Isaiah 55, I'm going to read the whole chapter. Come, everyone who thirsts. Come to the waters. And he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me. Hear that your soul may live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that you did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth in the singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead, of the thorn shall come up the cypress, instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle, and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Alright, well open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6 as we continue our exposition of Matthew chapter 6. We will be in verse 11 today. Matthew chapter 6. Let me read verse 11, we'll pray and dig in. Here's what God's word says. Give us this day our daily bread. Mighty Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you in the strong name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, in whose precious work we hide under We rejoice under, we delight under, that it's because of Him, Father, that your wrath towards us has been satiated. Lord, you poured on your Son all the wrath that was due us. Father, you put before us Jesus, our perfect substitute. Thank you, Lord, for such a perfect atonement. Thank you that you emptied on him all the wrath that was due to us. Father, thank you that we were born standing in front of a big dam, hidden behind it was your wrath. And Father, you moved us from the way, you put your son in the way, and you broke that dam and poured it all on Jesus Christ. And Father, here we stand now as your children covered in his righteousness, and behind that dam no longer lies wrath. It's no longer empty, but Father, it is your love. What an amazing God you are, that you would take sinners and make them those cups that will experience the full, unvarnished, white-hot love, infinite love. Thank you for this, Father. I pray that your word would once again feed your sheep this morning. Amen. Amen. About two years ago, we were going for a walk in our neighborhood with my family, and many, many houses down, there was a older gentleman out there putting up a flag outside his door, I began a conversation with him as we were on our walk and talked for a while. And the reason he's putting that flag up there is because his son was going to Afghanistan to the war. And he was burdened and weighted down because there was really no guarantees. that his son would return. Son's name was Jonathan. And so I told him his name was Dave. I said, can I pray for your son? He's saying, absolutely. And so, we prayed right there on the street, and I prayed for his son, and I prayed for his son's salvation. I prayed for his son's entire unit's salvation, prayed that the Lord might keep him safe if it was his will, and the Lord might bring him home safely if it was his will. And as we did that, and we finished praying, and I looked up at Dave, and he had tears coming down his face, streaming down his face, and he said, thank you, and Well, Jonathan returned about a year ago. This last summer, we were at a different neighbor's house having a lunch, ran into Dave, and I said, I'm still praying for Jonathan. And he looked at me in my eyes and said, he doesn't need it now. Beloved, is that your relationship with your Heavenly Father? Somehow we're dependent upon Him when everything's falling apart. But when everything is fine, don't need Him now. Is that how you relate to your Father in heaven? Jesus over here, listen to what He says. Look at verse 11. He says this, give us this day our daily bread. He's talking about complete and utter dependence upon God. Jesus is praying and telling us to pray in such a way that we recognize that you and I are absolutely 100% dependent upon God. And so, do we know that? Do we know that you and I are completely dependent upon God? In your worship guides, you have your outline over there, and here's what we're going to deal with. The Christian should be dependent on our Father for everything, and your question, how? How do we do that? Recognize a few things, beloved. Recognize these four things. Number one, God is our source for everything. God is our source for everything. Notice the first word in Matthew 6, verse 11. And it's the word of a beggar, a panhandler. The word is give. The word is give. Beloved, you and I are dependent on God for everything because He is the source of everything. He's the source of everything. Who do you think is functionally your provider? Notice what Jesus does not say, Matthew 6, verse 11, He does not say, Give us this day our daily bread in speaking to our employer, in speaking to our labor union, in speaking to our boss, in speaking to our own ingenuity. He says, our Father. David says this in Psalm 121 verse one. Listen to this. