Prayer Is Petition

Matthew 6:11-15
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, July 20, 1997
Copyright © 1997, P. G. Mathew

“Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:11-15

We have been studying the Lord’s Prayer which is the pattern for prayer that Jesus Christ has taught us in the Sermon on the Mount. First, Jesus taught that prayer is talking to our heavenly Father. Second, he taught that prayer is adoration, and because it is, we as disciples should not rush into the presence of God to demand things from him. Rather, we must be very aware in our spirits of the glory, majesty and perfections of God, and come into his presence seeking his glory in everything we do. Only Christians Pray

The third thing Jesus taught from this prayer is that prayer is petition to our heavenly Father. As children talk to their father delightfully and constantly, the children of God have the mighty privilege of talking to their heavenly Father in prayer. This privilege is for the children of God alone, and only those who are born again will exercise it. This means if you are not praying, you are not born of God. You are only pretending that you are a Christian when you are not. One can know who a Christian is in terms of his communion with God–in other words, his prayer life.

And so as we read the Bible we discover that the prophets prayed, the apostles prayed, Jesus himself prayed and his disciples prayed. God’s people will pray. What Is Prayer?

Prayer is adoration of our heavenly Father. We hallow his name, submit eagerly to his kingdom rule and delightfully do his will. We find all these aspects of prayer in the first three petitions in the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Those who pray like this seek the glory of God above anything else in the world.

Prayer is also petitioning our heavenly Father for our total need. In Philippians 4:6 Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything,” and I believe he was referring to what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25, 28, 34. There Jesus said three times, “Do not worry.” In terms of our relationship with our heavenly Father, don’t be anxious, in other words. So Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Therefore, prayer to God is the cure of all anxiety. Prayer is asking God and receiving from him everything necessary for our existence in the world as children of God. When we pray, God will meet all our physical and spiritual needs.

“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”

There are six petitions in this model prayer. The first three deal with the glory of God and the last three deal with the total physical and spiritual needs of God’s children–needs of the body and needs of the soul–which means bread, forgiveness of sins, and total deliverance from evil. We have dealt with the first three in the previous study, so now we will examine the fourth petition, “Give us this day our daily bread.” After teaching us to pray for the glory of God’s name, we might expect Jesus to instruct us to pray for the needs of our souls. But that is not what he taught. Jesus wants us to pray first for the needs of our body.

Jesus taught us to say, “Give us” when we prayed. Why? Only God is self-existing, self-sufficient and independent. We live and move and have our being in him. As creatures, therefore, we depend on God’s provision for our very existence, and if we want to live, God must give.

We must realize that we depend on God for everything. In James 1:17 we read, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows.” We depend on the immutable, unchanging God. And in 1 Corinthians 4:7 Paul asks, “What do you have that you did not receive?” The answer to that question should keep us pretty humble. What did Paul expect to hear? Nothing. We have nothing that we did not receive from the source of all gifts, our heavenly Father. Everything that we have we received from God.

Give Us

God gives to all his creatures. We read that he gives to the birds and the young lions in his providence. In his common grace God gives food even to his enemies. In fact, earlier in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). God graciously gives to all his creatures. So Jesus instructed the disciples to say “Give us,” not “Give me.”

Have you ever noticed that? Nowhere in this model prayer do we find the word me. Instead we read, “Give us,” “Forgive us,” “Lead us not,” “Deliver us,” and so on. This prayer, therefore, reminds us that we are not just isolated individuals. Christians are a family, a community, and we must think in terms of the welfare of all of God’s people. How are we to pray? “Give us.” That should radically change our prayer habit because most of us probably pray, “Give me.”

In the early church we see the disciples demonstrating brotherly love, not self-love. In Acts 2:44 we read, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” The early church cared for their poor, their widows, and their orphans. We must keep their example in mind when we pray. The church is a family, and we need to know the needs of the family, meaning the entire community, and pray for those needs.

In 1 John 5:1 we read, “Everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.” The church is God’s family, and if we are Christians, we are all brothers and sisters born of the same Father in heaven “from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.”

