Our Lord began this sermon here, this is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, with those who are described as blessed, the characteristics of those who are his children. And I'll say this as we deal with the topic of prayer this morning, that God's people do pray. We don't pray like we should, none of us do. There's none of us that are experts on praying, whatever that is, but we pray. Sometimes it's not even uttering words, but it's praying. And he teaches us how. He doesn't leave us alone, because we don't know how. We have to be instructed how, and we come to him through Christ, our Lord. A similar passage, if you want to be turning, is Luke chapter 11. As I was trying to study for today's lesson, we'll be there in verse 11, give us this day our daily bread. This is not a prayer as some people would think to just be recited, to just be repeated and call that praying. Because here our Lord, he says almost the same thing, but it's at a different time. Here in Matthew's gospel, it's like the beginning of his ministry. He's teaching his people to pray. How we're to pray. Don't be like the heathens. Don't be like those people who don't know God. Why do the heathen pray? They love to pray. They love to pray. They love to pray to be seen of men. They love to pray. They love to pray standing in the synagogues. They love it. They love the recognition. They love to be looked up to. But here our Lord, he gives it almost the same, but not exactly. because he's instructing them. Someone said even our Lord didn't repeat exactly what he said in the Sermon on the Mount. So here in Luke 11, verse one, and it came to pass as he was praying in a certain place. I'd love to have been there. I would have loved to heard our Lord pray. You know, most people refer to this and this was pumped in our head. This is the Lord's Prayer. It's not the Lord's Prayer. He don't have any sins to confess. He doesn't have to ask for any forgiveness. He's never sinned. This is our prayer. If you want to see his prayer that he prayed, you go to John 17. I don't pray for the world, I don't pray for the world, I pray for them that thou hast given unto me. But it says that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray. What a question. Lord, teach us to pray. As John also taught his disciples, and he said unto them, when you pray and say our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, As in heaven, so on earth, give us day by day our daily bread. Forgive us of our sins as we also forgive everyone that is indebted unto us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. He didn't give the doxology at the end. He didn't elaborate on the forgiveness, us forgiving others, and he said unto them, and he gives them, if you want to call it like a parable, which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him." This man was in need. He went to his friend because he knew his friend could help him, or he would have never went to his friend. And a friend of mine, verse 66, in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not. The door is now shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needed. Now that's not saying, as the world would say, now if you twist God's arm enough, you can get God to give you what you want. That's not what that's teaching. But the Lord does, Paul prayed three times, he's not trying to get God to change his mind, he said, remove this thorn from me. Lord said, my grace is sufficient. Our Lord prayed the same prayer three times. Take this cup from me. He says, because of your importunity, he will rise and give you as many as you needeth. If I know he's the only one can give me what I need, I'm gonna stand there at the door and I'm not leaving. I can't leave. My friend is in need and I have nothing to set before him. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. And he that seeketh, findeth. And he that knocketh, it shall be opened. Each one of those words, seeketh, findeth, knocketh, All those have two little letters on them, TH. What that means, you keep on knocking, you keep on seeking, you keep on asking. Lord, show my children mercy. Have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon me. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? And we've quoted this verse several times in the study. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good things, good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? We're evil. And if we could give our children the best we would give them the desire to see Christ. If I could give my children one thing, it would be like Solomon. He said, Lord said, ask me anything you want. What do you want, Solomon? Well, I don't want riches. I don't want fame. Give me wisdom. If any man lack wisdom, what's he to do? Let him ask of God that gives to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. We being evil, we know how to give good gifts to our children. We want the best for them. As they graduate high school, we want the best for them. We pray that God watches over them, God keeps them, God guides them, and God gives them a heart's desire to worship and serve him. If we could, but I can't give it to him, but he can. Mr. Fortner said, in these few short statements, the Lord teaches us all the vital aspects of prayer. He gives three or four things here. You may want to write these down. Our prayers should be simple. Peter's sinking in the water. He said, Lord, save me. What did the man in the temple say? Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. Now some vain, repetitious words just right to the point. Quit beating around the bush. What do you need from him? We're gonna see in a few minutes. What's your need? Well, ask him. I heard Henry use his illustration one time. He said, a lady come in, she was just really disturbed. And she was, I think she was under conviction, she'd never been born again. And she was telling Henry, she struggled and she said, I don't know if I've ever been saved. He said, have you ever asked him? And she thought for a minute. She said, I don't know if I've ever asked him. He said, why don't you just ask him? Why don't you ask him? Simple, simple, sincere. A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways and let that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. Here's the thing, the Lord knows our heart. If my heart's not sincere, I want it to be sincere. Not my will, but thine be done. Sincere. Spiritual. Praying in the spirit. Too many times, too many times I'm talking about us. I think our praying is nothing more than lip service. Sincere, spiritual, in short. Man knocking on that door, I need some bread. We need, I need some bread. Avoid anything like pretense. Formality and show. In prayer, we simply spread before God, our heavenly father, the great desire and need of our heart, trusting him to fulfill those desires and meet those needs by his grace and for the glory of his name. What a statement. Simple, sincere, spiritual, and short. Many times we come, I don't know where to begin. And I can say this morning, neither you nor me know exactly what we need. I know just a little bit. I know I need Him right now. Without Him, I'm in a mess. And unless the Lord opens your ears to hear, you're in a mess. We need Him. So there in verse 11, Give us. This is the second part of the prayer that first dealt with our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. We pray that God's kingdom would be established upon this earth. And how is God's kingdom established upon this earth? It is established in the hearts of sinners. We're asking that God would regenerate sinners and set up his rule and reign in their heart. He must come a stronger than that strong man that's in that house, and he must drive him out. And he sets up his reign, where? In the heart of a person. Thy kingdom come. Oh, that God would display his kingdom in this world. His kingdom's still here. Where does he reign? He don't reign in some temple made with hands. He reigns in the hearts of his people. If there are two or three of us here today that believe God, that have been gathered here today by his Holy Spirit, and we gather in his name, and we say, I will be in the midst. Whether it's praying, he should reign. It's what he wants, not what we want. That's hard for us to do. We have our list of what we want, what we need to get done, what we want to see him do. Well, what if you never see it? David never saw the temple built, never lived to see it. But you know what he did? He gathered everything together for Solomon. We come not, here it is, give us. We come not on the basis of any merit of our own. I actually, I had to calm down a little bit. I actually heard a guy on the radio this morning, he's talking, well, he's talking about his experience when he was converted and all, and you know what he actually said? He said, for the first time in my life, I felt worthy. I guess he thought if he bragged how bad he was and dope head and everything for all, that made him worthy. I thought saying that man's never met God. God is holy, God is righteous, God is just. Why would he ever hear us? Give us. You know, why we ask for give, we're beggars. Beggars. We come asking as a child, ask his father. Notice it doesn't say give me. It says, give us. What do we see even in that? That it's not to be selfish. It's not just that the Lord would help me this morning, that God would help us. That God would give us the desire to be here. That God would give us the wisdom and the understanding. God give us. We're asking for others. We're asking for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we are asking for others just like us who have nothing. Do you know, we're not alone in this world. It's not just us, it's us. There's other believers that have needs just like us. It's not just about me or you. It's about his kingdom and his people. And they all are just like you, that have needs. Our father wants us to ask. Now we can't explain this because just how big God is. If you could explain him, he's a little peanut God anyway. Our God is sovereign. He knows exactly what you need. He knows exactly what he's decreed for your life each day. But he wants you to ask. You know what asking does? Shows dependence, shows need. James, the book of James, deals a lot with praying. He said, you have not, Because she has not. Something else I see here, we said give, what our Lord gives cannot be bought. He gives it freely. Father, forgive me of my sins, go and sin no more. Would you show mercy on my son? The man said, if you can do anything, if you can do anything. And you know what the Lord said? If you can believe. It's not if I can do anything, but the thing is, if you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes. You know what the man cried out? Lord, help my unbelief. What did that man need right there in that moment? What did he need right then? He needed faith and he knew he couldn't produce it. And God gave him faith and healed his son. Right then. That woman with the, I mean, the Syrophoenician woman, she come for her daughter. And she asked and the Lord ignored her. You know what we would have done? We would have got mad and went back to the house. We would have pouted and said, he's gonna treat me that way? Well, he ain't done treating her. She said, he said, it's not me to take the children's bread and give it to dogs. And that's what she was, an old Gentile dog. You know what she said? True, Lord. True, Lord. But I'm your dog, and the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. You