ARE YOU PLAYING THE HYPOCRITE PART SEVE

 

Matt 6:1-18

 

What Jesus is teaching His disciples is the perfect and comprehensive outline when it comes to the understanding of prayer. The proper pattern to one’s prayer life is exemplified in what Jesus is teaching here to those sitting on this hillside. This pattern of prayer is where I learned the acronym A.C.T.S Because it give you a balanced reminder to the importance of prayer and how we come to the throne in prayer.

 

Adoration….this reflects on God Himself. It’s where our prayers begin. (v9) The more you grow as His child the more time you spend here in your prayers. This adoration focuses on His perfections, His majesty, and the wonderful gift He gave us, His Son.

 

Prime examples of this are found in the Psalms. They express their adoration towards a holy God. 

“O LORD, our Lord how majestic is Your name in all the earth.” Psalm 8:1

“The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven. “ Psalm 11:4

“I love you, O LORD, my strength.” Psalm 18:1

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1

“O my God, in You I trust.” Psalm 25:2

“In You, O LORD, do I take refuge...” Psalm 31:1

“Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised.” Psalm 48:1

“For God alone my soul waits in silence;” Psalm 62:1

“How lovely is Your Dwelling place.” Psalm 84:1

“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.” Psalm 107:1

“Righteousness are You, O LORD, and right are Your rules.” Psalm 119:137

 

“Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” Psalm 150:1-6

Our prayers begin here… because it sets the proper foundation, and it reveals what is truly in our hearts as we approach His throne.

 

Confession…..Admitting to God that you have sinned. Be honest and humble. (v12) It’s remembering who we are when we come into His presence. As John wrote “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Proverb 28:13-14 says “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” It’s a daily desire to be in fellowship/communion with a holy God. It’s a daily desire to hate my sin as God hates my sin. That is only possible when we are attentive to our own sins. True prayer requires adoration and confession of daily sins that affect our daily lives for His glory and the gospel witness.

 

Thanksgiving….. Telling God how grateful you are for everything. Even in the unpleasant times or things. (v10) Your thankfulness will help you see past the hurt, disappointment or sorrow to see His purposes working in your life for your good. It took Job 40 chapters to realize this truth for his life. The Apostle Paul said we are always to pray with thanksgiving. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1Thess 5:16-18. It’s coming to Him with a thankful heart, a heart that is indebted to His overwhelming act of kindness to save a sinner such as I. Paul would also say to the church in Philippi. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7

 

See! When we have hallowed His holy name and praised Him for His excellent greatness. This brings us to remind ourselves of His grace in the gospel though daily repentance. Which leads to a genuine heart of thanksgiving for His longsuffering and mercy that He displays over our lives daily. As Jeremiah so beautifully wrote in his lament as prophet for God, amongst a rebellious people who would not listen. “I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long……But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” Lam 3:1; 21-25. When our foundation begins with adoration, confession and thanksgiving it is then we bring our supplications before a holy God.

 

Supplications….. Making specific requests, its praying first for others then for ourselves. (v11, v13) It is here we ask God to meet our needs. And to my shame at times I/we rush to the acronym S and skim over the other three quickly. R C Sproul said “We cannot wait to get into the presence of God with our list and supplications.” This is why it’s very important we approach God in a manner that settles our heart down as we approach His throne. For the simple reason! To focus and examines our motivation to why we are coming before Him in the first place.

 

It’s focusing on God’s glory

And His kingdom

 

Our prayers must be kingdom focused and for my will to submitted to His will as it is in heaven. What I find interesting about this request is this! Praying your “daily bread” is more than hoping for a homemade fresh loaf of French bread or a fresh all-seasoned bagel from the Fresh-Mart. This request is for all our todays needs for sustaining life as we serve the Lord. This isn’t a grocery list to share with God to go to store and buy what we are lacking. Because! God knows what we need. We have already seen that in Matt 6:8 “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” This is an expression of trusting in Him as the Perfect Sustainer and Provider for our needs. It’s the same trust that Abraham had when he took his son to Mt Moriah. It’s the same trust that Moses had when he lead his people out of Egypt. See this “daily bread” means so much more than requesting food for your table. It involves praying about friends, family, personal concerns, our daily circumstances, and even your personal ministries. It’s not about praying for what we want, but for our daily necessities of life, to live for His glory and great Name.

Whether it’s a large or small request, our daily and temporal needs are supplied by the loving kindness of the Father. We need to understand that God cares just as much about the small requests as He does the little ones. As Kent Hughes said “God cares for the simple, ordinary, day to day things of life.” We know that true because Jesus exemplified that in His earthly ministry. He took children into His arms and blessed them and such is the kingdom, when the disciples tried to push them away. Jesus sat down with lepers, the lame, and downcast, people who were shunned by the self-righteous hypocrite.

 

He loved the unlovable and had compassion for them. “When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." But He answered them, "You give them something to eat."” Mark 6:34-37

 

See! The priests and scribes were proud and corrupt; and they despised the common people and neglected them with Words of life. Jesus showed them compassion; He was filled with tenderness beyond human comprehension. The Greek word that is translated here as “compassion” is used to describe only Jesus in all of the New Testament. This was a compassion that reached a level far beyond human concern or empathy. This is the God whom we are approaching with our supplications. As David said “To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.” Psalm 25:1

A right understanding of prayer does

something to prepare us for prayer.