Daily Bread

Next, we notice that we must pray every day. We cannot pray once for all time for all our needs. God the Father delights in seeing us and hearing from us daily. Just as this is true of ordinary human fathers, it is also true of our heavenly Father. God delights in communing with his children.

In Exodus 16 we see how God provided for his people in terms of heavenly manna. In verse 4 we read, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.'” Manna was the daily bread the Lord gave the Israelites in the wilderness. Each morning every one gathered as much as he needed.

How long did God provide manna? For forty years, or about 14,600 days. The Israelites ate manna until they came to a land that was settled. God in his great mercy showered on his people heavenly manna which they gathered every day except the Sabbath.

Was God faithful in providing daily bread in the form of manna? Yes. And in the same way God requires us in this prayer to pray daily and receive daily provision from him. His grace is new every morning, and as a Father he is not weary of giving. In fact, he delights in giving to his children.

When Jesus said “daily bread,” he used the Greek word epiousios. Now, we do not find that term used in the secular Greek writings in any clear way. It may mean daily, it may mean bread for the coming day or it may mean bread that is necessary for our existence. But we do know that this is not speaking of receiving bread for the rest of one’s life all at one time. Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray for bread for each day, whether it is today or whether it is the day coming. He is not teaching us to pray for a lump sum gift. We are given the lump sum in Jesus Christ, but we have to receive daily from the Father.

Therefore, just as the Israelites gathered manna each day, so we are to seek from God daily for each day’s provision and have confidence that he will provide for us. In Matthew 15 we read how Jesus dealt with a Gentile woman and we see this expression, “Bread is for the children.” If you are a child of God, you can count on God’s provision of daily bread.

What Is Bread?

What did Jesus mean by bread? His use of the word “bread” is called a synecdoche, which is a literary device in which the particular stands for the whole. In other words, bread stands for the totality of our physical needs, all our material necessities. So when we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are asking God to provide for our food, shelter, clothes, shoes, medicine, transportation, education, marriage, family, work, and retirement. So the word “bread” stands for all the necessities, especially the material necessities, of our being.

Need, Not Greed

Notice, Jesus said bread, which is a normal, essential food. That tells us that we are to pray according to our need rather than our greed. We are not to be characterized by covetousness. This prayer encourages us to have a sense of contentment in Jesus Christ rather than praying for luxuries.

How wonderful it is to have contentment in godliness! Look at Achan. What happened to him? His covetousness caused him to steal from God. What about Judas Iscariot? He committed treason so he could have more money. How about Ahab? He murdered Naboth so he could add Naboth’s vineyard to his vast holdings. What about Demas? He became apostate so that he could make money.

May God help us to be content with what he has provided and is providing. So this prayer does not give us permission to ask for luxury. God may give us luxury and great wealth. But we are not to pray for it, and if we are given great wealth by God, he gives it to us for the purpose of distribution as well as enjoyment.

The Problem of Riches

In Proverbs 30 we find a prayer by a man named Agur, the son of Jakeh. In verse 8 he prayed, “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” Now, I don’t think we have any problem praying that God not give us poverty, but I think we may have a problem asking God not to give us riches. But then Agur explains why he prayed this way: “Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?'” (v. 9).

This is true. When we are indulged, we become arrogant and defy the Lord Jesus Christ. Pharaoh, in all his pride and arrogance, asked a similar question: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?” But this is what we ought to pray: “O God, give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. . .” Why? “that I may love God and serve him all the days of my life.”

Paul spoke about godliness and contentment in 1 Timothy 6. There we read, “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people,” and here Paul is probably speaking about Demas and others, “eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim. 6:8-10).

God’s Sufficient Provision

In 1 Kings 17 we find the story of Elijah, who was sent by God to the brook Kerith to hide. God was telling Elijah, in effect, “Elijah, go ahead and hide yourself! I am sick and tired of this nation, and I don’t want you to speak to them anymore.” So Elijah hid himself and God sent ravens to feed him. Morning and evening, two times a day, the birds brought Elijah bread and meat, and he drank water from the brook until it dried up.

