Pray Like This: Give Us This Day - Pastor David Houck | 9.6.26

So we're continuing our look at the Lord's Prayer.

We have been breaking this down line by line.

We took a little break last week as we had our uh guest perform music for us.

But we're going to uh pick up today.

And I want to actually invite you because we have been going through this for so many weeks, and I'm sure some of you are following along with me to read this aloud with me, beginning in verse nine.

Pray then like this, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

So, as we have said every week that we've looked at this, this was not given to us by Jesus as some sort of prayer that we are supposed to pray every single day, something that is a tradition or a ritual that we are supposed to memorize or an incantation of some sort.

Jesus gave this to us as a model for prayer.

And we've broken this down into five different sections.

First of all, person, the person that we are to direct our prayers to, which, as we said, is our father in heaven.

Now that does not exclude prayer to Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

We can do that as well.

But majority of our prayers go to our Father in heaven, not to just some generic God, uh, you know, not to any God that's out there, but the God of the Bible.

And who is the God of the Bible?

He is the all-powerful God, the God of heaven, but he is also a heavenly father.

He loves us, he is personal.

And we can only call him our heavenly father if we have received his son.

And then it turns to praise, praising who God is.

He said, hallowed be your name, meaning your name be praised, your name be glorified.

That is the purpose of the Christian existence.

And that is what we should pray for: that God would be praised, that he would be glorified, that his righteousness would be seen by all.

Then we turn to the priority of prayer.

What was that?

It was God's kingdom and God's will.

So this whole prayer begins with focusing on God, who he is, his glory, and that his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

That his will would be done in our own lives.

That is what we should be praying for.

We should be praying every single day that God's will be done.

Prayer is not some sort of manipulation tactic to get God to bend to our will.

He is not some genie that we are presenting wishes to, and we have to say it in just the right way, be just specific enough for him to answer.

No, it is an opportunity of worship and is an opportunity for us to align our hearts towards him to seek his will for our lives.

But then Jesus turns to the petition, to requests made on our own behalf to our Father.

And as we'll focus on today, the first petition is that God would grant us our daily bread.

And then Jesus closes with a plea for protection.

But today we're focusing on this line.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Now, there is a lot that can be said on this matter.

In fact, just this morning I was going through and saying, ah, I could have included this, you know, should I include this?

You know, that this parable would fit in here, but I tried to be as concise as I can, which you know is very difficult for me.

Um, but a lot has been said on this.

And sometimes people will tend to very uh much spiritualize the statement.

There are some who uh tie daily bread to communion, especially if you're more towards uh those who are Catholic and they have the that somewhat obscure view of what communion is.

Um I do not believe that interpretation is a correct interpretation, but then there are some who tie it to, well, the the bread is is the bread, you know, which is the word of God, or or the bread of you know, Jesus' body, or Jesus is the living bread.

And and while those are incorrect, I take the approach of what is main is plain.

And the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things.

That when Jesus prayed, give us this day our daily bread, he was talking about our basic necessities, what we need.

And this part of the prayer is pretty easy for us to understand.

God give us.

Let's be honest.

This is that's what a lot of our prayers look like.

In fact, um, probably that is the one line in the Lord's Prayer that is most well understood by everyone.

You know, you say, our Father in heaven, as we said, that's a really deep statement.

We don't often think about it.

Hallowed be your name.

Often we kind of rush through that, you know, your kingdom, your will.

Uh, but then give us today our daily bread.

In fact, a lot of us should probably just cut out those lines and just say, Our Father who art in heaven, give us our daily bread.

Amen.

Let's be honest.

A lot of our prayers look like that.

But as the previous weeks have shown, the focus on the first half of the prayer is just on God, his person, his praise, his glory, his will.

And so then, after spending so much time looking at that, it can feel like there's a tension here.

We're praying all about God, and then we say, give us our bread.

Is it in conflict with each other?

Is it is it turning from God and then and then just turning completely to ourselves?

Not necessarily.

Because Jesus taught that we can present our needs before God without being selfish.

