

How long has that been there? The counsel of the Lord stands forever. God's will is going to be done. But where does that will come from? The thoughts of his heart, the plans of his heart to all generations.

And I just said, Lord, I'm sorry. I've been critical, and I've been unhappy, and I've been resisting. But now I realize that all that you're doing comes from your heart.

You see, a lot of people have the idea the will of God is punishment. The will of God is not punishment. The will of God is nourishment.

Jesus said, my food is to do the will of my Father in heaven and to finish his work. Nourishment. I feel sorry for people whose work doesn't nourish them.

I don't mean physically. I mean within. The will of God is not punishment.

It's nourishment. Now, sometimes that nourishment comes in a cup that's hard to drink. In the garden, my Lord prayed three times, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

You see, at the beginning of his life, his earthly ministry, he says, my food, my meat, my bread is to do the will of him that sent me to finish his work. At the end of his ministry, he says, now I've got the cup. And it's not easy to drink that cup sometimes.

Was it easy for Abraham to drink the cup when he took Isaac up on Mount Moriah? No. No. Was it easy for Jeremiah to drink the cup when they lowered him down into the well and left him there? No.

Was it easy for Paul to drink the cup when they let him outside of Rome and chopped off his head? No. No. Sometimes the will of God is tough to take, but it's always good for us.

You see, our Lord was able to take that cup because the Father mixed it. And the Father did not mix medicine or poison. He said to his son, I've mixed this cup.

It's for you. It's tailor-made. Now take it.

And he took it. And aren't we glad he did? Somebody here right now may be reaching out hesitatingly, haltingly, because the Father's handing you a cup. The doctor may have said, no, you're going to have surgery, and it's not going to be easy.

Or there may be some problem that you just wish it weren't there. And so we reach out rather haltingly, and the Father says, don't be afraid. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, and that counsel comes from my heart.

The will of God comes from the heart of God. Young people in particular have the idea that the will of God is bondage. You know, the world has that attitude.

Psalm 2, let's cast off their bonds. Let's break off these fetters. The will of God isn't bondage.

It's freedom. The most wonderful freedom in the world is to do what God planned for us to do and become what God planned for us to become. You know what maturity is? A mature person knows who he is or she is.

Mature people know who they are. They accept who they are, and they are who they are. They aren't trying to be somebody else.

The will of God is not punishment. It's nourishment. It's not bondage.

It's freedom. In Psalm 32, you're in Psalm 33. Just look back at Psalm 32, verse 8. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.

I will guide you with my eye. That doesn't sound like bondage. That's what parents do.

Parents instruct their children and teach them, show them the way to go, and then they keep their eye on them. My mother used to guide me with her eye. We'd have guests at the house for Sunday dinner, and I had to sit and talk and entertain everybody, and she'd just look.

She had a marvelous eye for guiding. My father had a marvelous hand for guiding. But the psalmist goes on to say, do not be like the horse or the mule.

You don't guide a horse or a mule with your eye. And sometimes you and I get rebellious and stubborn like the mule, or we rush ahead like the horse. What's wrong with us? God says, now here's the way I want you to go.

I'm going to teach you and instruct you and watch you, and woof, we go off on our own like the horse, or we dig in like the mule. So what does God have to do? Well, they have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle. Oh, sometimes God has to reach down and put a bit and bridle on us, or we won't do His will.

That's not the ideal thing, is it? He had to give Jacob a limp. He said, Jacob, you haven't learned how to walk yet. I'm going to give you a limp.

He gave Paul a thorn in the flesh, not because Paul was rebellious, but there was a danger there, lest I should be exalted above measure. The will of God comes from the heart of God. I don't know about you.

I don't want God to guide me with a bit and a bridle. I like what he says about Israel over in Hosea 11, verse 4, where he said, I drew them with cords of love. That's the way I want God to guide me.

I want Him to draw me, not with a bit and a bridle, not with spurs to dig in, but just to draw me with cords of love and keep His eye on me. The will of God comes from the heart of God. Now, this means that the will of God is personal.

Not only loving, it's personal. A book came out some years ago trying to prove that there is no specific will of God for each of our lives. I disagree with that thesis, although there are many good things in that book.

I believe God's will is personal. I believe it would be wrong for me to be doing anything other than what God's called me to do and I'm trying to do in His will. Look at Psalm 139.

Psalm 139. Did you know that God's will begins in your conception? Did you know that? Even before you were conceived, God had a plan. Psalm 139, For you formed my inward parts, you covered me in my mother's womb.

The word there for covered is the word to weave. You wove me together. Life is a weaving.

This is one reason why abortion just bothers me. Here is God weaving something beautiful and we come in and rip it from the womb, take it off the loom. Here is God doing a beautiful work.

We tear it apart. But who did the forming? God. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Then why destroy it? Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame, here we are back at the bones again now, my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Now in verse 15 he equates mother earth with, in verse 13, the mother's womb.

We came from the dust, didn't we? Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed and in your book they were all written. The days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them. Isn't that amazing? No wonder he goes on to say how precious are your thoughts.

That's amazing. That before I was conceived, God saw what he wanted to weave. And at conception he brought together just the genetic structure he wanted.

I am not an accident. Now I can imagine at my conception the genes must have had a good time. I suppose they were getting their orders from the designer gene.

And they said, what is this fella going to be? Is he going to be an athlete? No. Oh my, no. An artist? No way.

Musician? Oh no, no. Mechanic? Oh, no way. There's not much left.

That's him. Today I can laugh at that, but when I was a kid I didn't laugh at it. I wept over it.

Because I was the last kid chosen for every team all during grade school. That builds your popularity and your ego. And I thank God for a school teacher who in fifth grade got me off to one side and she said to me, I'm going to give you a suggestion.

I want you to follow it. I said, what's that? I mean, she knew I wasn't an artist. She knew I wasn't a mechanic.

She knew I wasn't an athlete. She said, I want you to do a lot of reading and a lot of writing. And her counsel was good.

God didn't put me together to coach a team. He didn't put me together to lay block. He put me together to put words together.

And so why should I weep over what I'm not when I can thank God for what He has done? The will of God comes from the heart of God. It's loving and it's personal. God said to Jeremiah, before you were born, I set you apart.