 

This is the place as one theologian called it “Relational alignment”. For this alignment to happen we need to approach God in this manner; as taught by Jesus. We need to be seeking God for all our daily needs, and not just for some. We must seek God daily, not when we feel like it, or have a need for it. It’s a daily leaning into His grace for understand, comfort and sustaining grace for this day. As Abraham said to his son, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering.” Gen 22:8

 

5. When You Are Praying Realize You Are Seeking Him For Our Necessities Of Life In This World. (V11)

 

This request reveals Five Truths that are helpful to remind us why we come to Him in the first place for our daily bread.

  

1. God Is The Substance Of Our Daily Bread….. “bread” not only represents food it’s symbolic to our physical needs. We need food to survive and be healthy. A healthy spiritual/physical body, our home, marriages, single-life, children, and peace are vital parts of one’s life. We read in John’s gospel “Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:32-35. Our substance comes from the Father who gives us enough food to eat, cloths to wear and place to rest our head. God is the substance for those who are full; and those who have little to eat. Our prayer is an affirmation that He will provide.

 

Our substance comes from the

gracious hands of God.

 

As James said “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17 

 

2. God Is The Source Of Our Daily Bread….. Our father is the source of this bread the one we praise and honor with our lives. This is a request of His providence, as God, father’s over us, cares for us; we seek Him for our necessities for life in this world. 

God is the provider as we read in Gen 1:29 “And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” Before Adam became a living being, God already had his well-being in mind.

The same was true with the Israelites when they wandered in the desert for 40 years in disobedience and God told them to go into the Promised Land. “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.  You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.” Deut 6:10-15

The same is true in the life of the believer. God knows what we need before we ask for Him. “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” Eph 3:20. Now! This doesn’t mean we don’t ask for our daily bread. See we tend not to pray when things are going well, food on the table, bills are being paid and money in your bank account.

 

Do you realize who the Source of all those things are? 

Do you realize who made it possible for you to work

and have what you have?

 

That’s the problem! We claim our independence, but forgetting who gave us the gifts in the first place.

 

God is the One who provides in such faithful ways.

He gets the glory…YOU DON”T!

 

We only seek God when we are out of, or lacking, yet forgetting who gave us this daily bread in the first place. But Acts 17:24-29 says this. “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.” Our life, the air we breathe, your health, what you possess, your abilities and the opportunities that are before you all come from one source. All this God has created and made available to mankind.

3. God Is The Supplication Of Our Daily Bread… this is expressed in the word “give” this isn’t something we buy from the store or work towards. Jesus isn’t teaching “Sell us this day our daily bread” nor do we have to bribe God for it either. We are asking Him to give it to us, as a gift. This word is the heart of the petition. We ask daily because we are completely dependent upon the gifts of God. Because we have no control over what we will face tomorrow. But it’s finding rest in Him for our daily bread. We find rest in what Paul says “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:19. We should battle the unbelief of anxiety with the promises of future grace. God is the one who supplies what we need for this day. 

 

4. God Is The One We Seek For This Daily Bread…. Who is requesting this prayer? “Us” Who are the Us? The one who is born of God, through the gospel of His Son. Speaking to believers Paul said this in 2 Cor 9:9-11. “As it is written, "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” Jesus said "…Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life." Luke 18:29-30. God conclusively commits to meet the essential needs of His children through the gospel confession. “hundredfold” to which Mark gives in in his gospel. Mark 10:30

 

I came across a story about a nurse who worked in an orphanage after the Korean War. Some children who had experienced severe hunger before coming to live at the orphanage were unable to fall asleep at night. Their inability to sleep came from the fear that they might again find themselves destitute. The nurse came up with an idea: every night when she tucked the children into bed she gave each one a piece of bread. This served to remove the children’s anxiety, and each night they went to sleep clutching that bread and knowing that they would not starve.

 

This is something that I sure have never experienced. We have an abundance of food and water and have no problem going to sleep. This prayer request is not about me…”Give us this day” not “give me” its praying for others who may not have what we take for granted.

 

5. God Is The Schedule for this daily bread….. we do this “daily”, not once a year or when we need it. We do it daily. This is beautiful because what this reveals to us is that God’s provisions are daily, not once a month or a year, but daily. To have a peace that God will provide for our daily necessities without concern is a testimony to God and His glory. But it’s also a wonderful demonstration of a heart that is content in all things. As Paul said “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Phil 4:10-13

God is good and faithful and He cannot deny Himself,

but gives to us freely and without reservations.

 

May we sing with the Hymn Writer?

 

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

fill me with life anew,

that I may love the way you love,

and do what you would do.

 

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

until my heart is pure,

until my will is one with yours,

to do and to endure.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

so shall I never die,

but live with you the perfect life

for all eternity.

 

Waiting upon the providence of God from day to day is an expression of conscious trust in God as our Perfect provider for our needs. Both the physical bread and ultimately the spiritual bread through the gospel. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." 

John 6:51

  

May we seek him with the puritan's prayer 

“Occupy the throne of my heart, take full possession and reign supreme, lay low every rebel lust, let no vile passion resist thy holy war; manifest thy mighty power and make me thine for ever.”

 

It is our Father’s world and He has called us to cry out to Him

and ask Him “for our daily bread.”