Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Good morning, church family.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: A few of you are awake this morning.
We've been.
[00:00:08] Speaker A: We've been talking through Matthew 6 and.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: The Lord's Prayer for a while now. We're going to sing about it this.
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Morning, so would you guys stand and.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Join us as we introduce a new one?
[00:00:21] Speaker A: Father, let your kingdom come Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven Right here in my heart Father, let your kingdom come Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven Right here in my heart Give us this day our daily bread Forgive us, Forgive us as we forgive the ones who sinned against us.
Forgive them.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver. Deliver us from the evil one.
Let your kingdom come.
Father, let your kingdom come.
Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven Right here in my heart Father, let your kingdom come Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven Right here in my. My heart.
It was this day our daily bread. Forgive us.
Forgive us as we forgive the ones who sin against us.
Forgive them.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Let your kingdom come it's yours, it's yours, all yours, all yours the kingdom, the power, the glory are yours it's yours, it's yours, all yours, all yours Forever and ever the kingdom is yours and it's yours, it's yours, all yours, all yours the kingdom, the power, the glories are yours it's yours, it's yours, all yours for the king and the kingdom is yours Father, let your kingdom come Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven Right here in my heart Father, let your kingdom come, Father, but your will be done on earth as in heaven Right here in my heart.
[00:03:32] Speaker C: Amen.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:03:34] Speaker D: Good morning, West Gay family. How we doing this morning?
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Good.
[00:03:38] Speaker D: Beautiful. Y' all can take a seat really quick.
My name is Dan Russell. I'm the student ministries pastor here at Westgate with my focus being on high school students.
And I am glad you guys are here that you chose to worship with us this morning.
In front of you in your pews, there's something we call a connect card.
This is for anyone that wants to get connected with us at Westgate Chapel.
We love when people fill this out because it helps us get to know you a little bit better and it helps you get connected to what's happening here at Westgate Chapel. We kind of a big church, and so if you want to get like. We love people that serve, get in life groups. We have a whole lot of things going on and the best way to find that stuff out is filling out that connect card so we can reach out to you and let you know all the stuff that we do here at Westgate to get you plugged in and be a part of this family. And so, hey, I'm glad you guys are here. It is a great day to worship Jesus, right? Come on, baby. Okay, and so something really cool happening this week is we are taking 68 high school students to this life conference. Anyone know what life is? A few people. All right, so students, come on up here really quick.
Give it up for the high schoolers.
There we go.
This is only like a handful of them. We got a lot of students from other churches and things like that that come. And so this is just a little piece of our 68.
But just to give you an idea what life is, if you don't know, it is a week long conference where the focus is God and who Jesus Christ is. And so every day there's two main sessions, and then in between there's two opportunities to do, like, breakout sessions to learn about discipleship, everything under the sun that's gonna help students deepen their faith and broaden their faith and understanding of Jesus Christ. And so it's an awesome opportunity. And I'm really, I'm pumped for them.
Was 16 I went, and that's where I felt my call to be a youth pastor. And so God just does really amazing things. When you're taken out of your everyday life and you're plopped around like 6,000 other people who are chasing after God, God shows up. And so I'm really excited for what he has for him. And I just would love for you guys, just like I had you pray for us for Serve last week. Serve went awesome, by the way. It was incredible. We'll have a couple testimonies next week. I want to invite you to pray for our life. Our students that are going, pray for the leaders as well, but that God would meet them in a radical way, in a way that when they come back, right, they're changed and their life is different, they look different, and they want people to know why they're different, right? And so I invite you to pray that for them. And then I'm gonna pray for them right now as we go. So let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that these students are saying yes to this trip.
There's other things I'm sure they had to say no to.
Sports, academics, friends, work, a bunch of stuff.
There's a sacrifice to go it took something for them to say, I want to do this. And so, God, I thank you for that.
And I pray as we go.
Holy Spirit, may they be sensitive to your moving.
May they surrender to you, God, where they need to surrender.
May they be fully invested in this week. And I pray against any distractions that can come up.
I pray against the enemy trying to work on them, trying to keep them from focusing on you, God, and for what you the reason you have them there. Every student has a specific reason why they're going to be there. God, you got something for them. I believe it. And so I pray against any distractions. I pray against the enemy in Jesus name.
And I pray that as we're there that week, God, I expect, I'm expecting for you to do big things in their lives.
And I pray as they come back, may their lives be changed.
I pray that some will have a call to go into ministry, that some will want to serve you with their life, whether that's vocationally or being a garbage man and saying, I'm going to tell everyone I know about Jesus.
God, may you do what only you can do.
I'm so excited to see what it is that you're going to do.
I pray this in your holy and powerful and able name, Jesus. Amen.
Amen. All right, give it up for these high schoolers one more time. You guys can head on down.
It's going to be a great trip. And now I would love for you guys to stand up, give each other some high fives, a holy hug maybe, and just welcome each other to church this morning.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: It.
[00:09:36] Speaker C: What a joy it is to have the fellowship of believers this morning and so many things that we can be thankful for. I'm especially thankful for God's Word.
We have God's word. Not only is it his, it's God breathed. It's his words to us of encouragement. But I feel like it's so hope giving to me.
So often we can be in the middle of a situation or circumstance that feels scary.
We don't know what's going to happen next. It can feel uncomfortable, uncertain, which can definitely lead to fear and anxiety. But I know that in a lot of times, especially in the Old Testament, when different leaders were facing really challenging, scary situations, they would recount God's faithfulness and that helped give them courage. But one of my favorite stories is actually not. I don't think it's a very well known story. It's in second Chronicles 20 and I'm going to do the Julia Bridge version. So Please go home and read it for yourself, because it's so, so good.