While there may be a tension here, a tension that we have to navigate, a tension that we have to balance, they are not in total conflict.

We can seek God's eternal glory and still present our personal needs before Him.

In fact, he invites us to.

The wording used throughout this petition, throughout this request, demonstrates a heart that keeps the self in check.

I mean, this prayer is perfect having come from Jesus, who is perfect.

So he is not selfish in this request of seeking God's provision.

He does it for God's glory, and the wording he uses reveals a lot about how we can do so, how we can seek God's provision, but still keep ourselves in check.

First of all, the word give defeats the pride of self-reliance.

It defeats the pride of self-reliance.

For us to even ask that God may give us something acknowledges a fundamental truth that God provides.

It is an admission to some degree that what you have does not wholly rely on your own strength.

So this already is a blow to our own pride and our self-reliance, a confession that we need God's help.

But for many of us, for many Christians today, especially American Christians, it stops there.

To view God's provision only as help.

Meaning, yes, God provides.

Certainly, I want God to give me things, but come on, most of what I have I've earned.

So work of my own hands, sweat of my own brow, fruit of my own labor.

I mean, God just provides here and there, or hopefully, God will provide in addition to those things that I've earned.

But that right there falls short of the truth.

Psalm 145, verses 15 through 16 says, the eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

Psalms 145:15–16

You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

All that we have.

Hear me, all that we have is from God.

It is God who desires this or satisfies the desire of every living thing.

It is God who feeds and sustains us.

God invites us and even commands that we take part in the cultivation and the harvest of what we are given, but he is the provider.

It's from him.

He created the plants and the animals that we eat, the sun and the water that sustains life.

He is the source of life itself.

It all exists because of him, and as such, it all belongs to him.

And this is not just limited to what we eat and drink.

Haggai chapter two, verse eight says, The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.

All the silver and the gold of the world is his.

Every last ounce of treasure, every gallon of oil, every stock, every dollar, every check, every bitcoin, it's all his.

And again, if you're a Christian, hopefully you at very least comprehend this to a degree.

But the inner conflict arrives when we make this personal.

Because even though our logic brings us to the full truth, our hearts resist it.

I mean, logically, we understand that if all the money in this world is his, then all the money we have is his.

But to accept that spiritually and personally is a whole nother ball game.

All that we have is his.

All that I have is his.

Our money is not really our money.

My money does not belong to me.

That's where the tension is, that's where the trouble arises.

But accepting this is fundamental to living as an obedient Christian.

So I actually want to invite you to say this with me this morning.

My money does not belong to me, all right?

My money does not belong to me.

One more time.

My money does not belong to me.

About every payday, when you get handed the check or you check your bank account, you say to yourself, My money does not belong to me.

Our money belongs to God.

We're just borrowing it.

We're managers or stewards to use the biblical term.

And now you might intellectually accept this with your mind, but if you don't accept this with your heart, with the way that you view everything you have, with your financial habits, then as a Christian, nothing in your life will be in its correct place.

Everything will be in disorder.

Jesus said, it's not in your notes, Jesus said, you cannot serve both God and money.

It is one or the other.

And if you are not serving God with your money, then you are serving your money.

And then everything else in your life is affected by it.

You might not think it is.

You might think, well, money is a completely different category.

No, if you're not serving God with your money, you are serving money.

Money is your God.

And that affects everything.

Obedience to God's commands regarding our money will never make sense if you only view it as your own.

Why should I give to the local church?

It doesn't make sense.

I mean, if your money is yours, why do those things?

Financially, that doesn't make sense.

It doesn't make sense to give away your money.

It'll never make sense to you as long as you view it as yours.

Chances are, if you're not doing those things, it's because you view your money as your own.

If you're not sharing what you have with others, if you're not giving to the local church or giving to other organizations, it's probably because it doesn't make sense to you.

Maybe logically it does, but not spiritually, not with your life.

Why give away what I've earned?

Why give away what I have?

Why pay taxes as Jesus commanded?