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help? My help comes from my customers. My help comes from the labor union. My help comes from the VA. My help comes from the government. My help comes from the White House. My help comes from the Lord. Do we know that? Do we know that? Who is the real provider in your life? Who do you recognize to be the real source of everything in your life? You see, that's what we wanna know. Go to Deuteronomy chapter eight, please, and go to verse 17. Deuteronomy chapter eight, and let's go to verse 17. Deuteronomy chapter eight and verse 17. And here is what God tells us. Verse 17, talking to the children of Israel, he says this, beware, lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. You see, here's what happens. We forget that somehow God is this provider. We forget that. And here's what we say, my hand, my power has gotten me this wealth. Look at verse 18. You shall remember the Lord your God for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. It is he who gives us power to get wealth. Do you know what God is doing over here by telling us to pray, give? He is telling us to be reliant upon Him. He's telling us to be dependent upon Him because He is the ultimate source of everything. Do you recognize that, beloved? Do I recognize that? Do we recognize that all that you and I have is actually from God the Father? Now let me tell you something, there are two destructive, two destructive things that are common to wealth and to poverty. There are two destructive hazards, there are two destructive dangers, and that is this, self-reliance. Did you know that poverty and wealth actually lead you to self-reliance? It leads to self-dependence. Here's what happens when you are poor. God hasn't provided. I don't need him. He hasn't done anything thus far. So I better take matters into my own hands. There's self-dependence. I have asked God, but he doesn't take care of me. There's self-reliance. I have to do it myself. even if that means I steal. And so, hidden in poverty is the danger of self-reliance, self-dependence. And also, if you don't or haven't yet recognized it, it lies with wealth too. Not only with poverty, but with wealth. There's this very same danger. And here's how it goes. I've got so much money. Don't need God. I'm self-dependent. I did it. I made good decisions. I made good investments. I worked hard. I woke up at two o'clock. I did it. I don't need God. That's self-dependence. That's self-reliance. So think carefully. Both poverty and riches, will lead you and me to self-dependence and self-reliance. Beloved, unite to pray, Lord, save me from being so poor that I will leave and forget you and steal. And we also are to pray, Lord, please save me from riches because I will forget you. Proverbs 8. 30 verse eight, listen. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of God. Beloved, do you recognize that everything comes to a living God? Do you recognize that everything comes to a living God? And if we recognize that, beloved, we need to pray, Lord, provide exactly what I need. provide exactly what I need, not too much or I would abandon you and not too little because I will steal. This, we have to recognize that God is our perfect provider and you and I can fall into these two dangerous areas of poverty and riches. And you and I recognize poverty, but sometimes we are blind to riches. We pray for having a big windfall. Beloved, let me tell you, you wanna ruin someone, give him money. Thank God that your source of everything doesn't doesn't answer those prayers. We have to go and say, God, give. God, give. God, give what I need. Not poverty, not riches, God, give. Let me tell you something. If you make over $16,000 a year, you are in the top 5% of wealthiest people in the entire world. So we're already in this danger of having too much. Having too much. Beloved, it is not a bad thing to be dependent upon God. You and I live in a culture where dependence is a bad thing. We want to be self-made men, right? We want to rifle and drive around our truck in Nevada. It's all about us, right? We can do, we don't want to be dependent on anybody. Let me tell you about the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to John chapter five, verse 19. Jesus said this, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing on his own account, but only what he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does, the son does likewise. It seems like the son, God himself, was dependent upon the father, completely, for everything. Jesus did nothing, until and unless the father said to do it. Dependence is a good thing. Listen to John chapter five verse 30. Jesus says this, I can do nothing on my own. Nothing doesn't mean a little something. Nothing means nothing. He's completely dependent upon the Father. John chapter eight verse 28, Jesus says this, I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. You see what I'm saying over here? That Jesus was completely and utterly dependent upon the Father and the Father provided exactly what Jesus needed mentally, physically, spiritually. Beloved, you and I are to pray the very same way to the source of everything. He is the ultimate provider of everything we need. Go to Him as a panhandler, asking for exactly what you need. And guess what? He will provide it. Because He already is providing exactly what you need. Don't forget verse eight and nine in Matthew chapter six, where He says, He already knows what you need. Where you are, beloved, is exactly what you need. God has not lost control in figuring out where it went wrong. So you and I recognize this fact that God is the source of