But basically, this is King Jehoshaphat. And he finds out that some several extremely powerful, strong, nasty tribes are going to come against him and his people. And there's no hope. There's literally no hope in this situation. These groups are terrifying. And it says alarmed. Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah. So the people of Judah all came together, and they all sought the Lord together. And Jehoshaphat recounts God's faithfulness to them. And he says, lord, like, didn't you do this? And you did this, and you led us through Israel or through the desert? And he recounts all the ways God was faithful and declares his trust to the Lord. He says, our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that's attacking us.
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. And then a prophet stands up and speaks hope into the situation.
And he says, you do not have to fight this battle. Take up your position, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you today. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.
And I can only imagine what it must have been like that night as they went to bed, right facing a battle the next morning. And they had no idea what was going to happen, and they were just trusting in God. But you can imagine the fear that must have been going through their minds. So they woke up. And my favorite part, the reason this is one of my favorite stories, is that Jehoshaphat appoints men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness. As they went out ahead of the army, you guys, he put a choir in front of the army to praise the Lord as they headed into battle. And it says, as they began to sing and praise the Lord, set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
So I hope that you can pull some hope and courage from that today, that no matter what kind of situation you're in, no matter uncertainty, rehearse truth to yourself. Sometimes you have to speak it to yourself if you're not feeling it. So rehearse truth to yourself and know that you can be confident and we can stand on God's promises and his faithfulness. So let's declare these worship songs together in faith that God is going to do what he says he will do.
I have this confidence because.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: I've seen.
[00:13:51] Speaker C: The faithfulness of God.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: The still inside, the storm, the promise of the shore.
[00:14:03] Speaker C: I trust the power of your word.
[00:14:06] Speaker A: Word.
[00:14:09] Speaker C: Enough to seek your kingdom first.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: Beyond the barren place, beyond the ocean waves.
When I walk through the waters, I won't be overcome. When I go through the rivers, I will not be drowned. My God will make a way so I am not afraid. Praise you.
[00:14:46] Speaker C: Keep the promises you made.
There isn't one that is delayed so.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: I will not lose heart. Here I will lift my arms and start to sing into the night My praise will call the sun to rise.
Declare the battle won.
Declare that it is done.
When I walk through the water, I won't be overcome. When I go through the rivers I will not be drowned. My God will make a way so I am not afraid.
When I am in the fire, I will not feel the flame. I'll stand before the giants declaring victory.
My God will make a way so I am not afraid.
Before me, behind me always be.
No shadow, no valley where you are fighting. No, I am not afraid. Way before me, behind me, always beside me. No shadow, no valley where you won't find me. Oh, I am not afraid.
I am not afraid.
When I walk through the waters, I won't be over overcome. When I go through the rivers, I will not be drowned. My God will make a way so I am not afraid.
When I am in the fire, I will not feel the flame.
I'll stand before the giant declaring victory.
My God will make a way so I am not afraid.
Way.
My God will make a way.
My God will make a way so I am not afraid.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: Amen. Amen.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: Amen.
And we still have that hope that Jehoshaphat had then now.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: He's already won the victory and we celebrate him.
There's peace that outlasts darkness.
Hope that's in the blood.
There's future grace that's mine Today that Jesus Christ has won so I can face tomorrow.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: Tomorrow.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: For tomorrow's in your hands.
All I need you will provide just like you always have.
I'm fighting a battle but you've already won.
No matter what comes my way, I will overcome. Don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done.
I'm fighting a battle you've already won.
There's mercy in the waiting man of for today.
And when it's gone, I know you're not. You are my hope and stay when the sea is raging, your spirit Is my help he'll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ. I'll say that it is well.
Oh, I know that it is well.
I'm fighting the battle you've already won.
No matter what comes my way I will overcome. I don't know what you do but I know what you've done.
Thank you, God.
I'm fighting a battle you already won.
I know how the story ends.
We will be with you again.
You're my savior, my defense.
So I won't fear.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: No more fear.
[00:21:17] Speaker A: In life or death. Come on, sing it out.
I know how the story end.
We will be with you.
We will be with you again.
You're my savior.
You're my, my savior, my defense So.
[00:21:44] Speaker B: I won't have any fear.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: No more fear in life or death.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: All right, come on.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: All that you got?
I know how the story ends.
We will be with you again.
You're my savior, my defense.
No more fear, no more fear in life or death? Cause I know how this story ends.
I know how it end.
I'm fighting a battle, battle you already won.
No matter what comes my way I will overcome.
Don't know what you doing but I know what you done.
Thank you, God.
I'm fighting a battle you already won.
I'm fighting a battle you've already won.
[00:23:42] Speaker D: Amen.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: Amen. Church.
[00:23:47] Speaker B: You may be seated.
Hey. Would you thank our worship team for leading us this morning?
Thankful for them, our fearless leader, Adam Burrow, went home this morning with strep throat. And so just thankful we've got such a great team that even when Pastor Adam goes down sick, they can continue to carry us with excellence to the throne of God to worship. Be praying for Pastor Adam as he recovers this morning and this week, we're going to come to a time of offering and worship the Lord through offering. So would you join me in prayer as we give this time to the Lord?
Father, we thank you again for this morning. And we thank you for your many blessings that you. That you give to us every single day. We thank you, God, for the way in which we know, as we will see and study in your word this morning, that you are so intimately involved in our lives, consistently providing for our every need. And, Father, because of that and your faithfulness, God, it is our great joy in our faithfulness to you just to continue to give back of what you have entrusted to us in our time and in our offerings.
Father, our heart and our desire is that you would take them and multiply them so that people would know your son, Jesus Christ, and at the same time, Father, whether we are giving in this room or we give online at home, whatever it may be, our heart right now simply wants to be a place of worship and thanksgiving as we give, recognizing that you are the giver of every good and perfect gift.
