Author: Don Guthrie

When we pray for bread, we pray for physical life.  When we pray for forgiveness, we pray for life worth living.  On Sunday we will study Numbers 14.  Joshua says that God’s “protection” has been taken away from the Caananites.  Sounds almost like Paul in Romans 1.  “He gave them over”.  Life is not worth living in the absence of God’s smile.  It is not worth having if God’s face is turned away. “Man does not live by bread alone”.  His friendship is what we truly need, His instruction.  So, after we pray for bread, we pray for something we need more than bread, for pardon, for the sweet assurance that our sins have been taken away.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” Two things are true, this morning as we come before God–we need forgiveness, and God is willing to give it.  Hallelujah!

It is no small prayer.  When a Christian asks God to “give daily bread”she is calling on the One who manages a thousand systems that operate in the background.  She is speaking to the one who brings spring and summer, who brings rain and harvest.  Without even realizing it, she is calling on the One who strengthens the will of the farmer, and the work of the grocer, and the wisdom of the banker.  The end result may seem small (a piece of bread) but it is isn’t.  When we speak of providence, we refer to the great goodness of God.  Part of God’s providence is to manage a world in which our needs can be met.   I wonder if this morning, you will not call on this great God to meet your needs according to His vast capability?  Even small gifts are signals of His large love.

The highest privilege of  human life is to do the will of God. “The world passes away, but those who do the will of God endure forever.”  Nothing else lasts and so nothing else matters as much.   Jesus teaches us to pray this prayer (thy will be done) before we ask for daily bread.  Note the order.  Most of our prayers are distressingly selfish and disastrously unwise.  If we understood our opportunity this would be our first and most passionate prayer.  It is a prayer of resignation.  Lord, I accept your will when it is different than my own.  It is a prayer of cooperation.  Lord, I dedicate my time and energy to the accomplishment of your purposes.  There are only two centers for life–self or God.  What great wisdom it is to pray this daily prayer.  “Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way.  Thou art the potter, I am the clay.”

Can you imagine what the world would be like if the whole Church were united in the dream of doing the will of God?  If every congregation, every Christian believed it possible and desirable?  If we believed that good religion is never bad business?  If we were aware of His power more than our own flaws.   We would become a mighty army!  Not shuffling along, discouraged and wondering what to do next, we would wait on the Lord together and then march forward with invincible strength.  Like a symphony of coordinated action, we would cooperate with his mighty plans.  We would inspire the young, comfort the old.  What challenging and exhiliaring work He would give us!   Perhaps we don’t pray because we no longer believe it possible–not now, not us.  We feel like grasshoppers in the face of our challenges.  (Are you reading Numbers 13 and 14?)  May the Lord restore our confidence.  May He teach us to pray.

To pray for God’s will on earth is to embrace His will in my life.  No prayer can be sincere for the whole if it omits or ignores the power of an individual.  “If you think that one person can’t make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito.”  Part of the illness of this present age is cynicism.  Many openly deny that it is possible to know and do the will of God.  We see ourselves as flawed.   We have lost our dream.  Prayer is a call for the power of God to fill us for this glorious possibility.  Friend, how convinced are you that, with His supernatural help,  you can know and do His will?  How certain are you that you have been “created unto good works that God prepared beforehand” (Ephesians 2:10)  Our reading this week is Numbers 13 and 14.  Interesting reflection on the subject of doing what God calls us to do.  More tomorrow.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me.”  (John :38)  What is life like in heaven?  What are the habits and values of that glorious community?  It is a question that must be answered before we can pray the Lord’s prayer with understanding.  Only best clue is the life of Christ.  Having come from Heaven, He is representative of that powerful assembly and how they respond to the will of God.  Consider His commitment to God’s will, the priority He placed on hearing the voice of the Father, his courage in carrying it out.   To pray for God’s will to be done on earth in the manner that it is done in heaven is to pray for Christ-likeness.  Our priority and passion and privilege will be the will of God.

“Thy will be done.”  People who pray this prayer often know only one side of it, the resignation.  Jesus in Gethsemane is our template.  He accepts pain.  He submits to loss.  He prays, “not my will but thine be done”.  But the will of God isn’t always  something burdensome to bear.  It is something glorious to do!  We are not mourners only.  We are soldiers also, accepting a commission, grateful for the grand purpose we have for life.  To pray, “Thy will be done” is to dream and desire a glorious world and to ask God’s power for achieving it.  Today in worship at FBCSA we will study Exodus 32.  Moses will be a different example.  He will perceive the “higher purpose” of the Lord  (ie mercy) and seek it through prayer.  May all of us learn this lesson.  Sometimes prayer is resignation.  Sometimes it is courageous intercession for the higher purposes of God.

If I call God King, He may say that I have been a rebellious subject and refuse to hear me.   If I call God Creator, He may say that I have fallen short of His purpose and ignore my plea for help.   If I call God Judge, He may say that I have broken His law and condemn me.  But if I call God Father,  He must hear my call because  my sins can never change the fact that I am His son.  When I talk with my Father, I am not afraid that He misunderstands me.  I may get the words out of place, but He hears me somehow.  It is not something that I can depend on from the Governor or a friend, but hearing me and helping me is something that I can count on with my Dad.  May the Lord teach us to pray these wonderful words!

Romans 8 speaks of “the spirit of adoption by which we cry ‘Abba Father’ “.  What is the spirit of adoption?   It is a combination of faith that knows God to be Father, love that loves Him as Father,  joy that relaxes in His love, and confidence that looks to Him for protection and supply.  Martin Luther said that there is more eloquence in the words, ” Our Father” than in all the orations of educated men.  Friend, do you have this spirit?  Do you have the inner assurance that you are a child of God and therefore have all access to His promises and protection?  If not, then it is time for you to seek Him, to look to Christ on the cross who gave His life so that you can be born into a family. . . a family of prayer.  Calling God Father must rise from deep within our hearts.  It is a gift of God’s Spirit.

When we become aware of our Father, we become aware of our brothers and sisters.  Jesus does not teach us to pray, “MY father”.  He teaches us to pray, “OUR Father”.  Every prayer, every morning is a consciousness of others who are related to us by a common love for Christ.  Some of God’s children differ from us in doctrine.  The tensions can be very real, but the assignment stands.  If we only love those who agree with us on all points who will be left?  Some of God’s children have different stations in life.  They are poor in this world but rich in faith.  Some of God’s children are separated from us by continents and culture, but it is remarkable how similar we are on our knees.  Pray this morning, friend!  Pray with an awareness of your large family and your powerful Father.  Then stand and act it.  If God is our Father, we have many brothers and sisters.