Good evening. We'll continue tonight looking at the Lord's Prayer. So if you have your Bibles, I'd encourage you to turn to Matthew chapter 6, and we'll be looking at verses 11, and we'll read through verse 15 to give a little bit more context to the passage. Matthew chapter 6, verses 11 to 15. This is God's very own word. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Shall we pray? Father, again, we ask this for your blessings as we listen to these familiar words. Help me, Father, by your Spirit to speak the message you have prepared for us tonight. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Fields are white for harvest. So then why are we so often hesitant to engage in that harvest? When my eldest daughter was about 15 years old, she struggled with chronic headaches, stomach pain, nausea. She would come home from school several times a quarter. because of these symptoms and we've done what every parent does when your child is sick. We worried and we were anxious. Over several months we had her checked out and she went to the doctors and they couldn't find anything wrong with her. We asked, is it stress? Is it an allergy? Is it emotional? Is it spiritual? We didn't know. I remember one night after several, several months of unanswered questions and she was on her bed and she was in pain. And I saw her and my heart broke and I said to myself, you know, I really need to go and pray for her. But then almost immediately another thought crossed my mind. But will it do any good? Do you ever think this way? You know, we confess that God is sovereign and that He governs all the affairs of our life, yet how often do we live as if He's far away and then concerned about the things that we need, we struggle with. The passage we read is the second half of the Lord's Prayer, and there is a perspective and a theology that this prayer assumes. First, it assumes that God is not far away, very much involved, very much cares for the things that we struggle with every day. But it also assumes that those who are engaged in kingdom advancement and this gathering of the harvest will face opposition. So if we can imagine that we're in a war and these petitions that we pray are battle prayers, I would liken the first three petitions to those offensive type of prayers when you're in a battle. We call upon God as Father. We pray that His name would be hallowed. We pray that His kingdom come, His will be done here on earth. Offensive petitions. But then these last three petitions that we've just read are more defensive prayers. Defensive battle prayers. For in them we're asking that God would give us our daily bread. That he'd forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us. That He wouldn't lead us into temptation but deliver us from our enemy, from the evil one. And so these last three petitions that we've read bring into focus the very things we're fighting against as we engage in kingdom advancement. What are they? Worry, conflict, and the devil. And so we'll focus on these last three petitions today to help us to move forward in engaging in this harvest. So what is the first thing that we will discuss? Give us today our what? Our daily bread. What are we asking when we pray this petition? Is it simply about bread? No, it's about everything we need in life. Our provision. Now why does Jesus want us to pray this way? It is because He knows that one of the biggest barriers to fully engaging in kingdom advancement as disciples of Jesus is our worry or fear, our fear of our daily needs. And so in this prayer, we're asking more for bread. We're asking for all that we need in this life. As mentioned last night, our family had the privilege of serving as missionaries for about 10 years in Southeast Asia. And one of the hardest things for us as we began our missionary journey, quite honestly, was our discomfort with the idea of raising support. We were always taught by our parents to work hard. provide for ourselves and then give to others. And so the idea of depending on others for our daily bread was really a struggle. Needless to say, we gave in to worry. We gave in to anxiety. It didn't help. What did help was reminding ourselves that we have a Father who is more than capable of providing for all of our needs. Matthew chapter 6, later on in this chapter, what does Jesus teach? He says, Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What shall we? That's right. What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the? That's right. This is a chapter where he says, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And then what? All these things shall be added unto you. Jesus reminds us again, we have a good, good Father. who is more than capable of providing for all of our needs. One of the hidden blessings of living off of support was how it made this petition, Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread, so much more meaningful, so much more powerful. It helped expose, quite honestly, my idols of pride and self-sufficiency. And at the end of the day, it made me a lot more grateful. Now here's the truth, whether we're on support or not, we're all dependent on who? We're all dependent upon our Father for our daily bread. And it's just easier, quite honestly, to fool ourselves of our independence when we're not on support. And so as we pray this prayer, this petition, we are directed to the one, the source of all that we need and all that we have, and when we acknowledge this, We start to believe that God hears our prayers and provides for our needs, and we experience this freedom, this freedom to trust, to really trust, and then to engage in His kingdom-building work wherever and however He may call us. Next phrase, forgive us of our It says debts, we know that means sins. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. This is the antidote to kingdom destroying conflict. What is the number one reason why missionaries leave the field? Yes, sir. Conflict with other missionaries. Conflict with national partners. Why do many pastors leave the ministry? Conflict. Conflict with members. Why do members leave a church? Conflict. The remedy for conflict with our brothers and sisters is not avoidance. It's not gossip. It's not running them out of our lives. But it's forgiveness. It's reconciliation. It's restoration. When we first moved to Cambodia as missionaries with mission to the world, our team almost immediately had conflict. In fact, I had conflict with one of the members of my team. It was the only member of my team at the time. It was my wife. You see, I was charging ahead with ministry, wanting to do all these, making decisions, expecting my teammate would have obviously just follow along. But she wanted to make sure we had other things in place, like, you know, little things like a place to live. She wanted to make sure our kids were settled, and I just couldn't understand that. These early conflicts almost sent us home. almost destroyed our marriage. And so we are so very aware how conflict can hinder the advancement of the kingdom. And so as we pray this petition, we are first directed to who? To God, right? We're directed to our Father, the one that we ultimately offend in our sins, in our failures. And so we recognize in this prayer that we need His forgiveness in order to forgive those who've lied to us, those who've deceived us, those who've sinned against us, those who've snubbed us, those who've neglected us, right? Because when we receive God's amazing, lavish forgiveness and grace, then we're put in the proper frame of mind in order to forgive others. Acknowledging that we are not above the very things that they have committed against us. Right after this prayer, and we read it today, this evening, Jesus gives a commentary. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. In other words, there is this connection between God's forgiveness for our sins and our forgiving spirit with others. Evidence of a life that has been forgiven is a life that forgives. Here's another thing about this petition. Not only does reconciliation and restoration free us. to engage in kingdom advancement, but it is, in fact, a testimony, a demonstration of the power of the gospel and the presence of the kingdom to all those who are around us. Conflict is just the opposite, quite honestly. But you see, when the world sees God's people confess and repent and forgive each other, what do they see? They see the power of the gospel. And so we are encouraged not only to pray for God's forgiveness for us, but for gospel reconciliation and forgiveness with others. Final phrase. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And I would translate that last word, not evil, but deliver us from the evil one. not only our conflicts with brothers and sisters, barriers to kingdom advancement, but also these temptations and attacks from our enemy. So in this petition, in this prayer, we are asking that God would keep us away from those things that would draw us away from kingdom life, kingdom ethics, kingdom values, kingdom priorities. What are those temptations? Hypocrisy. storing our treasure here on earth, serving money rather than God, worrying about life, what to eat, drink, wear. These are the specific things that Jesus mentions in this very chapter. But I might add in our context other temptations, cynicism, doubt, anger, gossip, depression. We must recognize that these temptations are so very real and powerful and they affect us personally and they hinder kingdom growth. But not only do we ask God for deliverance from temptations, but we ask for deliverance from the devil. And as followers of Jesus, we will be subject to attacks from our enemy. And so this prayer helps us to recognize very clearly who our enemy is. It's not our spouse. It's not our brothers or sisters. It's not our church leaders. It's the devil. And he seeks to discourage us, and he seeks to deceive us, and he seeks to destroy us. You know, we lived in Cambodia for seven years before the Philippines, and folks were so much more spiritually aware than we are here in the West. And so it is so easy for us to be blinded to the realities that we live in a spiritual world, and there are things that are happening that we simply do not see, and that we are, in a very real way, engaged in a battle. While we were in Cambodia, my wife was serving at a medical clinic that served the poor, Mercy Medical Center, and one day she was in her office waiting for