And so, Father, all that we have, we're thankful for your provision. And we give back because it's our joy to be a part of advancing your kingdom in this world. So we give you thanks and worship you together this morning in this way. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.
We've got our offering buckets that are here in the center aisle. If you want to take those, we'll just pass them out to the sides. They're in the corners and the balconies and so you can pass those in. And we'll continue to work. Worship the Lord in our giving for just a moment.
Well, before we jump into our message this morning, I want to give you a couple of updates. Obviously I shared with you about praying for Pastor Adam first service. I had gotten some wrong information and said that Marlena was also sick with strep throat.
So if you saw people while she's here in the building keeping a 10 foot circle around her and not engaging, that was my fault.
Well, I'll blame somebody else later, but yeah, she's okay. You can hug her. We're good.
But another update, we've been getting calls this week. People asking how Randy Fall is doing.
Pastor Randy had his knee replacement surgery this week. Happy to tell you that he is home, resting, doing well, beginning physical therapy soon and so be praying for him with just pain management and the recovery time and process that it would go quickly. I'm happy to say that this morning I saw he was active on social media. So I know he's alive, which is good.
So. But keep praying for Pastor Randy. But if you're asking, you should know he's doing great and we're thankful that he is able to get that done and kind of move on from some of that knee pain that he's been dealing with.
One other update that I want to give you before we jump into our message is especially if you're newer to Western, you may not know that one of the gifts that the leadership of the church gives to me each year and to my family is some vacation time and sabbatical.
And that typically happens in the month of July where we'll take four weeks off, two weeks for vacation, and then two weeks of what we call working sabbatical, where I'M working towards what we're going to be doing as a church in the fall.
And so I disconnect here from the church. Don't come into the office. Typically don't take calls and messages unless it is of dire importance. But I let you know that because if there is an emergency, something you need, contact Pastor Adam. Just, he is great. He'll be handling those things. And if I need to be brought into the loop on anything, he will be sure to do that. But share that with you as well, because over the next four weeks, Pastor Adam's going to be teaching for the next two weeks. Then we've got a couple of our elders who are going to be preaching. Isaac Villa and Norm Weimer, very excited about that and how they're going to handle God's Word is just going to be great. We'll be finishing up our current series together and then we're going to be jumping into first Peter, mid July. So if you're one of those people that likes to read ahead, you can do so. But going to be a great, great summer. And I just say, hey, in the season, as I say every year, just pray over Rochelle and I and our family, especially exiting seminary, a great time to reconnect and just to have some downtime together as a family. They actually feel like I might be present for once. So we're thankful for that gift. But as I was preparing for my message this week, one of the things that I ran across was a list of funny things that kids pray and I don't know about you. I think back to my own time as a kid and some of the things that I prayed and I just kind of shake my head. You know, I was always taught from the time I was young, you just ask God for anything. And as it seems, some kids really do take that anything to heart. So I thought I'd share some of my favorite ones with you this morning. The first one says this. Dear God, my mom tells me that you have a reason for everything on earth. I guess broccoli is one of your mysteries.
In my house, broccoli is the tree of life. But okay. Dear God, please don't let it rain on Saturday. The first ball that I hit will be for you. That's, you know, hey, trying to convince God. Dear God, please make my parents understand that if I don't eat asparagus, I will do better at school.
Praise the Lord. I believe that fully.
Asparagus.
Anyway, long story. Dear God, thank you for the baby brother, but I prayed for a puppy can we please make a swap?
I love that.
Dear God, I need you to make my mom not allergic to cats. I really want a cat and I really don't want to ask mom to move out, so.
Good. That's a great one. Dear God, I promise to never say those words again. At least until I stub my toe again.
Dear God, I saw my big brother walk out of the shower on accident. Can you please erase that from my brain?
That great.
Oh, the things kids pray. Dear God, please take care of my daddy, mommy, sister, brother, my doggie and me. Oh, and please take care of yourself because if anything happens to you, we're going to be in a big mess. Amen. Can I get an amen?
Amen. Well, you know, when we think of prayer, oftentimes we think of it in terms of what it is that we are going to ask God for.
And if you've been with us over the last couple weeks, you know that we have been in a series entitled Teach us to Pray. We've been going through the Lord's Prayer together. And as we've gone through this, we recognized as we dove in that Jesus disciples had seen Jesus praying. And they noticed that there was something that was radically different about how Jesus prayed compared to the religious leaders and the example that they had been given from them and the ways that they had been taught. And so they come to Jesus, say, Jesus, would you please teach us to pray?
And as we've gone through this prayer, we've done so week by week, kind of phrase by phrase together. And when we look at this prayer, what we find is that if we can move past just the very surface of the prayer and what we read, we actually find that it teaches us more than we could possibly ever imagine.
Far more than just telling us what to do pray for.
But actually, as we've talked about looking at the posture of our hearts and how we approach God, I want to give you just a quick summation of the last couple of weeks, especially if you have not been with us. And so if you have your sermon notes, you can pull those out and follow along. Got a few fill in the blanks for you this morning as well.
If you've got your Bibles, you can turn with us to Matthew chapter six, as that is primarily where we will be located this morning.
But where have we been? As we began letter A in your notes, we talked about God is my Father, our Father in Heaven. And this word Father helps us to understand the intimacy of relationship that exists between God and us.
You'll have to remember that the title or name that is given here is far more than just a title of identification. We use names, names all the time, but we use them more so to identify people. You have this name because it helps me to tell people who you are. But in the culture of Jesus, in the ancient culture, names carried far more depth of meaning than just identification.
Their name actually meant something. And so when we refer to God as Father, it's a reflection of his care for us. It's an open understanding that God is for us, like the intimacy that exists between a child and their father.
