You Can Stop Worrying

The Lord’s Prayer: You Can Pray! Part 3

Matthew 6:11: Give us this day our daily bread.

This model prayer is an outline for us to pray each day of our lives. Jesus cautions us against hypocritical prayers to be seen of men, and heathen prayers of vain repetition. Instead Jesus gives a model prayer that is to be spoken from the HEART and the HEAD. The prayer is simple, comprehensive, and brief.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He reminded the disciples to pray. Why is that? Because we often forget to seek first God in all matters of life, yet that is what we need. We need continual prompting to prayer. These verses are easily rushed over and flippantly spoken. That is why we are going to slow down and I plan to give three more messages on this powerful prayer.

The word DAILY is a very significant word in this verse, therefore it is a very significant word in this sermon. It is an unusual word in the New Testament. The Greek word is “epiousios” and it is only found in the two model prayers the Lord gives us. When translators were putting the Bible from Greek into English, they couldn’t find this word anywhere in other Greek literature or history. It wasn’t in Plato, Aristotle, or the Illiad. Until in 1947 they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, they found rare documents and manuscripts of the Bible. They found this word on some parchments, and these parchments used this word to describe grocery lists. Epiousios were perishable items. In Bible days they did not have refrigeration, so they had to go to Key Food every day for their ice cream and frozen yogurt. Epiousios items are things that do not last. There are things all around us that will not last: food, houses, furniture, clothes. Epiousios speaks of what sustains and maintains life today.

Epiousios items:

Do not last and…

You need them every day.

Have you noticed that we need a lot of things EVERY DAY? A few weeks ago I was enjoying a delicious Italian meal in Little Italy to celebrate with Vincent and Louise Deale their wedding. I enjoyed the first course, and the second course, and by the time the third course came, I was pretty full. I ate it, but I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to eat as much as I wanted, then to just not eat for a week or so. I knew that even though I was full at that moment, the next day my stomach would be growling again for more food. God has made us that way. He has made us with DAILY needs. He has made us with MANY DAILY NEEDS. From toothpaste to transportation, bread, water, clothes, shelter, AIR! Why do we have so many needs for daily bread? So we will trust in Him daily for all of our needs.

This phrase relates to the daily food we need in order to give nourishment and strength to our bodies. This part of the prayer does not relate only to food, it can speak of any physical need you have. Also, because we are one person with many different parts, and these parts are connected, the bread you eat will affect your emotional condition, your mind, and it can also impact your spiritual life.

What do you worry about the most? Food? Finances? School? Work? Husband? Wife? Kids? Family?

People are uptight about everything today. It is the age of anxiety.

You can pray though, so why worry? The old English word for worry means to choke or strangle. Wouldn’t you look foolish walking down the street choking yourself? Yet if you live with worry and anxiety in your soul, that is what you are doing to your inner man.  By worrying you are choking yourself to a slow death.

40% of your worries are about the future, and they never happen.

30% of your worries are about the past and they can’t be changed.

12% are needless worries about our health that do not improve it.

10% are petty worries.

8% are legitimate concerns: What you do with these worries is pay a professional worrier. I can recommend one to you for $100,000 per year. You say, where am I going to get that kind of money? That will be his worry!

What is the antidote to anxiety? Prayer. Some people are looking for someone to help them solve all their problems. They go to psychologists and psychoanalysts and counselors. Learn to pray through your problems.

Prayer is the best problem solving technique known to man!

If you can learn to pray, you will learn the best problem solving technique known to man. Through prayer you will learn strength, wisdom, vision, joy and perspective. Through prayer you get a vision OF the LORD, and as we begin to SEE HIM, we will gain a vision from the LORD of what He can do through us and with us.

In this phrase of the Lord’s prayer we find these words: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

1. REQUEST DAILY God’s Provision: “Give us…”

This brief phrase teaches us that God is the source of all things. Anything we have is because God has given it to us. We would have nothing to give to God unless He first gave it to us. Now, what is the source of your daily bread? MY JOB, says I. Some think, why do I need God, I have a job.

Others boast, “God helps those who help themselves.” Wrong! That is not in the Bible, but it is human reasoning. 

Your job is the channel of your daily bread, but God is the ultimate source of your income. Therefore if you lose your job you do not have to panic and worry because your job is not the source of your daily bread but God is.

You see, asking Him honors Him as we realize He is the ultimate source of all we have. Others think, I don’t need to ask God for physical things. I have all I need. Whatever else I need I get with MY STRENGTH, MY WISDOM, OR MY EFFORTS. What do I need to ask God for? They have forgotten that God has provided for them.

Deuteronomy 8:17,18: And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might ofmine hand hath gotten me this wealth.  But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth…

Some people erroneously say, “Oh, I couldn’t ask God for physical things. I am too humble for that.”

No, if you do not ask God for His daily provision, you are not being humble; you are being proud! God says Ask, so obey Him and ask!

Asking Him obeys Him as it demonstrates humility and leads to real joy.

Some think, God is not concerned about my material needs. Who said so? God made us with physical needs, so He must be concerned about them. Stop thinking you can live life without asking God for His daily help and provision.

Why do we worry? We feel like we have lost control. If we prayed as much as we worried, we would have a lot less to worry about. How many times does it say in the Bible, ASK! ASK! ASK! James 1:5,6 James 4:2 Ye have not because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

John 16:23, 24: Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy shall be made full.  (Read also John 14:13,14; John 15:7)

Matthew 7:7 says, Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.