I mean, why be honest with our finances and our business dealings?

Why refuse to take advantage of our employer or the government as so many people do?

It doesn't make sense if you only view your money as your own.

Remember, these commands that we're given regarding our finances are not commands given to the whole world.

It's given to those who belong to Christ, it's given to those who are Christians.

If you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that means you give your life to him.

It's not saying, Jesus, I trust you with my eternal destination, but my money is mine.

Jesus says, I want all of you, including your money.

It's mine, anyways.

And he doesn't want our money.

To be clear, Jesus doesn't want our money because he needs our money.

Jesus wants our money because he wants your heart.

I mean, I earned it.

And yes, as you're commanded to.

God commands us to work as a conduit for his provision.

He says, I'm going to provide for you.

This is how I'll do it.

Through your work.

But he is still the source.

Who gave you that job?

Who gave you the ability to do that job?

Who keeps you from losing your job?

Who keeps the economy from total collapse?

Certainly not the government.

God is the provider.

To fall short of full and total acceptance of that is to cut the legs off of your faith.

It robs you from experiencing all that God has from you.

You might have heard people, uh a name people have for God, Jehovah Jira.

Or Yahweh Yirah, meaning the Lord will provide.

This finds its origin in the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Abraham wanted a son.

Abraham was promised a son.

He prayed for a son.

And finally, his wife gave birth to a son, Isaac.

And then God commands Abraham to bring Isaac up a mountain and sacrifice him.

Did not make sense.

Why would God desire to take away what he promised to give me, what I've prayed for all these years?

But Abraham had faith.

Abraham trusted God.

In fact, as he led Isaac up the mountain, Isaac said, Dad, we have the wood.

Where's the lamb for sacrifice?

And Abraham said, God will provide a lamb.

And at the very last second, God provided a ram stuck in a bush to sacrifice.

And then in Genesis chapter 22, verse 14, it says, So Abraham called the name of that place the Lord will provide, Jehovah Jira, as it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.

Genesis 22:14

Abraham didn't call this place the Lord has provided, he called it the Lord will provide.

By worldly logic, sometimes what God asks us to do with what he has given us doesn't make any sense.

But we're obedient because we believe God is Jehovah Jira, that He will provide.

Deuteronomy 8, 17 says, Beware lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.

We pray, give us this day our daily bread, because we acknowledge He is the provider.

Secondly, the words us and our combat self-centeredness.

The latter half of this prayer is not give me, forgive me, or lead me.

Jesus says, us and our.

Give us this day our daily bread.

When we become Christians, when we are baptized by the Holy Spirit, we become one.

We have the same God within us, and it unites us all together.

Paul calls it the body of Christ.

Romans 12, verses four through five says, For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

This should change the way we live, the way we view our lives.

That we're not just in it for ourselves.

It's not just me and God.

What do we say?

We say there are no Lone Ranger Christians.

We're in this all together.

We become one body.

We're a local body.

If this is your church, you're part of the local body of Lampson Road, and we are part of the global body.

We are one with the believers in China.

And the Christians in Israel.

And the Christians in Chicago.

And we might be different.

We might have different looks.

We might have different backgrounds.

We might have different uh purposes and talents and abilities, but we are part of one body.

And so we should treat each other as members of our one body.

Philippians chapter 2, verse 4 says, Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:4

Certainly, this should be reflected in our prayers.

We're not just praying for our own needs, we're praying for the needs of others.

And by the way, you don't have to wait for a prayer request to do that.

You can wake up every morning and pray for someone in this church.

You can pray for the church in general, or every day you can pray for someone different.

How often do you do that?

How often do I do that?

There are times when I go through and I try to remember who comes to the church and pray for them.

But that's not often, to be honest.

I mean, maybe that just bursts your bubble.

You think I wake up and I pray for you every single morning.

I'm sorry I don't.

I probably should, but I don't.

But we should be praying for the needs of others.

Praying God provides for all of us.

Then by the way, oftentimes the way God answers that prayer is you.