Then God told Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon. There he found a widow who had a jar with a little flour and a jug with a little oil. That was the last of her food. This widow was planning to bake two small cakes, one for herself and one for her son, and then die. But God performed a miracle, and from that day on the woman went to the jar every day and found enough flour, not only for her and her son, but also for the prophet. And every day she found just enough oil in her jug for everyone as well. You see, God didn’t fill her entire house with a lot of flour and oil. But every day there was just enough flour and oil to sustain, not only the widow and her son, but also the prophet.

In 1 Kings 19 we find Elijah all despondent. Fearing Jezebel, he had fled for his life to Beersheba and was praying that God would let him die. What was he saying? “O God, please kill me. I have had enough. Everyone around me is apostate and I am so tired of being a prophet. If only I could die!” I am glad God didn’t hear that prayer! No, instead God sent an angel to give Elijah some cakes of bread and water. You see, that is the way God provides for us, and that is enough, brothers and sisters. It is that type of caring that encourages us to go to God on a daily basis. And the wonderful thing is, God wants to see us. The Bible says he wants to see and hear from us regularly.

Bread Requires Work

We must understand, however, that the bread Jesus is talking about will never come to us without work. That is God’s order: We are to eat bread by the sweat of our brow. But God is good and, therefore, his earth will produce food if we work it.

The Bible strictly prohibits us from eating the bread of idleness or the bread of deceit as we read in Proverbs 31:27 and 2 Thessalonians 3. And in Proverbs 20:17 we read that making money by fraud is prohibited: “Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.” How, then, does God give us bread? He grants us health, intelligence and opportunities to work.

We are taught this particular lesson clearly in Deuteronomy 8:17-18. Moses told the Israelites, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” It is God who gives us the ability to produce wealth. By so doing he demonstrates his covenant love for us.

So what is God’s counsel to us? “Get a life!” In other words, get education, get a skill, look for opportunities to work, and work very hard. Why? The Lord loves you and he will surely give you daily bread all the days of your life if you do these things. He is the one who told us to pray this prayer and so we can rest assured he will also give us opportunities to work, provided we develop skills. Didn’t Jesus say, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things,” meaning food, clothing and all, “will be added unto you”? We can count on God’s faithfulness to give us our daily bread. Therefore, let us pray this fourth petition with understanding. Let us be assured that God will provide for all our material needs–not luxuries, but necessities–as we work and serve him.

Petition for Forgiveness

What is the fifth petition? “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” In the fifth and sixth petitions the needs of our souls are met.

There are several words used in the Bible to describe sin. One word is opheilema , which means debt. Now, if you look at Matthew 6:12 we notice this debt is the same as trespass, and in Luke 11:3 you notice it is sin. So we can understand that when Jesus spoke about forgiving us our debts, he was speaking about the debt that we owe to God, which is obedience. He was speaking about sin.

In the fifth petition, therefore, God’s children are taught to seek forgiveness of sins for the health of their souls. Show me a man who works hard for physical bread only and does not seek forgiveness for his sins from God, and I will show you a man who is most miserable while he pretends to be happy.

Sin is seen as a debt to God. We owe God perfect obedience, but we are unable to render it. Thus, we are left with an enormous debt–a debt that is infinite because we sin against an infinite God–and we are unable to pay it. No man can pay his debt to God.

What can we do? Well, we know from Matthew 5 and Matthew 18 that debtors who cannot pay are sent to prison. The prison for the debt of obedience to God is eternal hell, and all are under a sentence to go there because all are unable to pay the debt. (PGM) But God our heavenly Father devised a plan for the remission of this debt. He sent his Son, the divine person who took upon himself a perfect human nature, into this world. This Son, Jesus Christ, lived a perfect life in obedience to his Father. And on the cross he died for the sins, that is, the debts, of his people. There he proclaimed, “It is finished,” meaning the payment for debt was rendered satisfactorily.