Letter B. We also see that it says our Father in heaven. God is in heaven and holy. In other words, what we learn from this is that he is deserving of our reverence.
When we understand God being in heaven, where he is seated, his control and power over all things, his holiness, his separateness from sin, we get a picture of a sovereign creator of all things who is in control of all things. But he is not just a king. He is a king who is a father. And when we combine these two ideas together, as the passage does, it helps us to understand the way in which we approach God as a king with reverence and with respect, but knowing that he is for us and that he cares and loves us. Us.
Letter C As a result, then, as we talked about last week, my desire, our desire because of this, should be number one to see his kingdom come.
And as we talked about the word kingdom, here is talking about the rule and reign of God and of Christ.
We talked about the fact last week that when the Bible talks in the New Testament about the kingdom of God, it talks about it in terms of the it being a present and also a future reality that the kingdom is present in that when Jesus came and began his earthly ministry, the kingdom came, it was inaugurated.
Then as time has continued on since Jesus death, His resurrection, his going back into heaven, the kingdom continues to advance in this world.
However, there is a future sense of the kingdom of God, of an understanding understanding that when we talk about the kingdom of God, we're talking about a future time when Christ will return and will wipe away the brokenness of this world and make all things right again under God's complete, total control as it is made right and purified. And in this, when we talk about praying that God's kingdom would come, it has this idea of the future reality that we are understand that our hearts desire, we're aligning our hearts to God, that we want to see him come for his kingdom to be set up in its totality and that this world would be purified and all things would be made right. We pray that his kingdom would come, but also, number two, that his will would be done in this world, but especially in my life.
And the picture that we are given as we look through this prayer together is an understanding of who God is, the intimacy that is involved in that relationship. And because of this, we align our hearts to him. That our deepest desire would be that our hearts are aligned to his purposes for our lives.
You see, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, it was so much more than just giving them categories to pray through. Oftentimes, this is how the church teaches the Lord prayer and other things. With prayer, it's like, let me give you an acronym that'll tell you, like, so that when you go to prayer, you know, you should give thanks to God, you should worship God, you should ask for forgiveness for your sin. You should pursue Holy Spirit. And we kind of have this list of things to help us pray. But it feels at times so rote. It feels like we're just going through these motions of trying to. Trying to pray.
And prayer is so much more than that. And Jesus teaches his disciples this. It's more than just categories. Don't get me wrong. I think that Jesus gave categories of worship to his disciples, but he also was teaching them, as we've talked about, the right posture of prayer. In other words, what does it look like to truly be a seeker of God in prayer? And what is it that prompts that? And so if you have your Bibles, let's take a look again at the beginning, the of. Of this prayer found in Matthew, chapter 6, verses 9 through 11. We're going to stop right at the section this morning that we're going to focus on. Matthew, chapter 6, verses 9 through 11.
It says this.
This then is how you should pray.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And give us today our daily bread.
I want to take a look at this next section. Give us today our daily bread and break it apart and tear into it just a little bit. The first words that we see here are the words give us. In other words, it signals to us that there is a shift that is taking place in the prayer. Let's letter A in your notes. This actually marks a distinct shift in the prayer to what we call supplication.
Up to this point, Jesus has been teaching his disciples how to pray by beginning with adoration and adoring God, aligning our hearts to the purposes and will of God. It's been all about the posture of how we approach God. It's an understanding that prayer isn't about me, but it's about God's glory and the glory of God. And what we're going to see is that these themes that the prayer begins with actually now go and permeate through every aspect of our prayer that Jesus talks about here. And so we see this shift take place. We call it supplication.
In the Latin, it's a word that means to kneel or to beg.
And it means that we are expressing our neediness to God simply that we recognize that we have a need and we are asking God for His intervention and for his provision.
Now we see this shift take place, but really what it does when we read these words give us. And we understand that Jesus is teaching us that God wants to hear our prayers. We understand letter B, that God cares about what is burdening us, about the things that are heavy on our hearts. And I think what I love most about this is the understanding that it teaches us that God is not a God who is far off from us. There are some people in this world who have this belief and idea that God came, there is a God, that he created all things, he started all things in motion, but then he left and he's absent from his creation. And that things are just happening in this world and we just kind of fall prey to whatever it is that occurs in this world. But that couldn't be further from the truth. When you read the pages of Scripture, it tells us just how intimately involved God is in our lives. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in Psalm 139. And it was great. This morning as I was getting ready, I had had Psalm 139 up on my phone, left it on the counter. I was getting ready, and then Gracie comes up and says, daddy, Daddy, I saw Psalm 139 on your phone. Are you going to read verse 14?
That's my favorite verse in the whole Bible. I was like, aww. It's like, does my heart good. And as I dug in with her as to why, it's because of how much she understands God cares for her.
Listen to these words.
You have searched me, God, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I ride, you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down.
And you are familiar with all of my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue, you know it Completely, O Lord.
As I think about the words that David speaks here in Psalm 139, it is this beautiful picture of just how intimately involved God is in our lives lives and how deeply he cares about the things that even burden us. I remember back to the very beginning of Matthew chapter six as we look at the interaction that takes place between Jesus and his disciples before verse 9, where he gives them kind of some instructions about what not to do and how not to pray. And one of the things that he says is don't be like the pagans. The pagans mode of worship is they felt that they needed to impress impress God, that somehow they needed to convince God to act on their behalf.
And he says that there is this belief that their many words would somehow get the job done. But Jesus says don't babble because God knows what you need long before you ever ask. And when Jesus says that to his disciples, it completely matches with the heart of David in Psalm 139, before any word is on my tongue, you know it completely. God, you even can see my thoughts from afar.