know what? He'd give her some crumbs. But she came not for her, but for her daughter. That man came for his son. He may even use your children to bring you to him. Come without money, come without price. It is a gift. It is free. Salvation, free. Justification, free. Sanctification, free. Glorification, free, free, free. Conform us to the image of Christ, that's free, and he will. Bob says, we don't even know what to pray for as we ought, but the spirit prays for us with groanings which can't even be uttered. Our only right to come is we are his children and we are instructed to ask. And he's teaching us, we come to the only one who can give. He owns everything. Don't ever forget it, he owns everything. He wants you to come to him in faith. Those that come to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. If you seek him with all your heart, you'll find him. The kingdom of God suffers violent, and the violent take it by force. Jacob said, I will not let you go till you bless me. Those on Emmaus Road, they said, they constrained him. Please come to our house. He said, no, I need to go on down the road. No, no, no, come to our house. You know what he did? He come to their house. You know when he opened their eyes? When he was sitting there at the table and broke bread with them. Give us this day our what? Daily bread. You know who the bread is? It's him. What do we ask for? What do you need more than give me Christ or I perish? Give me Christ. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Give us this day our daily bread. If we are to have bread, we can apply this in many different things, we must be fed by the hand of God. We come asking for bread, not gold, bread. Without bread, physically, you're gonna die. You needed bread yesterday, who gave you that bread? You said, well, I worked and earned the money and I bought it. No, the bread you have, the Lord gave you. What if he dried up all the greeneries? What if he dried up all the wheat fields? What if there was nobody to grind the corn and grind the wheat and make the flour and make the bread? You imagine all everything that happened just so you could have bread. And you need bread today. We not only need physical bread, we need spiritual bread right now. Your soul needs to be fed. We seek no more than our daily provision. You know why? Take no thought for tomorrow. That's what he says later on in this chapter. For tomorrow shall take thought for the things of it. Take no thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought of the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. You may not be here tomorrow, but you need bread today. He's teaching us, excuse me, to seek no more than is needful for us. Bread. Bread. Without it, none of us survive. You think about that. Give me, Lord, what I need. What do I need? He said, give us our daily bread. Give us day by day, and that's what he does, day by day, our daily bread. Bread can set forth everything that we need to sustain life. Boy, that's a nice breath. How'd you have that breath? Well, if all the trees were dead, I don't understand science. I know that we wouldn't be able to survive long. You think all those things and I need it. You need it or you'll perish. We need Christ or we'll perish. You need Christ today or you'll perish. You need him. We ask him to provide for us all that concerns us in this world. Our prayer should ever be in Proverbs 30 verse eight, remove far from me vanity and lies, give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me. That means food of my allowance. As I was listening to Jeff as he read and made comments on Daniel, It says when they were gonna give those three Hebrew men poults, and it said their daily portion, what they needed for that day. And they looked better for eating just poults and water, bread and water, or whatever the poults was, than those men who were eating on the dainties of the world. And those men knew it. We don't need those things, but we do need him. But what I want you to see, you know where he provided for them out? In a place called Babylon. You know the only reason Babylon existed? Because God's gonna take Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to that place and open up a king's eyes and set that man free. And God's gonna let three men say, we're not gonna bow to your gods. And you know what? You imagine what them men needed. What do we need? We need grace to stand here when everybody else is falling on their face worshiping a false god. We're not gonna bow to your god. They said, did you not hear what we said? Unless you bow to our god, we're gonna cast you in a fiery furnace. No, you didn't hear what we said. We're not careful to answer unto you. You can do whatever you want to. Our god is gonna deliver us out of your hand. Deliver us from what? Evil. Did he deliver them from evil? Well, sure he did. You need to be delivered from evil. I need to be delivered from my evil self. This is our daily bread, daily needs. We don't say, well, I've conquered it, boy, I won't need it tomorrow, boy, I've got her whooped. Mm, isn't that how we think? Well, I don't need to pray for that anymore. Oh, yes, you do. Our Lord has created everything in such a way so we are basically forced by His grace to come to Him for everything. He's made it that way. Because if He didn't, we wouldn't. He knows what we need. By faith we commit all of our needs into his hands. Turn with me to Philippians chapter four. Verse 13. Paul was one of us, a believer. The Lord had taught him. And you know, I'm thankful the Lord won't leave you alone. He will keep teaching you that you need him. He says in Philippians 411, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am there to be content. Do you imply that to whatever state of life? And