That encourages me. And then when God saved me, He said there are certain jobs I want you to do. We all quote Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. We forget verse 10.

We are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before prepared that we should walk in them. And I just have enough faith to believe that when God saved me, He had a plan for my life.

And I'm glad that that plan is not a closed machine. A lot of folks have the idea the will of God is a closed machine. And if you make a mistake or sin, the machine grinds to a halt, and you're done for.

Oh, no. Now, if that were the case Jacob was done for, Moses was done for, David, Jonah, Peter, no, no. The will of God is a beautiful relationship, a loving, living relationship between me and my Father.

It's like the parts of my body. If one part of my body goes haywire, the other parts compensate for it until we get it straightened out. And the will of God is this way.

When Jacob was out of the will of God, God just readjusted things and brought him back. And when David was out of the will of God, God patiently readjusted things and brought him back. Do we pay for it when we sin? Of course.

Does it mean it's the end? No. The will of God comes from the heart of God. God wants us to know His will.

He says that in Acts 22.14. He wants us to understand His will. That's Ephesians 5.17. He wants us to do His will from our hearts. That's Ephesians 6.6. It's one thing for me to do His will.

Another thing to do it from my heart. Jonah finally did God's will, but not from his heart. And you know what? God also wants me to delight in His will.

That's Psalm 40, verse 8. I delight to do Your will, O my God. Your law is within my heart. To delight in the will of God like we would delight in a lovely meal.

My food is to do the will of Him that sent me. The will of God comes from the heart of God. So, when I pray, Your will be done.

I'm touching the very heart of God. God wills what He wills for us because He loves us. You say, I don't understand that.

He's allowed things in my life that I don't see much love in them. Oh? Really? Well, I don't know why. Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. God never said He'd tell me why. God doesn't owe me any explanations.

His children do not live on explanations. They live on promises. And there are plenty of promises in this book to carry me through the darkest, deepest valley.

My wife's parents were called home within 24 hours of each other because of an auto accident down Kansas. And among my mother-in-law's souvenirs was this little poem. She did not write the poem, but this is her copy.

I know not by what methods rare, but this I know, God answers prayer. I know not if the blessing sought will come in just the way I thought. I leave my prayer to Him alone, whose will is wiser than my own.

The will of God comes from the heart of God. Secondly, the will of God is revealed in the Word of God. That's why prayer and the Word go together.

Now, don't separate them. I've been in some assemblies where it's all Bible, Bible, Bible, no prayer, lots of light, no heat. And alas, I've been in some assemblies where there's lots of prayer, prayer, prayer, a lot of heat, but no light.

They could use some Bible. It's balanced. Samuel said, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.

Then he goes on to say, but I will teach you. That's prayer and the Word. Peter said in Acts chapter 6, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word.

Moses would go up on the mountain and intercede for Israel, and God would teach him, and he'd go down and tell the people, go back up and intercede for Israel, and go down and teach them. It takes both. We don't have enough prayer in our churches today.

We need more prayer. The will of God is revealed in the Word of God. We have a lot of Bible, but we need prayer to balance it.

For when I hear the Word of God, He teaches me. When I pray, that becomes a part of me. Now, there are some things God hasn't revealed.

If you haven't yet marked Deuteronomy 29.29 in your Bible, you better mark it. It says this, The secret things belong to the Lord our God. Oh? But those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law.

That's one of the greatest verses in Scripture on Bible study. Dear friends, the purpose of Bible study is not to have a big head. It's to have a burning heart.

When those Emmaus disciples were walking along so discouraged, and Jesus joined them, and He opened to them the Scriptures, the prophetic Scriptures, and they said, Did not our heart burn within us? If when I study the Word of God, it gives me a big head instead of a burning heart, I'm not getting the message. Now, there are some secret things that God hasn't revealed. Don't be interested in those things.

Don't waste your time. Don't try to figure out election and human responsibility. One of my professors said, You try to explain election, you'll lose your mind.

Explain it away, you'll lose your soul. There are things in Scripture I don't know. We say, You're supposed to.

No, God's hidden them. And why should I waste my time with the hidden things when there are so many revealed things? And so we just leave it with God. So there are some hidden things.

There are some revealed things. Now, those belong to us, but not just to us, to our children. Dear friend, don't complain about the next generation unless you've done something to share the truth with them.

Go through your Bible and find out what God says we older folks have as our responsibility to the younger generation. Not to criticize, but to be good examples to them, and to pray for them, and to teach them. One reason why I have slowed down from the conference circuit to do more writing is I want to leave behind for the next generation something for them to read.

It may not last for a long time, but I'm going to fulfill my obligation. David said, Calm you children. Listen to me.

I want to tell you about the fear of the Lord. You know what I wish would happen in every church? I shared this with my pastor last Friday when we had lunch together. I wish in every church they'd take five minutes on Sunday morning for a senior saint, a godly senior saint, just to get up and look at the congregation and say, If I had only five minutes to tell you one thing that you need to know, here it is.

That could change our churches. When you get home this afternoon, sit down and say, Lord, you've taught me many lessons, and I've been down the road a long time now. Now, if I were to give one lesson to the young people in our church, what would it be? If I were to give one lesson in five minutes to the students at RGBI, what would it be? You know what else I'd do? I said to our pastor, I said, Tape it.

Just tape every one of these. And after a while, you're going to have about 25 or 30 testimonies of godly men and women who have walked with the Lord. Put it on cassette, and every time a new member comes into the church, just give them a cassette.

So I want you to listen to some of the lessons our people have learned. The Bible tells us to do this. Tell the children the fear of the Lord.

Teach them the way of the Lord. That's what we're supposed to do. That we may do all the words of this law.

So when I read my Bible, there's some things I don't understand. That's all right. There's some things God hasn't revealed.

That's fine. He knows what He's doing, but there's some things He has revealed. You know that most of the decisions you and I make every day, the Bible tells us what to do.

There are not many decisions I make that God doesn't have guidance for me. Take your concordance and find the little phrase, the will of God. This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should keep your vessel holy.