Thus Jesus accomplished our redemption, and everyone who repents and trusts in him alone will receive forgiveness of sin, forgiveness of his debts. Such a person will be justified by the Father instantly by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to him and instantly adopted into the family of God. Such a person becomes a child of God and is given the mighty privilege of coming into God’s presence with confidence and making his petitions known to him.

So this petition, “Forgive us our debts,” which refers to our sins, our trespasses, does not have to do with justification but rather with daily sanctification. We all have received the full bath of justification that we read about in John 13. But this petition deals with the washing of our feet, meaning the daily forgiveness of sins that we need so that we can have daily fellowship with the Father and the Son. Joy comes by fellowship with the Father and the Son, but to enjoy that fellowship we must wash our feet as children of God by asking him to forgive our sins.

God Alone Forgives Sins

This prayer demonstrates that God alone can forgive our sins. We find this affirmed in Mark 2:7. “Why does this fellow talk like that?” the teachers of the law said, mockingly referring to Jesus. “He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But read on. You will discover that Jesus Christ is God and he does forgive sins.

Only God can forgive sins. We must always keep that in mind. No psychiatrist, no sociologist, no philosopher can forgive our sins. Why? Because all sin is, fundamentally, against God. God must forgive our sins, and he does so in his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. So Paul writes in Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Without the cross, forgiveness is utterly impossible. And without repentance, one cannot receive this forgiveness either. This prayer for forgiveness of sins is not for those who pretend that they are perfect. There are some people in the Christian world who believe in perfectionism. Such people cannot pray this prayer. But those who believe in perfectionism are not interpreting the Scriptures properly. Read 1 John 1:8-10, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim that we are without sin, we make him [God] out to be a liar.” Do you how serious the mental delusion is of thinking that one can be perfect? But when we repent, confess, and forsake our sins, let me assure you, God will apply the blood of his Son to deal with our sins.

How God Deals with Sin

How does God deal with our sins? First, in Psalm 85:2 we are told God covers them: “You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.” Our job is to expose and confess our sins and God puts them away, covering them by the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ. Second, in Isaiah 43:25 we read that God blots them out, erasing them forever: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Third, in Isaiah 44:22 we learn that God scatters our sins as he scatters the clouds: “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.” Micah 7:19 tells us God casts our sins into the depths of the sea: “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” Jeremiah 31:34 says God remembers our sins no more and forgives them: “No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.'” And, finally, Jeremiah 33:8 tells us God forgives all our sins: “I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.”

As We Forgive Others

Matthew 6:12 tells us “Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.” We are asking God to forgive us as we forgive others, not because . In other words, forgiving our debtors is not a work that merits forgiveness. No. We are petitioning God to forgive as we forgive.

We are not to go to God in prayer until we forgive our brothers. That fact is clearly established in Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Therefore, we should never come to the church without taking care of any problems we may have with our spouse, our children, or our neighbor. And if we fail to forgive others, it proves we have not been forgiven of the Father and are not his children. It is a serious issue if we insist on not forgiving others. Our forgiveness of others is evidence that we ourselves have been forgiven by God on the basis of his sheer mercy and grace.

How could we go to God for the forgiveness of our sins if we refuse to forgive the sins of others? That would be pure hypocrisy! So we must read what Paul wrote in Colossians 3:13: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” We must first experience God’s forgiveness, and then, on that basis, forgive others.

For the daily enjoyment of God’s fellowship we need his gracious daily forgiveness. That is one of God’s provisions for our souls.

Lead Us Not into Temptation

What is the sixth petition in the Lord’s Prayer? “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Let me assure you, a person whose sins are forgiven will long to sin no more. A true child of God hates sin.

If this is true, what did Jesus mean when he said, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”? Jesus knew there is evil ab intra, which means evil from within, and evil ab extra, evil from without. Though we have been born again, there is still sin in us–the lust of the flesh–and sin outside of us–the world and Satan and demons. So, as God’s children, we are instructed by Jesus in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Resisting Temptation and the Devil

Now, although Satan tempts us, God does not tempt anyone. However, God tests us to prove and improve us. But it is proper for God’s people to pray daily, “Lord, keep us from being tempted by the devil.”