I could say, I've learned in whatsoever state, whether in North Carolina or in West Virginia, in whatsoever state I'm in, I've learned, Paul said, I've learned to be what? Content. Content with what? Whatever he's pleased to give me. I've learned. I've learned. And we have to learn. I know both how to be abased. I know how to be abound. Everywhere in all things I am instructed both to be full and to suffer hunger, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. If I have it, fine. If I don't, fine. I may have all I needed today, I may not have it tomorrow. We may not have it tomorrow. This world, and especially this country, they don't think they need God. Really? God give us bread. Give us bread, give us bread. We need spiritual bread. I'm gonna show you this, as I was looking for some references, and turn to Genesis chapter 41, verse 54. Genesis 41, 54. You know, this is when Joseph's reigning. They were seven years of plenty. You imagine, seven years, the corn fields were just filled with corn. The granaries, the granaries were full, why? The Lord has told them, there's seven years. But at the end of these seven years, when the seven bad years come, you won't even remember the seven good years. Then they had everything they could need. And he did it so when the famine comes, they would have something to supply the need. And it says, in the seven years of dearth, where the seven years of the famine began to come, No bread. According to as Joseph had said, and the dearth was over all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. Why is there bread in Egypt? Because Joseph is there. When Pharaoh, when you went to see Pharaoh, you know what, Pharaoh said, you go see Joseph. You want bread, you have to go see Joseph. Why did Joseph's brothers come to Egypt? I'll tell you why. They needed their daily bread, and there's only one place to find it, and it's in Egypt. Said, I don't wanna go to Egypt. You go to Egypt or you'll die. You'll go to Egypt or you will perish. But in all the land of Egypt, there was bread. In all the world, in a little place called Cottagefield, in a little building called Millsop Baptist Church, you'll find some bread. This is bread because Joseph, our Lord Jesus Christ, is there. In Christ, we find all that we could ever need or could ever want. Now I turn to Ruth chapter one. Remember the story of Naomi? She was one of us. She was a believer. Things got hard, and you know what they did? They went to a place called Moab. Moab. A place of no bread. A place where the gospel is not preached. Her and her husband and her two sons, but you know what happened in Moab? Her husband died, and her two sons married two more white girls, and then them boys died. You talking about a woman in need, three widows, living in a strange place. And Naomi, you can imagine how heartbroken she is. She lost her son and her, two sons and her husband. But one day, she got some good news. Verse six, and she arose with her daughter-in-laws that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab how the Lord had visited his people and giving them what? Bread. I've gotta have some bread, and it's not here in Moab. And when you hear in the gospel that there's bread, you will leave Moab, and you will go to where there's bread. And she did. And we know that Orpha went for a pretty good ways, and then she went back to her gods, but Ruth didn't. Something's happened. She needed bread. Now, Ruth chapter two, verse 14. They come and Ruth is gleaning and Boaz is filled. Boaz, a pitcher of Christ, owns all things. Boaz, a pitcher of Christ, is the kinsman redeemer. And Boaz said to her, I wonder if Ruth, maybe before she left, her and Naomi said, Lord, give us this day our daily bread. They're beggars, they have nothing. Where's she gonna glean? You know what a gleaner is? It's a beggar. It's a gleaner is those that, when you go along the edge of a field, what was left in the corners of the field, the Lord said, you leave that for those who are fatherless, and the widows, you leave it for them. She's going out there, gonna be able, and you gotta stoop down to pick it up. And Boaz said to her, Boaz comes to the field, it's about dinner time. What am I gonna get to eat? I've worked all day, I can't eat just raw corn or wheat. At mealtime, come thou hither. He tells her, you come, and you eat of the bread. And you dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and she reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed and left. Every time I think about that, I picture her, what they would do, they'd set up a table or something along the edge of the field, probably under the shade to keep the sun off of them, and they'd all sit down, and I could see her kind of sitting down at the end of the table. She's a Morbot. But he speaks to her. And he gave her bread. And then when she gets up from the table, you know what he said? You drop handfuls on purpose just for her. Did she need it? Yeah, it was her. She's there to get her daily bread. What she could glean. In verse 17 of chapter 2, so she gleaned in the field into evening. She was there all day and she beat out what she'd gleaned and you imagine how precious it was to her and it was about an ephah barley. And she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought forth and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. What that's saying is, Ruth's just not eating for herself. And she's sitting there eating, she says, I wonder what Naomi's eating for lunch. And you know what she did? She saved her a little something. You know, we're gonna eat in a little bit, and when it's done, somebody's gonna get a, something they're gonna take it home and maybe they'll eat it after a while, they'll eat it tomorrow in the wind when they need