Paul wrote that in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3. So, nobody ever prays, Oh, Lord, should I commit adultery? Oh, Lord, should I go see this pornographic movie? We don't pray like that. The Bible says, Here's the will of God. Be sanctified.

God is not willing that any should perish. Lord, should this man be saved? Hey, let God worry about the elect. D.L. Moody used to pray, Oh, God, save the elect, and then elect some more.

I don't know about that theology, but I like the spirit. God, who will have all men to be saved. Now, I don't understand how God elects, and there's non-elect.

I don't know. I'm just not going to worry about it. All I know is, he said to me, Get out there.

Tell them. So, I never pray, Dear Lord, should I help anybody be saved? It's what he wants me to do. In everything, give thanks.

This is the will of God concerning you. What's the will of God? Be thankful. That takes care of my griping, my complaining.

Lord, should I write this letter and complain? I don't know. In everything, give thanks. Peter says, It's the will of God that by doing good, you silence the mouths of wicked people.

Do good. Do good to our unsaved neighbors. You find out an unsaved neighbor is sick, and make him a bowl of soup.

Take it over. Do more good than attract, maybe. Do good.

The will of God comes from the heart of God. The will of God is revealed in the Word of God. I've noticed that God does not reveal His will to me all at once.

Nor does, when I was in ministry with staff, nor did He reveal everything to me all the time. I used to tell the folks that back to the Bible. Now, look.

Here we had these five directors and an executive director, and we'd get together to pray and to plan. I'd say, Look, men. If you think I have the oracle from God, I don't.

But I see this, and I'd share that. And then Tom would say, Well, you know, I've been thinking about this. And when people get together to seek the will of God, whether it's a husband and wife and children, or staff and staff people and staff leaders, it's like a picture puzzle.

I don't think the Lord gives everything to one person. I wouldn't want to be that one person. Boy, would the devil be after me.

I don't think that He does that. I think that God gives a piece to Tom and a piece to Pete and a piece to Virgil, and we sit down, and we pray, and we talk, and then these pieces fall together. That's why we pray our Father.

We need each other. That's the blessing of a godly wife who can help you to put the pieces together. And my children do too.

I thank God for our four children. When I discuss some things with them, they have ideas. I told our youngest daughter that I wanted to take 1995 off as a year of jubilee.

It'll be my 50th anniversary of my conversion and the publication of the first book I wrote. I said, I'm just going to take it as jubilee. I'll take it as a year of jubilee and let my mind lie fallow.

Judy said, Dad, it won't take all year. The will of God is revealed in the Word of God. Now, that doesn't mean we play religious roulette.

Oh, Lord, I need an answer, and you open it, and you point. No way. Although General William Booth got his wife that way, he wasn't sure he was supposed to marry Catherine, and so he pulled all the shades down in his room and got on his knees with his open Bible, and he said, Lord, you're going to have to show me what to do, and he opened it up and pointed, and he was in Ezekiel where the two sticks came together.

Well, all right. All right. There's a third principle.

The will of God is accomplished through the people of God. Now, His will is accomplished by angels. I know that.

I've never seen an angel that I know of. There may have been people come into my life who actually were God's angels. I don't know.

God uses angels, but God uses His people. Now, this is the important point. When I pray, your will be done.

I have got to be available as a partner. You know where God starts to answer prayer? In the person who's praying. That's Ephesians 3.21, isn't it? Ephesians 3.20-21, Now unto him who was able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

But notice the next phrase. According to the power that works in... What's the next word? Us. Oh.

Here's Moses for 40 years out taking care of the sheep. PhD from the university in Egypt. Taking care of sheep.

Dumbest animal God ever made. That wasn't the kind of sheepskin he was expecting. You know what he was doing while he was taking care of the sheep? Praying.

Oh God, deliver the people in Egypt. Oh, deliver them. Deliver them.

So God showed up one day in a burning bush. He said, You know, I've heard their cries and I've heard your prayers and I'm going to deliver my people. Praise God.

I'm going to send you. Oh. That's a horse of a different wheelbase.

Lord, have you considered Aaron? No, I'm going to send you. Be careful now. You start praying about something.

God answers his will. God accomplishes his will through his people. Nehemiah.

His brother Hanani had won a trip to the Holy Land. And so he and some of his friends went down to the Holy Land and they came back and Nehemiah casually says, How are things down in Judah? In Jerusalem? And Hanani said, Terrible. The walls are down.

The gates are burned. The tour buses of the Gentiles go by and people laugh. People are demoralized.

Nehemiah said, Oh, we've got to pray about that. So he began to pray. And you know what happened.

He gave up his posturepedic mattress in the palace for a sleeping bag and headed down to Jerusalem to start answering his prayers. To me it's a marvel that Almighty God is willing for me to be a part of the answer. Now sometimes I can't be.

Here are my missionary friends flying from Nairobi to to London. I can't fly the plane. I can't pass out the snacks.

I can't even stand to eat the snacks. But I can pray that God would rule and overrule and bring safety. But when I do pray I've got to be willing to be a part of the answer.

Oh God, the school needs a new dormitory. Am I willing to be a part of the answer? Oh Lord, there are sick people in our church. Well, am I willing to be a part of the answer and go help them? The will of God is accomplished by the people of God.

We're laborers together with God. It's God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure which leads us to our fourth principle. Principle number one, the will of God comes from the heart of God.

God wills what He wills because He loves us. Principle number two, the will of God is revealed in the Word of God. That means I've got to spend time in the Word and prayer.

If you abide in me, that's prayer, and my words abide in you, that's the Word, ask what you will. Well, how can you ask what you will? Because what you will will be what He wills. The better I read, the more I read the Word, the better I get to know God.

I've done some teaching in seminary, and I've learned that the students study the professor as much as they study the text. You students do this. This professor works this way, and this one gives this kind of exams, and this is the way.

The better we know God, the easier it is to talk to Him. So if you abide in me, that's prayer, and my words abide in you, that's the Word, ask what you will, because what you will will be getting closer and closer to closer to what I will. The will of God is thirdly accomplished by the people of God.

It's got to be available to be a part of the answer. You can't say, Here am I, Lord, send Aaron. Number four, the will of God is done to the delight of God.