everything. That's why Jesus says the word give. But I want you to look at the next word that Jesus says in this prayer. He says us, us. And there comes your second point. God is our provider for the community, for the body of Christ. Do you know that God is our provider? Notice Jesus does not say give me my daily bread. He says give Us! Give us our daily bread. Do you know that provisions, beloved, are not to be sought only for yourself. They're to be sought for the entire body. You are to pray not for your needs, but for our needs. We're to pray for our needs as a body. Do you know that this prayer is a safeguard for us to pray for our needs so that we will be self-centered, self-absorbed, self-loved, self, self, self? Have you noticed that when we pray for the community, it protects us from being self-absorbed? We're praying for everyone. We're praying for this entire church congregation. Jesus says, give us. Have you noticed the prayers of Jeremiah? It's always us. Read him. Read the prayers of Paul. It's always us. Read the prayers of Daniel. It's always us. He's always praying for the entire community. We're praying for the body of believers. One family, solidarity under Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter four verse five says this, verse four, five, and six, therefore there is one body, one spirit, as you were called into one hope that belongs to you. Listen to what he says, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of us all, who is over all and through all, right? We are one. And so when you are actually praying for yourself, you're praying for the entire body of Christ. When you're praying for others, you're praying for yourself. Why? Because actually our wealth is for the body. When we're praying give, we're praying give to the entire body, to the entire body. It's a blessing to each one of us. Do you know that this is a living organism, this body? Would that be funny if only my finger prayed for food? What about the rest of the body? We pray for one another for God to give so that we will feed the body. Guess what your promotions are for? Guess what your bonuses are for? Guess what your tax return is for that you didn't expect? Guess what every single windfall is? It's for the body of Christ. Keep your ears open and you will hear God bringing people's cares to your heart and mind so that you will meet the need. It's a body. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 4 28. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he might have something to share with anyone in need. Do you know that's one of the purposes of your wealth? For the body of Christ. It's local for the body of Christ. Many of us need to learn this, right? We need to learn that we are caretakers of one another. We need to learn that in our prayers, we're not praying for our needs, we're praying for, I'm sorry, my needs, we're praying for our needs. We're praying for the entire body of Christ. Do you know your wealth is not to be hoarded, your wealth is to be shared amongst the congregation. This is your family. Which father is there in a household who says, here's my paycheck, all of you go hungry. This is mine. Watch me as I eat my ribeye. What kind of a father is that? Beloved, what kind of a member of a family would be in a congregation if all they thought that this was all theirs? Whatever they earned was theirs. You've been made part of a family. Can you imagine Jesus saying this is only for me? No, Jesus gives everything for his body, for his body. And so, you and I have to remember that this, whatever God gives us financially, is for the body of Christ. Jesus says, give us. You know what that means? Your home. it's for the body of Christ. Your car, it's for the body of Christ. Your talents, it's for the body of Christ. Your giftings, it's for the body of Christ. All of it is for the body of Christ. Your car, give it to the youth group for them to drive around, go to progressive dinners so that when you come home and when they come home, there's candy stuck to the seat and there's soda spilled and chewing gum up on the roof. That's why I drive a small car. Your home, I was just joking. Your home, it's for the body of Christ. It is not your castle away. It is to be used so that the body of Christ can come together. Give us. What are you praying for that will be used to bless everyone over here? And if there's anything that you are praying for that has not been for anybody, guess what? God's not gonna provide it. It's for the body of Christ. Listen to what James says. You ask, James 4.3, and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. Anybody been there? Listen to 1 Timothy 3, verse 6, verses 17 and 18. Pay attention. So we got the enjoyment part, we stop right there. Let's go to verse 18. They are to do good, to be rich in good works and to be generous and ready to share. There's a sharing again for the body of Christ. Galatians chapter 6 verse 6. Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Again we are talking about sharing with the body of Christ. Let me tell you why you come home from Costco or Walmart or Raley's with a big shopping cart of stuff. It's for the body of Christ. Have you ever wondered why you got so much food in your fridge? Have you ever wondered why your cabinets are stocked? It's for your brothers and sisters. Pay attention, keep your ear open, and you will hear many, many, many people that you can help out, that you can cook a meal, that you can cook an extra meal, put it in the freezer, take it to their house, go in the evening, look, keep your ears open, and share, so that when you're praying, Father, give us You are praying and God is providing as you continue like a funnel just keep blessing person after person after person in the body each person in the body of Christ there should be a tangible a palpable Manifestation of God's love in your life There should be a tangible perceptive Concrete love for one another. Otherwise, listen to what James says. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, what's he saying? Necessities. They're missing food and clothing. Verse 16, and one of you says to him, go in peace, be warmed and filled without giving him the things needed for the body. What good is that? Let me tell you what that is today. I'll pray for you, right? Someone comes and says, Within the body of Christ, our response, I'll pray for you, that doesn't work. Beloved, you and I are to be like a sprinkler. You know, the, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch. With our finances, with what God has blessed us with. God's gonna keep filling that pipe. You just make sure that you're like a rain bird. You just keep sprinkling all day long. Don't hoard it. What's the point of dying with a million dollars in your account? You just leave a time bomb for your family. There's no point. You wanna ruin your family? Save up a ton of money and give it to them. Does nothing. They can't wait for you to die. At your funeral, they're rejoicing. Jesus is our ultimate treasure. Is that not true? Do you know that? Do you believe that? Do you know he's a bigger treasure than your carpet? Bigger treasure than your car? Bigger treasure than your paycheck? Jesus is your biggest treasure. Listen to these words we sang this morning. Here is what we sang. I will glory in my redeemer. My life he bought, my love he owns. I have no longings for another. I'm satisfied in him alone. Beloved, we sang it. We sang it. And so all this is to be used for God's glory. Beloved, don't just get stuck on the Christian family coming here as we examine God's word together. But remember, there's also an application of God's word. Don't just come and examine, but make sure the word of God is applied to each one of our lives, bearing one another's weights and burdens. And so over here, Jesus is making sure that you and I pray that the entire body of Christ is blessed. Beloved, let me tell you something else. That means we work. We work. Did you ever think that the fact of our working, one of it is so that we might bless the body of Christ? For us to just get by is not good enough. Work, so that you may provide for those in need. Yes, listen to what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians, chapter three, verse 10. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command. If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. It's a heart issue. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies. You know what he's saying? They're so busy doing nothing. They're just busy, but they're doing nothing. Nothing for the body of Christ, nothing. They're no help to anyone. So work, beloved. Enjoy what God has provided. Use your hands and feet for the body of Christ. When you pray, Father, give us. Third point. Notice what else Jesus says. This day, this day. You see, God is our constant sustainer. Do you recognize that God is your constant sustainer? You see, how often are we to pray this? Give us this day. What does that mean? Today. And guess what? Tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, and the day after that. Do you know that God sustains you every single day? And so we're to pray this every single day saying, Lord, sustain me this day because you are the one that is actually holding me together. Constantly, you are sustaining me. Do you recognize that? Do you recognize that God is holding you together? Do you know what? When you and I are called to do something every day, it's called training. God is actually training us through this prayer to be dependent upon him. to be dependent upon him. Psalm 104, listen to what verse 11 tells us, is that he gives every beast of the field water to drink. He's the one who feeds the wild donkeys. He's the one who feeds the livestock. He's the one who feeds the lions. Verse 23 through 28, he's the one who feeds man. Guess who feeds you? God. God is the one who sustains us. And now you might be thinking, Um, that's not true. I work hard, I went to the store, I bought tuna, and I made a tuna melt. And God had nothing to do with it. Let me ask you this question while you're sitting and looking at your tuna melt. Where did the tuna come from? Walmart. Where did Walmart get it from? Starkist. Where did Starkist get it from? The fishery. Where did the fishery get it from? The fishermen. Where did the fishermen get it from? The ocean. Where did the ocean get it from? Genesis one, listen to verse 20. And God