Through you.

But this combat self-centeredness.

Thirdly, the word today denies the anxiety of self-preservation.

Jesus said, give us this day.

When we find the prayer again in Luke, he says, give us each day, but he says, give us each day what?

Our daily bread.

The focus is on today.

The focus is one day at a time.

It's consistent with what Jesus says later in Matthew chapter 6, verse 34.

Matthew 6:34

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The focus is today.

Now it's not wrong to save or to invest, especially for the goal of providing for your family or leaving something behind.

That is good.

The Bible commends that.

But God doesn't want us to live in fear or worry of what may or may not happen in the future.

What may or may not happen tomorrow.

Fear is the enemy of faith.

Faith says, I'll trust God to handle tomorrow.

I'll trust God to provide in the future as he always has.

Says tomorrow is in his hands.

But fear says tomorrow is in my own hands.

Maybe God won't provide.

Maybe God won't stay true to his promises.

I'm here, I'm alive, I have food, I have clothes, I have shelter.

But you know what?

Maybe something different will happen tomorrow.

And truthfully, that's how many of us live.

In fear, in fear of not having enough, in fear of what the future may hold.

And this drives so many of us to overworking ourselves.

We need to work more hours, make more sales, spend more time in the office or on the road or out in the field.

And it all just goes back to the lie that what we have is due to our own strength.

Therefore, if we want more, we must work more.

But as a consequence of that, we start to slip away from God's true calling for our lives.

We spend less time with family.

We spend less time with Him, less time reading His Word.

We start missing Sundays either because we're working or we're overly exhausted from working.

What does God say about that all?

What does God say when he sees you put in a bunch of overtime and cancel vacations and work Sunday mornings?

Does he stand there and say, Well done, my good and faithful servant?

No.

He says it's in vain.

Psalm 127, verse 2, it is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Psalms 127:2

God instituted the Sabbath, the idea of a day of rest as a gift to humanity.

Jesus said, Man wasn't created for the Sabbath because the religious people made it such a burden, a day of rest a burden.

So, no, Sabbath for the man, it's a gift.

The principle of rest is a gift to humanity.

Time to spend with friends and family.

Time to spend with him.

Time to spend outdoors enjoying his creation, time to do things that fill us up and recharge us.

All with the promise that he will make ends meet.

That he will bridge that gap for us.

You know, when it comes to the idea of the Sabbath, oftentimes I'll hear people say, but you don't understand.

I mean, yeah, that's great.

And I'll I wish I could do that, but you you don't understand the position that I'm in.

I mean, if I'm not at work, things will just fall apart.

Or if I'm not working overtime, or if I'm not working weekends or Sunday mornings, we're not gonna have enough.

Or I'm not gonna have enough to make my family happy.

But someone wrote, I read this somewhere, I can't remember where, but that we often choose work over family and pray to God, hey, I trust you to take care of my family for me rather than choose family and say, I trust you to take care of work.

I mean, isn't that bizarre when you stop and think about it?

We do that all the time.

God, I I trust you to be a husband to my wife or to be to be a wife to my husband.

I trust you to raise my family while I go take care of work.

Rather than say, God, thank you for the position that you've placed me in to be a husband, to be a wife, to be a member of a church, to be a parent.

And I trust you to take care of things at the office.

The only day you're guaranteed is the one that you are living now, and that's the only day you need to be concerned about.

To start off by saying, give us today our daily bread, meet our needs for today, and I trust you to take care of tomorrow if or when it comes.

That right there defeats so much anxiety.

I love that song again.

It's in vain that you eat the bread of anxious toil.

How many of us are doing that?

Eating all of our meals in the office.

Cutting your brakes short.

It's in vain.

We trust him to give us this day our daily bread.

Number four, daily bread guards against a trap of self-indulgence.

The idea of daily bread recalls the story of manna, manna from heaven.

Israelites, when they were wandering in the desert after being freed from Egypt, became hungry.

And as many of us, they became hangry, just grouchy and miserable and complaining about how they want food.