Do you know why we do the will of God? To make God happy. Dear friends, don't worship a God who is in prison. I meet people who have the idea that God is the victim and the prisoner of His attributes.

He's a very stoical God, a God who is like a glacier. No, no, no. God's not the prisoner of His attributes.

God doesn't forgive because forgiveness is a part of His character. God is free. Our Lord, our God is in the heavens.

He does whatever He pleases. Our God is free. And did you know that our God expresses His emotions? Remember, Jesus said, If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

Read the Gospel of John. It's rather interesting. The Gospel of John's goal, purpose, is to show that Jesus is God, and it shows how human He is.

He went to a wedding. God goes to a wedding, talks to a prostitute, feeds a crowd. You see God with bread in His hands.

You see God with a baby in His arms. You see Him weep. On at least three occasions during His earthly ministry, according to the scriptural record, He wept.

I once made this statement over at Word of Life conference that Jesus was filled with joy. He laughed. Our Lord had a sense of humor.

Just read some of the parables. Those people must have laughed out loud when He told some of those stories. You know, we read them so piously.

Our Lord had a sense of humor. And He laughed. He was joyful.

So how do you know? Well, He said to His disciples before He went to the cross, I want my joy to be in you. Now, if He had never smiled, never laughed, they would have said, Your joy? We've never seen any joy. They didn't say a word.

I know He was a man of sorrows, but that's the Christian life. The Christian life is deeper depths of sorrow and higher heights of joy. It's a land of hills and valleys.

My Lord was joyful. God wants to express Himself to us. Turn to the Gospel of John, if you will, please.

And here we're going to close. John chapter 15, verse 14, I mean, you are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing.

No master explains to a servant. Just do it. But God doesn't do that.

But I have called you friends for all things that I've heard from my Father I've made known to you. In the Gospel of John, the servants knew what was going on. The servants knew where the wine came from in John 2. The servants knew when the little boy was healed in John 4. The servants knew what was going on.

You want to know what's going on, serve Him. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ wants us to be His friends, and friends express their emotions to one another. And that's why Jesus prayed or taught us to pray, Father, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Now, we usually interpret that to mean you serve God the way the angels do. I couldn't begin to serve God the way the angels do. First place, angels don't have bodies to tie them down.

They're spirits. They can be here and there. Why, you could, on the freeways in Chicago, you could miss a car payment just sitting there waiting for the traffic to move.

I can't move like the angels can. I don't get God's direct communication the way the angels do. Sometimes I make mistakes.

Angels don't make mistakes. I don't have the power they have. One angel showed up and 185,000 soldiers were dead.

I haven't got that kind of power. That's intimidating if you say, I've got to serve God the way the angels do. But there's one thing the angels do that I can do.

Psalm 103, verse 21, Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, that means his heavenly army, you ministers of his, that means the angels, who do his pleasure. When Jesus says you serve God like the angels do, he doesn't expect you to do miracles or never to get tired. You know what he says? Those angels behold the face of God and their delight is to please God.

Don't do your work grudgingly or of necessity, you ministers of his who do his pleasure. The will of God is done to please God. That's why the psalmist said delight yourself also in the Lord and he'll give you the desires of your heart.

Now read that carefully. You know what he's saying? If you delight in the Lord the desires of your heart will be his desires and you'll want more than anything else to please him. It's like a husband and a wife.

They live to please each other. And so the will of God is done for the delight of God. You start reading the New Testament and you start looking for the word love.

In Matthew this is my beloved son. Mark, first time you find it, my beloved son. Luke, first time you find it, my beloved son.

John, first time you find it, God loved the world. Now I can understand God loving his son. He said this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

Jesus said I do always those things that please him. John comes along and says if you are doing what you're doing to please God nothing pleases him so much as a concern for a lost world. At the end of his earthly ministry our Lord prays there in John 17, Father the hour has come.

Glorify your son that your son also may glorify you I have finished the work which you gave me to do. He brought joy to the heart of his father. I do always those things that please him.

That's the heart of prayer. And so when we pray your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What we're saying is this Father please show me your will.

I'm willing to obey. Now if you're not willing to obey he won't show you. If any man is willing to do his will he shall know.

John 7, 17. Father I'm willing to do your will. Show me your will.

Help me to do your will. Help me to do it from my heart. And help me to do it to please you.

Oh how that transforms your prayer life. For the purpose of prayer is not to get man's will done in heaven it's to get God's will done on earth. And what a privilege we have to be partners in accomplishing his will.

Father thank you. Thank you so much. We have too often looked upon prayer as an opportunity to get things but Jesus teaches us that it's a great privilege to be able to do things.

And so guide us in our praying that we might delight your heart. Oh so change us within that the things that please you please us. And may our hearts be broken by the things that break your heart.

And may our hearts rejoice in the things that rejoice your heart. And most of all help us to glorify the Lord Jesus for that rejoices you the most. We ask in Jesus name.

Amen. It's rather difficult to beat Beethoven isn't it? That was great. Those words were written by Henry Van Dyck who was a rather eccentric fellow.

He was a preacher and pastored the brick church in New York City. And at one time was the ambassador to the Netherlands under Woodrow Wilson I believe. And he also wrote the story of the other wise man.

Maybe you've read that the famous Christmas booklet the story of the other wise man. There's an interesting story told about Van Dyck. He was quite a fisherman.

He owned a fishing cabin up in the Adirondacks and so happened that a woman delivered a baby in a nearby hotel. It was rather an emergency situation. And they wanted to weigh the baby and somebody remembered that Van Dyck had a scale on which he weighed his fish.

And so they borrowed the scale and the baby weighed 45 pounds. But he wrote some beautiful poetry. And he wedded Beethoven's 9th to some great music some great words and we appreciate that very, very much.

Thank you. I wonder what would have happened if they had one of those talking scales. Have you heard those things? They're really interesting.

Have you heard the talking scales? They talk. They say 3.95 2.24 I was up in Toronto some years ago and I had to make a purchase and I didn't have any Canadian currency. And about that time the Canadian currency wasn't doing too well.