said, let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures. For 5,000 years, God has been sustaining that fish and all the fishes after that so that you could sit and enjoy your tuna melt. Why in the world would he sustain fish one after another, after another, after another, so that you can sit in your home and eat it? It's from his hand. Let's just back up. Kill up all the tuna. Guess what? The fishermen sitting over there, no fish. Fishery, empty. StarKist, shuts down. Walmart, no tuna. You sitting at your table and no tuna melt. If God just shut it down. He is the one sustaining everything. Do you recognize that? Everything He takes care of. I mean, just think about this. your grocery stores. As you walk into your grocery store, if just a tuna over there has been sustained by him, think about this. There are piles and piles and piles of food at the grocery store. God is sustaining all of it for you. Do you know you can have a worship service at the grocery store? As you see pile after pile saying, God, you kept all this going, every single vegetable, every single grain of rice, the perfect condition so that it'll be over here for me to enjoy? If you just shut it down, it'd be gone. What about the car that you came in? The oil and the gas, where did that come from? From the gas station, from the refinery, from the hole? What if you shut that down? What if the country went into economic collapse? What if there was anarchy? You would have no car, you would have no grocery store, and yet every morning you wake up and there's not one, but hundreds of grocery stores to pick from with tons of food for you to eat from whose hand? God's. He is sustaining you every breath. Should we go to our human bodies? You think you're keeping yourself alive? What's keeping your heart beating? God, give us this day. He is sustaining us this very moment. Do we live this way? You know the story of George Mueller. He would sit over there, and this one beautiful story, he wakes up in the morning, and there are 140 kids, and none of them have any food, no bread, no milk, and here comes this man to the door, who's the baker, who says, I couldn't sleep last night, I woke up at two o'clock in the morning and cooked bread for all of you, as he waited and depended upon God. And outside, you know, the milk cart breaks down, and the guy comes and says, I don't want this milk to go bad, you can have all the milk, and everybody gets fed. Everybody gets fed. He started five orphanages. 10,000 kids went through his entire orphan system. He raised $7.1 million in the 1800s. Do you think God took care of him? He was dependent upon God and George Mueller had the wisdom to see the fingerprints of God in his life. George Mueller had the wisdom to see the footprints of God in his life and all the provision. Beloved, do you have the wisdom to see the fingerprints and the footprints of God in your life? As you sit over there at the dinner table, as you sit there when you get your paycheck, as you sit there when you go for a vacation, no matter where you go, do you recognize God's handiwork that you and I actually are being sustained by him this day, that we can enjoy this. He is our sustainer. That's our third point. Number four, look at what he says over here. Our father, notice, we are to go to him and say, give us this day. Notice, our daily bread. Now we're talking about necessities. God is the provider of all our necessities. Now over here, many commentators in the old days were very surprised that Jesus would pray for daily bread because he went from this lofty thing of God's name and God's holiness to daily bread. That's precisely the point. You unite to pray for everything and everything in between too. But notice over here, he says daily bread. You and I are to come to him for our little itty bitty things. We should. Every now and then you can pray for your chocolate lava cake, but you can also pray for bread. Father, provide my basic necessities, the smallest little things. Friends, you and I are not on a cruise ship. We're on a battleship. The food is very different on a cruise ship than from a battleship. You and I are here for a short time and we're at war. And so we have to pray, Father, provide our daily bread. We have to pray like a soldier and not like a civilian. How are you praying? Do you recognize that God is the one who's gonna provide your necessities, not your luxuries, your necessities? He's the one who takes care of all our necessities, and every time we pray for luxuries, it just doesn't happen. And every now and then when it does come, guess what it's for? It's for the body. It's for the body of Christ. You and I, as we pray for our necessities, we should be confident that God will answer when we pray for our necessities. Look at verse eight, Matthew chapter six, look at verse eight. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. Do you know when you pray for something small, like lunch, Dinner, groceries, your body, your wife, your husband, traffic. You can pray for something small, your father cares about it. Your father cares about it all because he loves you. Your father loves you more than you can ever, ever think or imagine. Don't ever sometimes think, you know what? This is too small. He doesn't care. He does. And he longs to bless you in a thousand ways beyond what you ask. A thousand ways beyond what you ask. Listen to what James 4.2 says. You do not have because you do not ask. He's talking about our necessities. Now let us listen to this, John 16 verse 24. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full. Do you know God is not stingy? God is not stingy. He wants to bless you exactly according to what you need. Look at Matthew chapter seven. Look at verse nine. Matthew chapter seven. Look at verse nine. Jesus says this. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Dad, I'm hungry. Here you go, rock. Who does that? We are sinful fathers, but we will not give our children a rock. When they're hungry, we'll actually give them food. Listen to what he says. Or if he asks for fish, we'll give him a serpent. If you then, who are evil, know how to get good gifts to your children, how much more will your father, who is in heaven, get good gifts, good things to those who ask him? I mean, just our heavenly father, he is the best of all fathers. He is better than the best of all fathers, and guess what? He's got the resources behind him to give us the best as a loving heavenly father, exactly according to what we need. Our father gives us what we need, our necessities, and you and I to pray for our daily bread. You and I to pray for our daily bread. Do you ask? CBC, I'm asking you a question. Do you ask God for your necessities? Do you know that he is able to give you super abundantly more than what you could ever think or imagine or ask? Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians chapter three and in verse 20. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think according to the power at work within us. Now that's your ESV translation which is actually toned down so that we understand it. Let me tell you what the apostle Paul actually said. Here's my translation. Pay careful attention. Every time you think that God is not able to answer. He is and has the continuous advantage to accomplish super abundantly beyond all measure, greatly exceeding all boundaries beyond the highest form of comparison imaginable from what we ask. That's an explosion of language to tell us that God can answer way beyond we can ever think or imagine. Do we ask? Do we ask him? And I think many times we don't ask because we're not convinced that he can actually take care of us. We're not convinced. In fact, sometimes we think that he is aggravated, he's reluctant, he's huffing and puffing around thinking this is no good. No, our father loves us and he can give us and bless us way beyond what we can ever think or imagine. Listen to what Romans 8 32 says. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Beloved, when you think that God is aggravated, upset, reluctant, let me tell you this, he mortgaged himself. He gave His Son, He gave Himself so that you and I might be redeemed and saved while we were sinners. And so if as sinners, God loved us this way, can you imagine now that we're His children? How should we as His children come to Him? Not reluctantly, but with joy, asking for what we need. Not only for us, but for the entire body. Because He's the one who sustains us. It's God who takes care of us. It is breathtaking that the nations are in His hand and He cares about our bread. That is your Father. Come to Him, come to Him. Now you might think, in doubt, He cares about bigger fish and not me. Beloved, that'll lead you to prayerlessness. If you think somehow he doesn't care for you, he loves you. He loves you. Come to him as your father. Also, you and I recognize that he is our father. He is not the detached God of the Muslims who doesn't even care. He is not the Christless God of Judaism. No, he is your father. And He loves you, and He will bless you, and He will give you exactly what you need, and He has all the resources to do it. All the resources to do it. Now, pay careful attention. Your Father knows all the stars, and He knows all the hair on your head. He loves you, and He will answer. He will bless you. He will give you what is needed. He will. He knows your necessities. Beloved, come to Him. Be a congregation that is always praying. Praying as a panhandler. Father, give us. Praying for necessities. Praying knowing that he is the source of everything. Praying that he will provide exactly what we need. Let me ask you, have your prayers gone out of alignment? Have your prayers gone out of alignment to your father? Let me help you, let me help you. Let me give you some advice, let me explain to you, let me show you through the word how you can fix this. If your prayer has gone out of alignment, then maybe you approach God, maybe I approach God as a vending machine. What does a vending machine do? It's automatic, you put the coin in, out comes your bag of Cheetos. And sometimes we operate that way with God. If I just pray, here it comes. It's just automatic, there's no relationship. It's just, here it is, here's my stuff. Here's my prayer, here's my answer. Here's my prayer, here's my answer. Beloved, let me tell you, you're not praying to a vending machine, you're praying to your father. And you know what