So God provided manna, this flaky bread, gave it to them every morning, just on the ground to be gathered up.

Exodus chapter 16 says, This is what the Lord has commanded gather of it each one of you as much as he can eat.

Exodus 16 · chapter mention

You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.

And the people of Israel did so.

They gathered some more, some less.

But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.

Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

And Moses said to them, Let no one leave any of it till the morning.

But they did not listen to Moses.

Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stink.

And Moses was angry with them.

Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

God was teaching his people to rely on him and to trust him to provide.

And so every single day, every single morning, he gave them exactly as much as they needed.

But rather than trust that God would do the same for them tomorrow, some of them gathered up more.

But the leftovers rotted and melted and grew maggots and smelled.

Because God provided only the bread that they needed for the day.

And it was more than enough.

Because it says they ate as much as they could eat.

Don't get the idea he provided a little bit of manna and they ate one little flake, and God is like, all right, you're good.

And then they're starving the rest of the day.

No, God provided as much as each person could eat.

Some more, some less, but no one was lacking.

God promises the same to us to provide us with what we need.

The problem many of us face is wanting more than what we need.

It might not feel like we have enough.

Because quite frankly, we're not being wise with our finances.

We're living beyond our means, spending more than we're able to.

What's the answer?

Contentment.

Being content, being grateful for what we have, being satisfied when our basic needs are met.

Paul wrote to Timothy, but godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.

But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Says contentment is a greater gain than money and things, because contentment leads to joy and peace.

That's why some people have less than you, but are so much happier than you.

Because it doesn't come from the stuff, because they're just satisfied with what they have.

They're grateful for what they have.

But too often we fall for the traps of consumerism, instant gratification, greed, self-indulgence, materialism.

We want more, we crave more, and we fall into, to use Paul's words, senseless and harmful desires that plunge us into ruin and destruction.

And we pierce ourselves with many pangs.

We'll work more than we should to have more than what we need.

Or we'll enslave ourselves to the master of MasterCard or Visa.

And the truth is, we spend more money to have more things that require more time and energy.

Isn't that true?

I mean, hobbies are fine when they're kept in check.

I have lots of hobbies, but they can easily end up spending or just sucking up all of our time, money, and energy.

That is something I personally can so easily drift off into if I'm not careful.

Something I have to work every day to keep in check.

I mean, work already is time away from my wife and my son and my family and my friends.

A hobby could easily take up the rest of that time.

But I don't want to miss that time.

I don't want to miss this time with my wife, these moments watching my son grow, family dinners, going out with friends.

I don't want to miss it.

And faith?

Faith is often the first to go.

Not immediately, not so that you would notice.

It's not saying, well, I'm gonna do this or I'm gonna chase after this thing.

I want this car, I want to do this hobby, or I want this house, and so I'm giving up my faith.

That's not how it works.

It's a lot more subtle than that.

It's gradual.

The more our thoughts are directed towards money and things, the less they are to God.

We replace time and his word with hobbies or with work to chase after things.

God knows this.

He wants to protect us from this.

He knows what we need and what we don't, he knows what we want and what we can handle.

And that's often different.

Every parent understands this struggle, trying to communicate to a child that what they want may not be what's best.

My son Benjamin, a 10-month-old, wants to play with outlets.

To him, an outlet is the key to unlocking all of his dreams and desires for the world.

It is a magical realm that he can enter as long as he just sticks his finger in the outlet.

But I know from personal experience, mind you, that that is not the key to unlocking everything.

It leads to pain.

Trust me, I know.

We may have certain wants or desires.

We can even present those wants or desires to our God, our Father in heaven, but we need to know that Father knows best.

We pray for our daily bread.

God knows what we need.

God knows what He desires to give us.

Maybe it's less than what we think, maybe it's more than what we can imagine.

But we trust in God either way, and we practice contentment.

Our prayers should echo this proverb.

Give me neither poverty nor riches.

Feed me with the 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 my God.