And for me, as I've been going through this series, this has been one of the most freeing reminders in my own prayer life is this reminder of how intimately involved God is in my life.
He knows me inside and out better than anyone.
And here's the deal. As we read this and we understand the parts of scripture where Jesus is teaching about prayer and says don't babble, it doesn't mean that our prayers have to to be short.
The heart of what God is getting at with his disciples is not necessarily about the words or the number of words, but about the posture of the heart. In other words, like the pagans, it's not about unlocking a code to try to control God, to act on your behalf.
The point is this is giving our hearts to God and putting our ultimate trust and faith in Him.
And this is the point where if we aren't careful that we actually begin to think that prayer is all about us. You see letter C when we approach God with our requests, it's a continuation of the posture of praying according to his will. I shared with you that all of the stuff that we read at the very beginning is going to travel and flow through this entire prayer. And as Jesus instructs his disciples disciples to pray according to his will, that his will would be done in the world, but also in their lives, it's this understanding that our deepest heart's desire is that God's will would be done first and foremost. Even before our own. I remember when I taught this prayer a number of years ago in California when I was a youth pastor and was teaching about prayer. And I had a student that came up to me. I was like, pastor Rob, I just feel like I am growing in my prayer life by leaps and bounds. There are so many things that I sense God doing in my life. And as he shared that in those words, he said, I really have been praying what God's will is, and I believe that God's will is that I should have a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Whoa.
It's like, man, buddy, I think you need to talk to God about the difference between your will and his will for a few minutes. But it's interesting because one of the things that can become so easy in prayer is that we begin to focus just on our wants and our desires, rather than actually focusing on what God's desire is for me, whether it's in the good moments of life, whether it's in the hard moments, or what we might even consider to be the worst or the bad moments of life.
And I would ask you that question this morning.
Can you pray that prayer that we talked about last week, the one that Jesus prayed in the garden even as he prepared to go to his death?
Not my will, but your will be done, God, in any situation, no matter what happens, no matter the outcome, no matter what, if it's what I want, your will be done.
You see, because as we continue through this prayer, what we're gonna understand is that is where God is pushing us, is to that place of his will and trusting in him.
So it begins with give us. But then Jesus says, give us our bread.
Give us our bread. Now, when we read this, it's not just about bread. It's not just about food. And we're gonna see that. But it does symbolize something very important that helps us to understand the lens by which we read this. So give us our bread. Letter A. I want you to see this. In Jesus's day, bread was a real need because it wasn't just food. It was actually life itself. For most families, something. It's something that we don't have to worry about, Right? When we need to go to the store, we can go to Costco. We can go to Sam's Club. And when we walk in, we walk in into warehouses that are stacked full of food. I mean, it is an abundance of food. We can go anywhere and see that we have food at our disposal. If we've got a little bit of money, we can get our Hands on it. The only time we have to worry about anything when going to the store was like during COVID when there are gangs of women going after toilet paper in the morning or when there's an algae bloom on Lake Erie and you can't find water anywhere between here and Columbus. Right.
There might be times where we got to worry about something, but in general we don't worry.
But in Jesus day they did. Let me try to give you an example, maybe more modern day that would help us to understand the worry that people would feel in Jesus day. I've told the story before about Jim Elliot. Jim Elliot was a missionary that went and wanted to reach an unreached tribe of Indians in the Amazon rainforest. And he went to try to share the gospel with his friends on a beachhead, flew in with an airplane to reach an unreached people group, the Wadani tribe. And as they flew in, if you know anything about the story, they had some good interactions. They left, they came back. And then one day this Indian group came and they slaughtered these missionaries on this beachhead. And it was this incredible thing. It was all over the news. But then people continued to go and to continue to try to reach out to this Indian tribe.
And this Indian tribe, remember, had never had any contact with the outside world except their existence in this jungle. Well, the long story short is, is that many of those people within that tribe came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And there was one whose name I will probably totally butcher here, but he, Menkaye was his name. And Menkaye actually came and traveled with one of one of the missionary's sons who. The missionary had been killed. He actually was part of killing. This guy's dad traveled with him to the United States to share his testimony of coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And when he came, the story is told of the first time that he walked in to a grocery store. And he walked in and I think it was Steve Saint said that his eyes just got huge as he looked around and could not believe what, what he saw.
More food than he had ever seen in his entire lifetime. Just sitting there for people to come and to take. You see, he didn't have a context for understanding this. Why? Because he lived a subsistence lifestyle. What does that mean? A subsistence lifestyle is a lifestyle where you are the one that has to provide for everything.
His life in the Amazon rainfall, forest. He had to hunt for his food every day. If food was not found, they did not eat, they had to make their own clothes, they had to make everything that they had because they had nothing of modern day.
I share that with you as an example from modern day because the idea of subsistence is exactly what was taking place in Jesus day.
We understand the American consumer abundance lifestyle very well. We have things at our disposal to get our hands on. But in Jesus day, it was also like this. Most people around the 1st century CE in the region of Galilee and Judea lived a subsistence lifestyle. Letter B. What Jesus is doing here is speaking into their struggle with uncertainty when it came to their most basic of human needs.
The majority of people in Jesus day were very poor. The only people that actually had stuff were the rich. But most were poor. And they lived day to day, often with no food security.
A poor harvest or a drought or a pest infestation would mean no grain, thus no bread.
On top of that, the heavy tax burden of Rome often left them unable to to have enough to actually survive. Because not only would Rome take money, but they would take their grain, they would take their crops, and this greatly increased the overall population's poverty or debt. It helps us to understand, even to a greater degree, why Jews hated tax collectors so much. Tax collectors were actually Jewish people who had decided to work for the Roman government. And not only did they take heavy taxes from from the people, they also cheated them themselves. And it makes even more sense because we understand that they were despised because they were crushing their own people who were already impoverished. And many times a people who had no idea how they would feed their family from one day to the next.