So I went into the store and stood in the line and this machine was saying 3.95 2.24 and I said to the lady in front of me I don't have any Canadian currency. All I have is American currency. What is this machine going to say? She said it'll probably say hooray! Well, so much for the scales.

Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew chapter 6 verse 11 This is the first personal petition in the prayer. You'll recall that the first petitions are for what God wants.

Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name. That's why God answers prayer to the glory of His name. Your kingdom come.

Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. And so the first three requests focus on God's concerns.

Because the purpose of prayer as we've said is not to get my will done in heaven it's to get God's will done on earth. And if I rush into His presence like the prodigal son and say Father give me, give me I'm not really praying. True prayer involves wanting God's will done.

God's kingdom advanced and God's name honored. True prayer involves relationship. Our Father.

I can't pray if I'm not in a right relationship with my Father. I can't pray if I'm not in a right relationship with you. Our Father.

Father. It involves worship. Hallowed be thy name.

It involves kingship. We reign in life at the throne of grace. Your kingdom come.

It involves partnership. Your will be done. If God wants to build a building He doesn't send a legion of angels.

He gets a hold of people. Praying people. But now we move into these personal concerns.

That you and I bring to the Lord. It's a good thing we start with His name and His kingdom and His will because we can use those to test what we're praying about. As I look at my Thursday morning prayer list.

As I mentioned the other day I have in my little devotional diary eight different prayer lists. One that I use every day and then a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Because I can't pray every day for all the things I'd like to pray about.

Sometimes the Lord reminds me of something on Wednesday that I usually pray about on Saturday and so I pray about it. But at least I'm not listless in my praying. It's tough when you're not bilingual.

And so as I look at my Thursday morning prayer list God says to me now wait a minute if I answered that would that glorify my name? Would that advance my kingdom? Would that accomplish my will? And I'd say well no Lord. I recall one morning I was praying about something and the longer I prayed the more I started to laugh. Now if you don't laugh during your praying you're not like me.

Sometimes I just laugh. I said why am I praying about this? This is not worthy to bring to the Lord. It's not needed.

It's just selfish and I erased it. And my heart felt good. Now if you'll notice the requests that begin in verse 11 you'll find an interesting thing.

They are connected by the word and. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. These three requests are connected.

God is saying to us our Lord when he gave this pattern is saying to us they belong together and they belong in this order. Give us this day our daily bread. That's the present.

That's my present need. Forgive us our debts. That's my past.

I did something I shouldn't have done. Now I've got to take care of that. Do not lead us into temptation.

That's my future. So I can bring to him requests that involve my present my past and my future. Do you pray about the future? I hope you do.

Among my lists of prayer requests I have a page on which I have my schedule copied. And I pray about that schedule. I didn't used to but I do.

I say Lord if you don't want me to be at that meeting you take care of it and if this is where I'm supposed to be and I pray about that schedule. It's good to arrive some place and know that for months you've been praying about it. I pray about the future and ask for God to guide and protect.

Give us this day our daily bread. I'm talking to the Father who is the great provider. Forgive us our debts.

I'm talking to the Savior. The intercessor the advocate who gives us forgiveness. Lead us not into temptation.

I'm asking for the enablement of the Holy Spirit of God to overcome the wicked one. We could spend weeks and weeks just talking about deliver us from the evil one. Some folks don't take the devil seriously.

Some of them take too seriously. Our Lord took it very seriously. Give us this day our daily bread.

Here we're talking about the cares of the world. Forgive us our debts. Here we're talking about the weaknesses of the flesh.

Do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. Here we're talking about the wiles of the devil. And so in these requests I'm confronting my three great enemies the world, the flesh and the devil.

Let's focus on verse 11. Give us this day our daily bread. Sometimes we pray that so glibly.

Sometimes when you're in a congregation and they are praying the disciples' prayer, the Lord's prayer, they move through it so rapidly. At church services now we have to move rapidly. We have to sing rapidly and pray rapidly to make room for the announcements.

I was in one conference where I could not sing the songs because they were going too fast. I mean, these old lungs just couldn't hack it. And afterward I said to the director of music, I said, I've got a suggestion for you.

I mean, you're in a hurry to get through all this music. Why don't you assign the first verse to that section, the second verse to that section, the third verse to that section, and we just sing simultaneously and get the whole song over at once. He didn't think it was a very good idea.

But sometimes people just rattle through this, you know. Give us this day our daily bread. Wait a minute.

When we pray, give us this day our daily bread. What are we saying? What are we doing? As I pondered this, the Lord has said this to me. You know, when you pray, give us this day our daily bread, you are asking the Lord to help you overcome four sins that are very prevalent among God's people.

Now, it may not look that way on the surface, but it's there. When I pray, give us this day our daily bread, the first sin that I'm letting God deal with is pride. Pride.

Folks, we depend on the Lord. We're totally dependent on Him. And so when I say, give us this day our daily bread, it is a creature coming to the Creator.

It is a child coming to the Father. It is a subject coming to the King and confessing, I'm totally dependent. Now, in this modern scientific age, we don't feel that way.

People don't like to confess that. When you sit down at breakfast and you have your breakfast toast, does it preach to you? Or when you have your noon soup or your evening hamburger, does that meal preach to you? Every bit of food that we eat is saying to us, you are dependent. Only God has life in Himself.

My life was given to me, and God can take it away in a split second. What did Paul say to those Greeks? In Him, we what? Live and move and have our being. They came to John the Baptist and they said, you know, that man you pointed to and talked about, he's baptizing more people than you are.

They had competition back in those days, too. And John so wisely answered and said, well, it doesn't bother, it makes me happy. He must increase, I must decrease.

Then he said this, a man can receive nothing except it be given to him from heaven. How much can we receive? Nothing. Paul wrote to the Corinthians who were very proud of all that they had.

They had spiritual gifts, they had all kinds of things going on. They were very proud. He said, what do you have that you didn't receive? And why do you act as though you did not receive it? Some people have marvelous gifts and talents.

Now, the possession of those gifts and talents is God's gift to them. What they do with it is their gift to God. But if you're handsome, you can't take credit for that.

God gave it to you. If you're beautiful, God gave it to you. If you're very intelligent, God gave it to you.