The prayer for daily bread is saying, God, you know what I need.

That's what I want.

And I will trust you to provide.

I want to close with this thought.

God generously and joyfully provides so that we can generously and joyfully live.

I don't want your takeaway from all this to be that God wants to keep you starving in gold and miserable.

It's quite the opposite.

Who are we praying to?

Our heavenly Father.

He loves us, he cares for us, he desires to be generous to us.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, verse 11 if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

Matthew 7:11

God doesn't give to his children begrudgingly.

He does so with joy.

He is a parent on Christmas morning watching his children open up gifts.

He created this whole planet for us to enjoy, including everything in it.

He wants us to dream and to laugh and to explore and create and play and rest.

And he gives us the things that we need to do so.

He loves us.

He wants you to have a hobby.

He wants you to have fun with your family.

Do you understand that about God?

God doesn't want you to be miserable.

Ecclesiastes chapter 5, verse 19 says, Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun, the few days of his life that God has given him.

Ecclesiastes 5:19

For this is his lot.

Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil, this is the gift of God.

Wealth and possessions are a gift from God to enjoy.

But it shouldn't end there.

It shouldn't end with us, with you.

Promises, promises that if we share what we have with others, he will give us more.

Second Corinthians chapter nine, Paul says the point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

You will be enriched in every way, to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

Remember, he started off this prayer with hallowed be your name.

God, my desire is that your name would be glorified.

And right here, Paul is saying that when we are generous with what God has given us, who is praised?

God.

He is glorified.

Paul wrote to Timothy, as for the rich in this present age, that's us, by the way.

You might not feel it, but looking at the rest of the world, we are rich.

We are blessed.

But on God, who richly provides us with everything to what?

To enjoy.

They are to do good.

We are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasures for ourselves as a good foundation for the future, so that we may take hold of that which is truly life.

The world says true life, true joy, true happiness comes from things, comes from money, comes from wealth.

Paul says it's a means to those things.

But how do you actually get the true life?

Not by hoarding what you have, by sharing it with others, by using what you have so that you can do good.

Not to earn earthly riches, but eternal treasure.

Jesus said, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

You don't need to be worried about what you have.

You don't need to be worried about the basic necessities as long as you are focused on serving God and serving God with what you have, not letting things or money master you.

Dead Sea borders uh Jordan, the West Bank, and Israel.

Some of you might even have been to it.

No, my mom's been to it.

The Dead Sea has such a high salt content that you can completely float on the top of the water.

Doesn't matter your weight.

You will completely float on the top of the water.

The reason why it's called the Dead Sea is because, other than just some microorganisms, no life is sustained.

No life can survive in that water.

The reason being is that water flows into it, but it doesn't leave.

So all the minerals that flow into the Dead Sea have nowhere to go.

So it just builds up to a point that no life can survive within it.

Because it has nowhere else to go.

Not like rivers.

Rivers which flow.

Rivers which provide its water to other bodies of water and produce life and vegetation and sustain whole cities and nations.

So my question for you is: are you a dead sea or are you a flowing river?

Are you the final destination of what God gives you?

Because if you are, whether or not you realize it, you're dead.

Sure, there might be a little microorganism of life within you, but your faith, your faith is dead.

Your relationship with your money is dead.

You're hoarding and hogging up all that you have been given, and it is killing you slowly, because that's not God's intent.

To have life and to give life.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we praise you, we thank you, and we worship you for being Jehovah Jirah, for being the God who provides.

Your greatest provision was shown through sending your son Jesus to die for our sins.

Lord, that should shape the way we view everything, including our finances.

Because we're not living for ourselves.

We have been bought by you, and all we have is from you.

For us to enjoy, yes, but the greatest enjoyment comes through sharing with others, through managing our finances well, to be a blessing to others, that you might be glorified and praised, and that we might earn not earthly riches but treasures in heaven.

Lord, we ask that you would give us all today our daily bread.

We trust you to provide as you have promised through your Son.

We thank you for we thank you for all these things in advance.

Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.