Thus, as Jesus speaks this prayer, he says, give us today our daily bread. Jesus knows their burden and he calls on them to exercise trust for their most basic of needs, for survival, and to trust in the Lord. You see letter C. In applying this passage, Martin Luther rightly asserted that everything necessary for the provision of this life is bread.
In other words, Jesus isn't only talking about bread, but he is talking about those things, those needs for the preservation of life.
Things like food and drink, clothing or shoes, house or home or land, money or goods, preservation and protection of family, friends, children, faithful neighbors, for good government, for faithful rulers, for peace, for high health.
Essentially everything related to our provision and our protection. Jesus teaches us that God not only cares about our needs, but that he delights in our seeking of him to provide for our needs.
But not only did Jesus say to pray, give us bread, but it was give us next fill in our daily bread. Our daily bread. Bread and letter A. This word daily emphasizes just what I need for today.
I'll Say it again. It emphasizes just what I need for today.
Literally, when this prayer would be prayed, it would be a prayer of for the coming day. You could see a person sitting and praying early in the morning. It's they rise, God, would you provide for my needs, for my sustenance today in this coming day? Or maybe it was a prayer that they would pray on their knees at night before going to bed. It would be a prayer of God for this next day or this coming day.
Would you provide for my needs?
The clear emphasis here is that this prayer was to be a part of a Christian's daily walk with God.
It was an active, continual routine of seeking God, but not just out of habit or rote tradition, but out of a heart that was trusting in Him. And it wasn't just whenever you need something, you know, letter B. One of the things that I see happens in our culture all the time is that we turn prayer into being about abundance. But this was not a prayer of abundance.
It wasn't concerned with tomorrow. If we read just a few verses down from this, after Jesus has been teaching his disciples about to pray, he literally talks about these same things again in Matthew, chapter six. I'm going to. It won't be on the screen. I'll just read it to you here. But in verse 25, Jesus says, I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or stow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about your clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They don't labor or spin. Yet I tell you that even Solomon and all of his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and gone tomorrow and thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
This prayer was not a prayer of abundance. And it flies in the face of segments of our Christian culture that teach falsely that one of the great pursuits of the Christian life should be wealth and prosperity and having abundance.
Somehow our culture has at times has picked up this idea that these should be staples of the Christian life. Literally, there is teaching that is out there that says if you aren't wealthy or if bad things are coming into your life, then there must be sin in your life that you need to get right with God because it just doesn't make sense. Sense. God would desire for prosperity for all of his people. And I'm astounded by this type of teaching. Why? Because even Jesus himself, God in the flesh, lived a life of poverty. He railed against those who pursued wealth and riches for their own sake. And he talked about the danger of pursuing these riches. You see, prayer is not about abundance, but this is a prayer letter C of dependence, a prayer of dependence.
For many people, prayer becomes just a tool for when things aren't going our way or when outcomes seem uncertain, or when we get to the end of our rope and we realize we don't have control and we call out to God, God, come and rescue me. Give me what I need, or maybe even better at times, want.
And we don't focus necessarily on what it is that God desires, but the uncomfortableness that is in our life and how we would like it removed immediately, because that obviously would be the best solution.
You know, I've shared with you. When I came back years ago from a mission trip, sick for over a year, doctors telling me I had cancer, I grew exponentially in my prayer life in that season.
Things were hard. So much was uncertain. The amount of prayers that I prayed on a daily basis not, no doubt tripled or quadrupled because I was in a moment where I felt like I needed something.
And I'm ashamed to say that I was going also through a season in my life where prayer wasn't as consistent as it should have been.
My dependence on God wasn't where it should have been.
And God taught me a lot about dependence in that season.
But I see the opposite problem occur in so many Christians. Lives, lives.
What about when all of our needs are met, when everything is going well in our lives?
Somehow we're inclined to think that we're carrying our own load. We earn our own money, we buy our own food and clothes, we pay for our houses. And in these moments, we can very easily forget God and his provision for our lives.
Every physical thing the Bible tells us comes from God's provision through the every good and perfect gift comes from God.
Thus what happens is the sin of indifference or even of ingratitude when we don't recognize God's daily provision.
My point is this is that prayer is so much more than just treating God as your genie in a bottle or someone that you go to only when times are hard.
What Jesus is teaching his disciples and teaching us through this prayer is that prayer is not ultimately about what you can get out of God. It is about your dependence upon God.
And this prayer of dependence expresses a number of things. Number one, it expresses our trust in God as all powerful. You're going to begin to see all of the things at the beginning of the prayer flow through this section. It's our trust in God is all powerful. Our understanding of who he is as the one in heaven who is in control of all things, who sees the beginning from the end. He is the one who is in control and we can trust Him. Number two, we can trust not only that he is all powerful, but we can trust in his care for us. I can trust in his care for me.
How incredible is it to understand that the God who created the entire universe, who is the God of all space and time and eternity, who is infinitely holy and completely self sufficient, how incredible is it that he sees Me and that he cares for me? That he sees you and that he cares for you. The Bible says that one of the names of God is Jehovah Shema, which means the God who hears. It's incredible to think that out of the 8th 8.2 billion people who live on this earth, God sees me. He sees you and knows me and you more intimately than anyone else ever could.
And even in spite of my flaws, he knows them all. He accepts me and he wants me to be his own.
How could I not put my trust in him and daily express my dependence on him for all things?
You see, this prayer is a prayer of dependence. It expresses our trust in God as all powerful, our trust that he cares for you. But number three, trust in his provision for all of our needs.
A belief that God will come through according to his will for what is best for my life.
But I see in the Christian life that there are two roadblocks that often cause us to struggle with trusting God and His provision.