If you're strong in body, if you have special gifts, talents, God gave it to you. And then God gives us the food to keep all of this going. We are totally dependent.

And so when I pray, give us this day our daily bread, I am slashing away at my pride. Now, what does He provide? Well, He provides material bread. We know that.

The Jews, when they heard this, give us this day our daily bread, instantly thought of the manna. It came down every morning for nearly 40 years to feed the Jews. Exodus 16 is the passage.

They were hungry. And they were in the wilderness. And they couldn't provide for themselves.

And God said, I'll send manna. The word manna means what is it? That's what they said when they saw it. What is it? And every morning for nearly 40 years, the dew would fall on the ground.

And then this small, white, honey-like wafer would fall on the dew. And early in the morning, the Jews had to go out and pick it up and put it in their jars and vessels. And they ate it.

Angels' food. The food of heaven, the bread of heaven came down to feed them. And this material bread kept them alive.

Now, God said, I'm going to take you into a promised land where you're going to have milk and honey and you're going to have houses you didn't build and wells you didn't dig. And you're going to have everything you need. You can get riches out of the hills.

And I want to warn you. Deuteronomy 8. I want to warn you. After you've eaten and you're full, you thank God.

I grew up in a Scandinavian home. My Uncle Simon, who was a minister of the gospel, would come to visit us occasionally and have a meal. And he'd always pray before the meal in Swedish, of course, because God did not understand any other language.

A Norwegian and a Swede were talking, and the Norwegian said to the Swede, what do you think is going to be the language of heaven? And the Swede said, well, Norwegian. Oh, he said, do you really think so? He said, yeah. He said, the Lord knows the Norwegians aren't smart enough to learn a new language.

And so my Uncle Simon would pray a Swedish prayer before the meal, and then when the meal was over, he'd drunk his last cup of coffee. He'd pray again. I don't know how many people would do it, but it's biblical.

After you've eaten and you're full, then you're in danger of being proud. And so he would pray again and thank God for what he gave us. The man has spoke of the literal bread that God gives us to eat.

God provides our food. General Mills doesn't do it. Stouffers, no.

God provides our food. When we were in grade school, we had to learn a little poem. Maybe you learned it.

Back of the loaf is the snowy flower. Remember that? And back of the flower is the mill. And back of the mill is the wheat and the shower and the sun and the Father's will.

And we who are so far removed too often from the means of production forget it's the blessing of God that gives us food to eat. I don't want to go into it because it's out of my realm of experience, but I should think that farming would be one of the most difficult trying vocations in the world, one that would demand great faith. You have no control over the earth, the sky, the sun, the seed, the insects, the weeds, or the government.

And you're expected to produce food. Give us this day our daily bread just knocks my pride to pieces. When I pray that prayer God is saying to me don't get cocky now, don't get smart.

I'm keeping you alive. But this also speaks about our spiritual nourishment. The manna was a picture of the Lord Jesus.

John chapter 6, he compared himself to the bread of life that came down from heaven. Now there are two differences among others. The manna came only to Israel, but Jesus came for the whole world.

And the manna only sustained life, but Jesus gives life. So much so as he said whoever eats me will never die. When our Lord talked about eating his flesh and drinking his blood he was not talking about the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper or the communion.

He hadn't even established that yet. And why would he discuss that with a bunch of unbelieving Jews? He was saying just as those Old Testament Jews in the wilderness had to kneel down in order to pick up, they had to humble themselves in order to pick up the manna. And then they could look at it all day and starve.

They could save it but it wouldn't stay saved. They had to eat it just as they received it within. So you have to receive me within.

The manna is a picture of the Lord Jesus who is our spiritual food. And it's a picture of the Word. Man shall not live by bread alone but by what? Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Deuteronomy chapter 8 and Matthew chapter 4. And so, get this now. As the Jews got up early in the morning to gather the manna they're saying to me did you gather manna this morning from the Word? Now if they waited too long the sun came up and melted the manna. I met God in the morning when my day was at its best and His presence came like sunrise with the glory in my breast.

All day long His presence lingered. All day long He stayed with me and we sailed in perfect calmness or a very troubled sea. Other ships were torn and battered.

Other ships were sore distressed but the winds that seemed to drive them brought to me a perfect rest. And I thought of other mornings with a sorrow on my mind how I too had left my harbor with my pilot far behind. And so I think I've learned the secret learned from many a troubled way.

You must meet God in the morning if you would have Him all the day. So wrote Ralph Spalding Cushman great Bishop of the Methodist Church. God's people need to be up at Him getting spiritual food for their souls the manna that God provides in the Word.

I recommend you start your day gathering the manna. Now the interesting thing is this at least twice in the Scriptures you find a tragedy. There was a mixed multitude with the Jews a mixed crowd that came out from Egypt.

They were not Jews. They were not really interested in things Jewish. And one day they started to cry.

They said, Oh, we missed so much. We missed the diet of Egypt the leeks and the onions and the garlic. What a diet.

That's one crowd you wouldn't ask to sing Breathe on Me. And you know what else they said? That's bad enough. That's bad enough.

They still had an appetite for Egypt. We have a crowd in our churches today that has an appetite for Egypt. They want what the world has to offer.

They're in the church but their heart's in Egypt. You can take the people out of Egypt. You can't take Egypt out of the people.

It was bad enough that they said that but they went on to say and all we have is this manna. I'll tell you friends if I had a little bit of manna today I would be a wealthy man. I'd call the British Museum and I'd call the Smithsonian and I'd say I got some manna here.

The only manna in existence. I'd call 20-20 and they complained about God's food. We have that today.

And so you know what they used to do? They used to take the manna and pound it and bake it and add things to it trying to improve it. We're doing that today. Isn't enough just to feed on the word of God.

We have to have everything else. We've got to mix it up with all sorts of things to please the crowd the mixed multitude. When I pray give me this day give us this day our daily bread God just smashes away at my pride.

He says look I feed you physically and I feed you spiritually now. Bend down there and pick it up. Stay humble.

There's another sin that bothers us that is overcome by this prayer. It's the sin of idolatry. You know what idolatry is? Idolatry is being more concerned about the gift than the giver.