Matthew 21:22 states, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

You do not have to look for somebody to solve your problems. You should be seeking God who knows all your problems and how to solve them!

2. REMEMBER DAILY God’s Resources

Now, this prayer seems a little outdated for America. Many of us have our daily bread in our refrigerator already. Why do you have to pray about it if you already have it? This prayer reminds us that we need to remember that it is the Lord who provides the daily provisions of life in order to give us the strength for each day.

If this is true, then why are so many people filled with anxiety and worry today? Why are our psychiatric hospitals full and psychoanalysts finding a thriving business? It is because many do not know they can pray instead of worry.

Bread represents the basic necessities of life. It is a complete source of nourishment. Amino acids are the “building blocks of proteins.” Researchers have identified twenty of them which our bodies need in order to build tissue. There are at least eight amino acids our bodies cannot make; these we must get from the food we eat. All of the amino acids which are essential for life are contained in the kernel of grain. Thus, wheat germ is known as the complete protein. Bread is essential to good health, strength, and physical strength that will provide emotional health and spiritual vitality.

In this part of your praying, you are asking God to provide the physical things you need in life in order to have physical health, emotional health, and spiritual health.

Daily bread speaks of a healthy diet. It is important that we eat balanced foods that will give us proper nutrition and energy.

Daily bread speaks unselfish praying. Learn the difference between your greeds and your needs. Daily bread speaks of the sustenance you need in order to keep on going. This prayer teaches us to pray for our physical needs, but to pray moderately for those needs. Do not pray for your greeds, but for our needs.

You need daily bread because you need daily strength. Bread is the staff of life that provides you with the nourishment your body requires.

Do you know the best way to have this prayer answered? Seek first the Kingdom of God. Matthew 6:33 says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

What THINGS? Food, shelter, and clothing. Sounds like the things we like to worry about most of all still today! How do I look, what am I going to eat, where am I going to live?

God has promised to meet your needs if you seek first His Kingdom. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Even in this prayer the order is first seeking God’s Kingdom and His Purpose first. We must put God’s glory and interests first. I must desire God’s eternal Purpose and dedicate myself to God’s earthly purpose. Now I am ready to say, Give us this day our daily bread. If I am seeking first His kingdom and His will, then He will surely take care of food for my belly, clothes for my back, and shoes for my feet.

Deuteronomy 33:25; As thy days, so shall thy strength be.

3. Rely Daily in God’s Timing: …this day… 

God in effect is saying, “I want you to trust Me daily for the crust.” If God were to give you all the food, clothing and shelter today that you would need for the rest of your life, how much would you pray? Not very much. This prayer teaches us to depend on God with a humble heart that is willing to work.

Let me give you two verses that will help you win over your worry. If you have a problem with worry, then memorize and meditate on these two verses:

Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God,

Prayer is God’s divinely ordained and wisely appointed way of meeting our needs. (Exodus 16) Do you remember after the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, God fed three million people with daily bread called Manna. Do you know what the people said when they saw this white grain upon the ground? They said, EUUU, What is it? Manna means “What is it?” It was a bland kind of grain, and every day the Israelites had to get up early and gather the manna. The early bird got the manna. God says don’t worry, but He doesn’t say don’t work! If they tried to store the manna from one day to the next, it would spoil. There was only one day a week that the manna would carry over to the next day, and that was for the Sabbath. What a miracle! Also on the Sabbath, there was no manna on the ground. What another miracle!

So here is how you can stop worrying: You pray, and live that day. You pray, and live that day for the glory of God.

Let me share two applications: There is a specific way we plunge ourselves into worry and lose our peace?

How do you know you are trusting God in the material realm?

You refuse to live in debt!

One of the things that make us anxious about tomorrow is when we buy on credit. The credit card can be an enemy to faith. In America, many think why trust God when I have been an American Express member?  I don’t need to trust in God, I have Mastercard, Visa, or Discover. When you buy today and then do not have to make any payments for six months then all you have to do is make 352 easy payments we are presuming on God and placing additional anxiety into your life. Debt is like injecting the drug of worry into your soul. We have to hustle, and work overtime to get out of debt. Maybe God wants to provide it for us without credit. Many people ruin their lives, their families, and bring untold stress by living on credit.

Before you pay for it, pray for it. When you realize and believe that God is the absolute source of your needs,

Are you short circuiting a life of faith buy buying on credit things that maybe God wanted to provide for you in His way. If you want to live worry live debt free.

You willingly and sacrificially give to God’s work!

Do you give generously to the work of God? When you are stingy you really don’t believe God will provide for you, so you hoard it and hold on to it. Tithing, or giving a tenth of our gross income, is a good place to begin in our giving to God.  Do you know why Christians don’t tithe? They believe that if they do, then God won’t meet their needs. Every Sunday when we take the offering, God is giving you a faith quiz. We are going to have a pop quiz in just a few minutes. Are you so far behind in your bills that you feel you cannot give to Him?

Are you really trusting in God for your daily bread? If so, you will be at peace, and you will be generous.

Some are afraid that if they tithe, they will go broke.  Some are afraid that if they surrender to Him, God will make you miserable. Some are afraid that if they believe on Christ for salvation, you will have to give up things you enjoy.