he's doing? He is weighing your requests with a billion other factors and he is giving you exactly what you need. So don't come to him as a vending machine as though somehow you give your prayers and you expect an automatic answer because he is able to do more than what I can ever think or imagine. How come he's not doing it? It's because he weighs your requests in the middle of a billion other factors and gives you exactly what you need because he's a father. He's a father. Second thing, your prayers might be out of alignment if you think that somehow he's like Santa Claus, right? What is that? That's based on performance. Right, because he sees you when you're sleeping. He knows that you've been good or bad. And so that's how we operate with God. And that leads us to this understanding of, you know what, I've been good. I've worked hard. I've been obedient. It's Christmas morning, where are my presents? I have prayed, I have done everything, and guess what? There's nothing? How come I get coal? It becomes performance. And so this turns into insecurity. Because then we start saying this, oh, I forgot, God is holy. And he requires perfect holiness. I'm not holy. And so you know what? There's nothing. No prayers answered is because I'm such a wretch. And if I'm a wretch, why pray? I'm just insecure about my request, so just stop praying. Why should I pray? I'm not holy. When you have that kind of response towards God, it's because you look to him as a big Santa that is operating on performance. It might lead to another place, and that is not insecurity, but anger. I've worked hard, I've performed, where is my stuff? And if you are angry with God, it's because you look to him as the one who responds when you perform. Let me tell you, you're not dealing with Santa, you're dealing with a father, and he loves you. Your father absolutely loves you, and it's not based on your performance, it's based on his son's work on the cross on your behalf. And because of that, you are his child. And guess what? You are his adopted child. You know what happens when an adopted child comes to the household? There's a lot of joy. The father loves that child. Your father loves you the day you were adopted and today and for the rest of eternity. It is not based in performance. It's based on the fact that your sin has been taken away by Jesus Christ and you've been given his righteousness and you are his child, period. And so we pray that way to our Heavenly Father, free of all insecurity and anger. Third way, third way. You and I sometimes our prayers are out of alignment because we come to Him thinking that somehow, man, I am wise beyond my years and I know what I need. Let me ask you this question. For those of you who are 10 years old, were you wise when you were five? For those of you who are 15, were you wise when you were 10? Those of you who are 25, were you wise when you were 15? Those of you who are 35, were you wise when you were 25? Those of you who are 45, were you wise when you were 35? 55, 65, talk to a 75 year old. You know what they'll tell you? I wish I could go back and live my life again with what I know. Because they recognize that they were fools from five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and go on and on and on all the way to 70. Guess what? You and I have to admit that we are permanently and perpetually fools. Aren't you glad God didn't answer the prayers that you prayed when you were five, 10, 15, 20, 25, and et cetera? I think of my prayer request thinking, wow, that was crazy. I remember going to Sportsman Warehouse with my oldest son as he walked in there and looked at this 16-inch serrated knife that was tactical, had a flashlight, and said, I want that. An eight-year-old asking for that, I had to weigh all the different factors and say, no. You're Heavenly Father. He knows, and you know what? As you pray for healing, as you pray for finances, as you pray for a spouse, as you pray for health, as you pray for long life, as you pray for all these things, somehow you think your prayers are wisdom, and beloved, you might be asking for a 16-inch serrated knife, and your Heavenly Father weighs all the factors and says, no. Do you recognize that really our prayers are not all that wise? But your Heavenly Father, He is wise. And what he provides is perfect. Absolutely perfect. And so you and I come to our heavenly father, praying, give us this day our daily bread dependent upon him, not as a vending machine, not as a Santa, not coming to him as if you and I are wise. No, we come to him fully dependent upon him because he will answer and it's always going to be perfect. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you that you already know what we need and you answer exactly according to what we need. I pray, Father, that each one of us, Lord, that we might comfortably rest as we depend upon you. Father, protect us, Lord, from anxiety. Protect us, Lord, from insecurity. Protect us, Lord, from anger. Protect us, Father, from our own will, our own wisdom, our own devices. Father, protect us, Lord, in such a way, Lord, that we might just come and rest in you. Fully confident of the fact that you know what we need. In your Son's name we pray, Amen.