The great temptation the Jews had was to worship Baal. There's a reason for that. Baal was the storm god.

The Canaanites worshiped Baal because he was a storm god. Canaan was an agricultural society and you had to have rain. If you want rain you ask Baal to send it.

And so whenever there was a dry season the Jews would say well Jehovah's not giving us any rain let's talk to Baal about it. Idolatry. They were more concerned about the gift than the giver.

I know you've read it but would you turn to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1 beginning in verse 18 tells us why the world's in the mess it's in. For the wrath of God is being revealed right now from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Not talking about a future judgment he says right now.

Right now. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them that's conscience for God has shown it to them that's creation. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and God had so that they are without excuse.

Because although they knew God they did not glorify him as God. Notice these next three words nor were thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened professing to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man. Here's idolatry.

Birds and four-footed animals and creeping things therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness. How is God judging sinners today? He says you can have it your way. God help you when God gives you up.

If you want to live that way live that way but take the consequences. He describes what's going on how they dishonor their bodies. Verse 25 Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie not a lie the lie there's one great big lie that runs the world.

You want to know what that lie is? It's right here. And worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen.

Satan said to Eve You shall be as God. The New Age movement is not new it's as old as Genesis 3. New Age began in Genesis 3. You shall be as God. Don't worship the creator worship the creature.

And that's what's going on. That's the lie that runs the world. The devil has always wanted to be worshipped.

You remember the sin that turned Lucifer into the devil was I will be like the Most High. I will be like God. You shall be as God.

And people today are involved in idolatry. You say why talk to Christians about that? Because there's idolatry among Christians. There are fan clubs in the church.

Some people make an idol of their building, their program, their statistics. Some people make an idol of their possessions, their house, their family. We worship and serve the creature rather than the creator.

Whatever I sacrifice for instead of God is an idol. Materialism is idolatry. Paul said covetousness which is idolatry.

Now here we have our daily bread. A piece of bread is one of the greatest theologians ever produced. Tomorrow morning when you have your morning toast or when you have your coffee break with your Danish or whatever, just look at it.

Let it talk to you. Who ever heard of a talking Danish? Well, maybe you don't understand Danish. Get an English muffin.

But listen to it. Here's a piece of bread and it says God is all-knowing. He knows your needs.

He's got millions of people He's taking care of. He knows their needs. He's all-knowing.

Our Lord says that here. Your Father knows what you have need of. So that little piece of bread says theologically God is omniscient.

And God loves you. He's concerned about you casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you. Frankly, folks, how many people do you know who really care for you? This would not happen because my doctor is a fine Christian and a wonderful man and a good friend.

But let's suppose I walked into my doctor's office and sat down and he looked at me and said, Well, good to see you, Mr. Smith. No, no. Where is he? Oh, you aren't Smith.

He starts pawing through the files, you know. Now, he'd never do that because he's not that kind of a person. But how would you feel? I look at this piece of bread and it says, Hey, you know, you're holding me because God loves you.

He cares for you. He knows all about you. He knows your blood pressure.

He knows your name. He knows the number of the hairs on your head, which would not be too taxing. And he's all-powerful.

Now, get this. When I hold a piece of bread in my hands, God has run the entire universe to give me that bread. We'd all die if the sun went out.

I have just a slight tinge of claustrophobia. And the darkest place I've ever been was Mammoth Cave. And they shut the lights off.

You could feel the darkness and it was closing in on it. I'm glad they turned them back on again. If God shut the sun off, we'd die.

I mean, some things would exist, those mushrooms and things like that, but we wouldn't. And so this little piece of bread says, God knows all about you. God cares for you.

God is so powerful that he's running the whole universe to produce wheat to give you bread. We don't think of that. We take it for granted.

Jesus said in the Gospel of John, I'm only doing what my Father's doing. What the Father does, I do. Jesus turned water into wine.

The Father's always turning water into wine. It takes him a few years to do it, but he does it. Jesus did it instantly.

Our Lord multiplied bread. The Father's always multiplying wheat and corn. It takes him a season or two to do it, but Jesus did it instantly.

And my Father is so powerful that he can use the rain and the sun and the seeds to feed me. Think of how good he is. A little piece of bread says, you know, God's good.

God doesn't have to feed you. Lots of hungry people in this world. God's good.

And God's faithful. Yesterday I had a piece of bread. Today I have a piece of bread.

Tomorrow I have a piece of bread. He's faithful. That little piece of bread is a good theologian.

And it's interesting that Jesus didn't say, pray like this, give us this day our daily T-bone steak. Give us this day our daily pheasant under glass. No, no, bread.

The basics. The necessities. God's never promised to supply my greeds.

He has promised to supply all my needs. I can't get along without T-bone steak. I can't get along without bread.

And so it takes care of that sin of idolatry. May I show you a verse to mark in your Bible? Psalm 147. Now you've read this.

Maybe you've marked it. I don't know. Psalm 147.

Here's an amazing statement. Verses 3 and 4. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars.

He calls them all by name. That's a strange connection of verses. The God of the galaxies heals my broken heart.

The God who knows how many stars there are, Carl Sagan doesn't even know that. He'd say there are billions and billions of them. Isaac Asimov is dead now.

He didn't know how many stars there were. Here's the God of the galaxies who knows the number of the stars and the names of the stars who stoops down to care for me. That's a great God.

Why do I want to worship anything else? We must hurry. There's a third sin that this prayer takes care of. It's the sin of worry.

Now we Christians don't worry. We're concerned. We don't worry.

We just share prayer burdens. We don't worry. In the rest of Matthew chapter 6, the Lord Jesus talks about this worry.

He says, you know why you people worry? Your lives are divided. You can't serve two masters. I've read in church constitutions statements like this.

The spiritual leadership of this church shall be given to the deacons. The material part of the church is in the hands of the trustees. Oh? Is the material not spiritual? Hey, the most spiritual thing your church can do is to use its money wisely.

But that's in the hands of the trustees. Money is not spiritual. My Lord says, why are you trying to serve two masters, the material and the spiritual, the secular and the sacred? When I pray, give me this day my daily bread, I'm saying, you know, a material piece of bread is a spiritual thing.