it. And she brought what she had received sufficient, sufficed her. And her mother-in-law said unto her, where have you gleaned today? And where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she wrought. And she said, Naomi, they said his name was Boaz. Oh my goodness. You know who Boaz is? He's our kinsman redeemer. You know why we have bread? You know why we have a field that we glean in? He drops handfuls on purpose. We're just beggars. Looking for something here, looking for something. And he drops it. That's for you, Danny. Another picture is in Exodus chapter 16, if you would turn there. This is about the manna. Children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness. Well, how are they going to get fed? How you gonna feed several million people? How you gonna feed them? The Lord did. Every day for 40 years. Exodus 16, two, and the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the children of Israel said unto him, would the God, would the God, we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots and we did eat bread to the full. When did they ever sit by flesh pots? When did they ever eat bread to the full? They said, it'd been better if the Lord had just killed us in Egypt. For you brought us forth into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said the Lord unto Moses, What mercy and grace, because you know why? There was a remnant in that number according to the election of grace. Most of them were just a bunch of rebels. They didn't appreciate anything. But God said, behold, I will reign bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate each day that I may prove them, where they will walk in my law or no, and it shall come to pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. On the sixth day, they get twice as much. That's what they needed for tomorrow, for the next day. You know what the next day was? It's a Sabbath of rest. You don't even go out and gather manna on the Sabbath day because Christ is the Sabbath. But what they needed, he gave them. Verse 14, and when the Jew that lay was gone up behold upon the face of the ground or lay a small round thing as small as a whore frost on the ground and when the children of Israel saw it they said one to another it is manna for they wish not what it was and Moses said to them this is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat this is the bread don't despise the day of small things you know what But you know what you had to do? He didn't drop it down right in your kitchen in a basket and it be already fixed. You've got to go get it. You've got to go get it, you've got to go gather it, and you've got to fix it, and you made bread out of it. What is this? I tell you what it is, it's manna. Who is Christ? He's a despised person. This is the thing that the Lord hath commanded, gather it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man according to the number of your persons, that ye take ye every man for whom which are in his tent. If there was seven in the tent, you got enough for seven. Every how many was in the tent, that's what you get. That was your daily need. And it was all they needed. Now one time they got to the place, they said, we don't like this manner. Give me something else, preacher. All you preach and all you talk about is that Jesus. He said, I'll give you some quail, and by the time I'm done, you're gonna be sick of them. You won't even be able to sit down. There'll be so many of them, it'll be coming out your nose. And the children of Israel did so, verse 17, and they gathered some more, some less. And when they did meet it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, let no man leave of it till the morning. Nevertheless, they wouldn't hearken to Moses, but some of them left it until the morning. I'll just wait. I'm just too tired to go gather it today. It'll be out there tomorrow. No, it won't. It gathers worms. And it bred worms and stank, and Moses was wrought with them. And they gathered it every morning. Why did they gather it every morning? That's when the Lord sent it. He's teaching them, he gives them exactly what they needed for each day. Lord, give us, day by day, our daily bread. His mercies are new every morning. Every man according to his eating, and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass on the six days that together twice as much bread, two omers for one man, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, And how's that all tie in? Let me close with this. John chapter six, verse 17. Jesus said, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and they're dead. It was just a picture of Christ. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that if a man eat thereof, he shall not die. If you partake of Christ, if you look to Christ and find all your nourishment in him, you'll live forever. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If a man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I give is my flesh. which I give for the life of the world. When we celebrate the Lord's table, what is it we use? Wine and unleavened bread. Give us this day our daily bread. And Lord, as we get ready to meet again in just a little bit, Lord, give us this day our daily bread. You know, I can only only take so much. It's just like trying to reach someone and say, I just can't absorb it, but I need it simple, I need it plain, I need to see Him. Jeff, at Bless My Heart, what you just read the other day, just sit and listen to it. It just, like I said, you begin to see things and you see how God delivers us and He gave what you needed that day. And if Paul speaks, he gives what you need that day. And if Paul Pendleton comes next Sunday, what do you need next Sunday? He'll give you. Lord, give us our bread. Give us you.