a patient. It was toward the end of the day. The nurse came in and said, there's one more patient. She's complaining about a toothache. Are you willing to see her? And my wife was puzzled because she thought surely this woman would see the dentist, but if she wants to see me, that's fine. And while she was waiting for the patient there was a lot of commotion in the waiting room. And she heard all this clapping and all this cheering and she was puzzled as to what happened. And later on one of her co-workers came in and explained. So the woman that she was about to see was on the floor writhing in pain. and then calling out in these strange voices, and the evangelistic team immediately came to see what was going on, and one of the members knew immediately that this was a demon possession. They'd experienced it many times before. And so they kept asking this woman, who are you, who are you? And the woman, we are many. And they asked, what do you want to do with this woman? We want her to take us to this mountain. And they asked the demons, you can't, they told the demons, you cannot take this woman, you must leave. The demons said, where should we go? And then the evangelist said, well, there's all these temples. Why don't you go to one of these temples? And they prayed and they, you know, don't go to temples in Cambodia. They prayed and they prayed for this woman and eventually the demons left. And that was the cheering and the clapping that everyone heard waiting for this to happen. And then the nurse came and said, are you willing to see the patient now alone? She said, I guess so if the demons are gone. If there's anything that will awaken us to engage in this kingdom advancing work, it is the reality of the fact that we have an enemy and that he does attack us. And so in this petition for deliverance, we're reminded that we are in a battle. We're in a battle against principalities. We're in a battle against powers. And so we are to engage them with these kingdom petitions, these kingdom prayers. But do these prayers, these words that we utter, do they give us victory over worry, conflict, and the devil? Not in and of themselves. There's nothing magical about saying these words, but what they do do is what? They draw us to the One who does give us victory. They draw us to Jesus. They direct us to the Bread of Life who comes down from heaven. He is our daily bread. And He gives us victory over our worries and fears for daily provision. And because Jesus paid for all of our sins by His sacrificial death on the cross, we are forgiven by our Heavenly Father. And that grace should inspire us, implore us, propel us to forgive easily and generously to others. Jesus gives us victory over kingdom-destroying conflict. And though we are tempted and attacked, at times we are not defeated, are we? In fact, what does Paul tell us? We are more than conquerors because Jesus, our resurrected Lord, has delivered us from the tyranny of the evil one. Do we believe this? Yes, we do. And so let us pray these petitions in faith, looking to Jesus. He is the one who frees us from worry. He is the one who frees us from kingdom-destroying conflict. And He is the one who gives us victory over our enemy. God, He hears our prayers. And He changes us through these prayers. You see, the more that we pray this kingdom prayer, the more we begin to adopt the kingdom perspective that it assumes, the more that we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, the more bold and free we become to consider how God might use us to engage in His kingdom work. and literally a whole world of opportunities opens before us. You don't have to worry about your daily bread. If you don't carry that burden of sin and shame anymore and you're forgiven, and you forgive easily, and you're not afraid of temptations, you are free, free to engage. We might find ourselves proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom in places where there is only darkness, only brokenness, only injustice. or we might find ourselves more invested in sending, supporting the work of this kingdom, the work of the harvest, more than building up our own kingdom. The fields are white for harvest. We don't have to be afraid to engage in the harvest because Jesus gives us victory over our worries, over our conflict, and over our enemy. So may we go forth in confidence, faithfully, humbly, by His grace, praying, O Lord, give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. That your name would be hallowed and that your kingdom would come here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we do call to you and ask, even tonight, that you would lead us not into temptations, temptations of worry, of fear, of conflict, but you would deliver us from the evil one, day by day, that we might be free to engage with boldness, humility, this great harvest that you have prepared before us. We long to see the day that the nations would hallow your name Hallow your name. Give glory and honor to you. Use this church. Use all those who are here tonight who are extending your work throughout the continental US and across the world. Use us. Remind us of your faithfulness. May we go forward in boldness again through your son Jesus. Amen.