You don't separate the material and the spiritual. The reason people worry and they're pulled apart is because, well, they say, well, I'll take care of this material thing. I'll let God take care of the spiritual.

Jesus says, no, no, no. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Then He goes on to say this, live a day at a time.

Give us this day our daily bread. Most of the people in the church don't live a day at a time. Someone has well said that the average American is crucified between two thieves, the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow.

And we have not pegged worry as a sin. Jesus did. I said, you're as bad as the Gentiles.

That means the unbelievers. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. It's not life more than food and the body more than clothing.

Look at the birds. Look at the lilies. Now if God closed the grass and if God cares for the birds, won't He care for His own children? If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in Heaven give good things to them that ask Him? Therefore don't worry about tomorrow.

Give us this day our daily bread. I'll give you a little assignment. Take your concordance and study in your Bible a little phrase, day by day, day by day, or daily.

The Swedes have a great song, day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here, trusting in my Father's wise bestowment I have no cause for worry or for fear. Day by day. Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations, your mercy and your compassions are new every morning.

Every morning when I wake up, there's mercy and there's compassion. Nehemiah, it says, and they read in the Scriptures day by day, day by day in the Word. You all know Deuteronomy chapter 33 verse 25.

As your days what? So shall your strength be. Are you living a day at a time? Hey, the whole universe operates a day at a time. How does God produce bread a day at a time? Now, our Lord is not telling us here to sit in our rocking chair and expect God to feed us if we do nothing.

In Deuteronomy 8 He says, it's God who gives you the power to get wealth. Worry. Worry.

But we pray, give us this day our daily bread. We entrust ourselves to Him and because we've prayed, your name be glorified. Your kingdom be advanced.

Your will be done. We're on God's team and God says, I like the way you pray. You're concerned about these things.

Now, I'll take care of you. J. Hudson Taylor said that there are three ways to serve God. One is to do what you want to do and hope it works out.

The second is to do what you want to do and ask God to bless it. A lot of that going on. The third is to find out what God wants to do and expect Him to bless it.

That's the best way. Give us this day our daily bread. Quickly.

You're very patient. There's a fourth sin that this prayer takes care of and you know what it is. We've talked about it already.

Selfishness. Greed. Doesn't say, give me.

It says, give us. While I am praying, oh God, give me my daily bread and then He gives it to me and then I bless it. Now, when you're asked to bless the food, bless the food.

It's all around the world. Just bless the food. I won't tell you where it was, but it was here in Texas.

A certain ministry was having its annual cookout. Big Texas barbecue. And everybody had their food and the leader called on a man to pray.

Good man. Oh, fine. Good man.

But he felt burdened to pray for many different ministries. And when he said amen, a little boy's voice was heard to say, Aw, nuts. He's done prayed my hot dog cold.

Well, don't do that. Don't do that. When we bless the food that God gives to us, let's remember we prayed, give us.

Give us. You see, sometimes we ask for bread, not for ourselves, but for others. That parable Jesus gave about the fellow who was in bed, you know, knocking the door.

He says, Please, I need some bread. A friend of mine has come on his journey. I have nothing to give him.

Remember that parable, Luke 11? And finally, he got up and gave him some bread. You see, the Jewish people would bake bread for a day or two. They couldn't go to the freezer, the refrigerator, the local shop.

They just had to have it ready. And when they ran out, they ran out. And sometimes, I have to pray for bread for others, not for myself.

That's a great privilege, to pray that God will provide the needs for a missionary and for a school. God will meet the need, not for me, but for somebody else. I was noticing one day in studying the Scriptures that the disciples were occasionally selfish.

Did you ever notice that? Our Lord was teaching, and while He was teaching, the apostles were counting. And Judas, being a good mathematician, he put it all together and he said, We've got over 5,000 people here. Wow! So Jesus finished teaching and He said, Let's feed them.

The disciples said, We just had a committee meeting. A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing and collectively decide nothing can be done. They said, Lord, send them away.

Send them away. He said, No. They'll faint and die along the way.

Feed them. One day, parents came with their little ones. And they brought their little ones to Jesus.

You know what the disciples did? They said, Get out of here. He's not even children. Send them away.

Our Lord rebuked them. One day, our Lord was trying to take a day off. He wanted to get off where nobody knew Him.

A woman knew Him. Remember her? She came crying, Help me! Help me! My daughter's at home demonized. Help me! You know what the disciples said? Send her away.

Hey, you want to solve most of your church problems? Send people away. Send them away. Jesus didn't do that.

He said, No. Let's take care of the need. Now hear me, and I'm through.

At the judgment, the Lord is going to separate the sheep from the goat. He's going to say to the sheep, Enter into the kingdom that my Father has prepared for you. He's going to say to the goats, Depart from me into outer darkness, prepared for the devil and his angels.

God did not prepare hell for people. But if they want to go there, they can go there. And these people, the sheep are going to say, Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. What's going on? He said, When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.

When I was in prison, you visited me. He said, When did we do that? And he said this, Oh, you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, so you did it to me. You know, friends, when he was on the cross, Jesus said, I thirst.

And a soldier brought him a bit of wine, a bit of vinegar. You know what people are saying in hell? I thirst. You know what I'm saying? People are crying around this world.

We're thirsty. We're hungry. And when I give either literal bread or spiritual bread to someone, I'm giving it to Jesus.

The old problem is selfishness. When you hoard the manna, it stinks. When I hoard resources, it rots.

The more we give, the more we get. The more we give, the more God blesses. The more we share, the richer we are.

Give us this day our daily bread. Heavenly Father, we take for granted that which would be amazingly wonderful to many people in this world. We here are looked upon as exceedingly rich by most of the people in the world.

You've been good to us. We're thankful that every day we can pray, give us this day our daily bread. Lord, deliver us from pride.

We depend upon you. Deliver us from idolatry. Don't let anything come in the place that is rightfully yours.

From worry, because you'll take care of us. Even to old age, while I carry you, is your promise. And deliver us from selfishness.

We have so much. And the more we keep, the more we lose. And the more we give, the more we gain.

Deliver us from selfishness. And give us this day our daily bread. Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.