The first is this is that when we don't get unanswered or when we don't get our prayers answered the way that we want them to, it is very easy to move to a place of bitterness Whether it's because of unanswered prayer or even calamity or difficult situations that come into our lives and we find ourselves broken, praying, God, would you please remove this? Would you get it out? And when he doesn't answer the way we want, it's easy for bitterness to set in. How could God do this? How could he allow this?
And I'm reminded of the story in the book of Job, of Job's life and the calamity that he faced and his calling out to God and crying out to God for the removal of the pain and the difficulty. Then he's got his friends that are sitting by him, looking at him, going, you got some horrible sin in your life, son. If this is happening to you, you need to confess your sin. He's like, there's nothing that is there. I've taken it before God. And what ends up happening is that Job begins to shake his fist at God, much like we do when we don't get the thing that we're looking for and we don't understand why it is that God would allow such a thing to happen or not answer the prayer that we have prayed. Job shakes his fist at God and begins to question his justice. But how does God respond?
He responds and reminds Job of who he is, that he is the God who sits enthroned in heaven, who is in control of all things, who sees the beginning from the end.
He is the one who has intimately created every single one of us.
[01:02:43] Speaker A: Us.
[01:02:44] Speaker B: And who walks with us through this life.
Not only does he know you intimately, but every single person in this room up to the 8.2 billion people in this world.
He looks at Job and he says, job, I am so intimately involved, you can't even begin to fathom the things that I understand and that I see.
I control the depths of creation. Do you?
I see every animal and little creature that team and go through this earth. I am there and I am present. I see it all.
I control all of it. Can you do that, Job?
And he calls on Job to remember that he is working out his perfect purposes, things that Job couldn't possibly understand because he is limited in his purpose, understanding of eternity and the purposes of God.
And this can still be difficult.
But what we have to learn to rely on is the goodness of God that he has proven over and over again in those seasons of our life.
When he doesn't answer the way that we want, do we remember that we are the ones that rebelled against God?
And yet God and the depth of his love and care for us. Us sent his very son into a world to live amongst a creation that rebelled and rejected him.
And he sent him so that he would die on a cross. The most painful and horrific death that this world could ever mete out on an individual. Why?
All so that you could be restored to a right relationship with God.
What God does that?
A God that loves you.
A God that has the best for you.
And that doesn't just look at the moment, but sees the picture of eternity and what he is working out in his perfect purposes, not just for our lives here in this moment, but for the purposes of all of eternity.
But you see, I also see another problem that comes in.
Not only can we get bitter because of unanswered prayer calamity in our lives, but sometimes we can sit there and go, okay, I believe that God is in control and I'm going to trust in that. But that can also lead to a fatalistic attitude toward God's sovereignty. Here's what I mean by that. This is probably one of the primary ways in my own life that I've struggled with prayer.
Acknowledging God is in control is one thing, but doing so with a spirit of contempt is another.
I can remember that when I lost my job in California, my father and my uncle, who was a pastor as well, also sent me letters. And they were encouraging me and telling me, like, in this season, you need to go to God, trust God. We know that you can't understand. You don't understand what has happened, why this is happening. You've got all sorts of questions, but push in closer with God, trust him, depend on him in this season. But can I tell you that my heart and my attitude, especially in those first few months, was anything but that?
Because in my mind, I believe. I was a pastor. I believed that God was in control of all things. But I took up this heart posture that just said, God is just gonna do what God wants to do, and I don't have any control, so why bother? Why pray?
Why go to him?
I don't got any control here.
He's gonna do things that I don't like and I've gotta put up with it.
And I've thought to myself, in that season and other seasons of my life, how many times have I. I missed out on God's blessing because I refused to pursue him in prayer?
How many times have I delayed my own spiritual growth and the fruit that God desires to develop within me because I failed to depend on him?
How many prayers have gone unanswered because he's just waiting for me to trust him, just waiting for me to call on his name.
You see, this whole prayer, this whole idea, is about our dependence upon God. God, it's not just about, can I get what I want and remove difficulty from my life, but do I trust God with my whole heart and my whole life, knowing that he has all of eternity in mind and my best for everything?
But can I trust him even when I can't see the end?
The thing is, is I can look back on those moments of my life in shame and go, man, I really screwed up. I really missed out on a lot that God wanted to teach me in those moments. But I'll tell you what, I would go through it all again.
Because in these seasons, what I have learned is that God has used some of the most difficult times in my life to draw me to a deeper place of dependence, a deeper place of faith, where I have experienced greater joy and greater blessing than I ever could have had I not walked through those moments.
And I believe that that is what God is calling us to here in this prayer.
Father, would you provide for our daily bread? God, would you meet my needs?
It's not a prayer of give me. It's a prayer of dependence.
And it's one that we're called to pray continually. I want to close by looking at a passage in Luke 18.
It's one of another passage of scripture that Jesus tells to his talks to his disciples. He tells a parable to them. And within this parable he again is teaching them about prayer.
And I think there are some really cool and important things as we close up this morning to understand with it. Luke 18, verses 1 through 8. It will be here on the screen as well, says this Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
He said, in a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.
And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to this judge with this plea, grant me justice against my adversary.
And for some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won't eventually come and attack me. And the Lord said, listen to what the un just judge says.
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night?
Will he keep putting them off? I tell you he will see that they get justice and quickly.
However, when The Son of Man comes.
Will he find faith on the earth?
Will he find faith on the earth?
When I read this, what I see is just again, a culmination of everything we've been talking about. Letter A. That God hears and answers the prayers of his people as we are aligning our hearts to his will.
It's not about our many words or impressive prayers or unlocking the code to convince God that He should respond.
Prayer is about aligning our hearts to God and to his will. Not for our gain, for his glory.
The widow is a picture of dependence, even though she was depending on a horrible judge who would not give her the justice that she was seeking until he just finally was annoyed with her.
And yet Jesus says, if that is what the unjust judge does, how much more do you understand that I can care for you because I've given you everything to have a relationship with you.
I love you with all of my heart. And he calls us to align our hearts to his will.
He hears and answers the prayers of his people as we are aligning our hearts to his will. The letter B.
Our seeking of God in prayer is the fruit of our faith, our dependence on God.
This is a part of this passage that has stuck out to. To me for years.
It seems like that very last verse, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? At first glance, whenever I read it, it didn't feel like it fit. I was like, we're talking about prayer. And then all of a sudden he's like, is somebody going to have faith?
Until you really dig down and you begin to understand what Jesus is saying, Think about it. We're talking about the fact over the last few weeks and a number of our messages that we believe that the time of Christ's return, the coming of the kingdom of God, could be near, that it could be coming soon.
And if that's true, when I read these words that Jesus says, when the Son of Man comes again, will he find faith on the earth? It boggles my mind because this church this morning, we got a lot of people here and all around the world. In America and every country around the world, or many countries around the world, there are people that are gathering in churches, worshiping and praying and seeking.
And yet God says there is question as to whether or not he will actually find what faith dependence.
You see, it's very easy for us to just get into the motions of doing church and doing this thing where we come and we. We do the right thing. We show up, we sing some songs, we listen to a message and we try to be a good person throughout the week. But is that dependence? What does dependence look like?
What I see Jesus describing for his disciples in this prayer is a lifestyle of dependence. That every single day I'm going to God. And I'm not praying because it's the Christian thing to do or the thing that I have to do. I'm praying because I know I need you, God. And you love me, God. And I know that you're for me, God. And even if I don't get what I want, I know that you have the best for me for the all of eternity. You have the whole picture in mind. So, God, you've proven your love for me. I will trust you today because today may be all I have.
And today I. I choose to be faithful to you.
Will that be your prayer today and every day as you walk with God?
Father, teach us to depend on you in the moments where our hearts hurt and we don't get our prayers answered the way that we want and we want to pull away from you. Teach us to depend on you when we want to become bitter and just have a fatalistic attitude that says God's gonna do what God's gonna do. Teach us to depend on you, to recognize that when we seek you and depend on you, that it is about your glory and it's also about the things that you are doing in our hearts and our lives and transforming us to be more in the likeness of your son, Jesus Christ.
And so, God, I pray that throughout this room that you would continue to deepen each of our prayer lives, that it wouldn't just be about walking through the motions, but understanding that it is a choice every single day to say, God, I love you because you are my father, you care for me, you are God in heaven who is in control of all things. And because of that, I want my heart to align to yours. I want your kingdom to come and I want your will to be done in this earth as it is in heaven. I want it to be done in the earth. I want it to be done in my life.
And God, would you provide for my needs? I trust you and your goodness toward me. And I am depending on you to come through.
Would you be glorified?
Teach us this level of dependence, Lord, transform our hearts, that our lives would be a testimony to this world of your goodness. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
[01:15:11] Speaker A: God of Abraham, you're the God of covenant and faithful promises.
Time and time again you have proven to do just what you say Though the storms may come and the winds may blow. I remain standing fast.
And when my heart learns. When you speak a word, it will come to pass.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
From the rising sun to the setting.
I will praise your name.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
Yeah.
And God from age to age. Though the earth may pass away. Your word remains the same.
And history can prove there's nothing you can do. You're faithful and true.
Though the storms may come and the winds may blow. I remain steadfast.
And let my heart. When you speak a word, it will come to pass.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
Great is your faithfulness.
From the rising sun. From the rising sun to the setting same. I will praise your name.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
Your faithfulness.
Never runs out.
Never runs out.
Never runs out.
Never runs out.
I put my faith in Jesus, my anchor to the ground.
My whole life. Hope and firm foundation.
He'll never let me down.
I put my faith in Jesus, My anchor to the ground.
My hope and firm foundation.
He'll never let me down.
I put my. My faith in Jesus, My anchor to the ground.
My hope and fir. Foundations.
He'll never let me down.
I put my faith in Jesus, My answer foundations.
He'll never let me down.
He'll never let me down.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
Great is your faithful.
From the rising sun. From the rising sun to the setting.
I will praise your name.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
Great is your faithful to me.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
From the rising sun to the setting.
I will praise your name.
Great is your faithful to me.
Great is your faithfulness to me.
[01:20:28] Speaker B: Amen.
As we close our service this morning, just one quick announcement that if you are new here at Westgate in the last few weeks, months, if you've never been to one of our new people parties, we are having one today following second service. It's going to be happening over in the refinery, which is our auditorium, just across the atrium and so you head out the doors and head that way and you'll find us. But we would love the opportunity, as a pastoral staff to have the opportunity to meet you. It'll go from 12 to 1. We'll have a great lunch together. Even you, if. If you haven't registered, feel free to come and join us. We would love that opportunity to get to know you a little bit better as well. It just makes perfect sense that as we close this service, that if there are prayer needs that you have got, things that you have been wrestling with with the Lord, things you want to get right with Him. Prayer for healing Whatever it may be, our prayer team is here at the front this morning. Would love that opportunity to just pray with you, to encourage you to go with you before the throne again, God, and to call on him in your time of need. And so we invite you to come as we close our service this morning.
And as we close, I do just want to read this prayer over you. And so if you just bow your heads with me as Paul prayed over the Ephesian Church, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord's holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know his love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now, to him who is able to do immediate, immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him and him alone be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Amen. Church Family God bless you as you go out and you serve the Lord this week. We'll see you next Sunday.