Second, we should pray: “Lord, keep us from being tempted by the devil. But if you permit us to be tempted, help us to resist the devil and be victorious in the end.” That is a wonderful prayer. And in 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul tells us of a great promise: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” And not only that, he says, “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” You will be enabled to stand strong and victorious under temptation.

How, then, should we pray? “O God, if you permit us to be tempted, help us to resist the devil and stand firm in victory.” So, notice, Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God . . . and after you have done everything, to stand,” victoriously. So we must pray, “Lord, keep us from being tempted by the devil. But if you permit us to be tempted, help us to resist the devil so that we can be victorious, so that we can see your way out, so that we could put on the whole armor of God and deal with the enemy.”

Third, what happens if we fail and fall in the temptation? Remember how arrogant, self-sufficient and independent Peter was? How confidently he told Jesus, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33)! I have heard many people make statements like this in the church, and yet they are no longer here. And Peter himself denied Jesus Christ three times a few hours after he made this claim. He fell terribly because he had not been watchful and prayerful. So if we fall in temptation, then we pray, “Lord, raise us up and help us to be restored just as you restored Peter.”

God Helps Us

We must have God’s help to resist temptation and the devil. In John 15:5 Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing,” and in Philippians 4:13 Paul shared his great discovery that “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” In 1 John 4:4 we read, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world,” and in Revelation 12:11 we read, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

Let me make one very important point: We can do nothing without God, but with him dwelling in us and giving us strength, we are able to do all things. With him and through him we are able to resist the devil and he shall flee from us.

We must understand that. Yes, we know that Satan is evil ab extra. He is the prince of this world and he has a kingdom. He is the strong man, the dragon, the god of this world. He is a spirit. Yet we must also remember that Satan is a creature. He is not almighty, omniscient, or omnipresent. He is the chief fallen angel and he has many demons as assistants.

Christ came to bind this strong man, defeat him, and destroy his work. By his death and resurrection Jesus thoroughly defeated the devil and liberated us forever. In Christ, therefore, we can resist the devil and he shall and he must flee from us.

Led into Righteousness

This prayer “Lead us not into temptation” may be a litotes, which is a literary device that expresses something by negating its contrary. For example, when we say “Not a few people came to church,” what are we really saying? That a lot of people came to church. Or when Paul says “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” he means “I am very proud of the gospel.”

So, then, when we read “Lead us not into temptation,” it may mean “Lead us only into righteousness.” Isn’t that wonderful? In other words, we can pray, “Lord, you have forgiven our sins, and we don’t want to sin anymore. Lead us only into righteousness and deliver us from evil.”

Deliverance from Evil

What does the prayer “Deliver us from evil” mean? It is a prayer for deliverance from all evil. This will ultimately be fulfilled when Christ comes again. At the second coming of Christ, there shall be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.

Soon our Lord shall dispose of all evil. Paul spoke of this when, at the end of his life, he wrote, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Tim. 4:18).

There will be a final disposition of evil. In Revelation 21:8 we read, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” And in Revelation 21:27 we read, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” And, again, in Revelation 22:15 we read, “Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” Notice, they are outside, not inside.

But in Jude 24-25 we read “To him who is able to keep you from falling,” meaning God will keep his church from falling by dealing with all evil, “and to present you before his glorious presence” God’s presence “without fault and with great joy–to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages now and forevermore. Amen.” God in Jesus Christ will completely deliver us from all evil.

Let Us Pray!

In these three petitions, therefore, we see how God fully provides for all the needs of his children–their physical needs as well as for the need of their souls. But we must remember that this is a prayer for those who are children of God. If you are a person who mocks Jesus, who refuses to submit to his kingdom, refuses to glorify his name and refuses to do his will, then you are not qualified to pray this prayer. And I am confident that you do not pray at all. My word to such people is to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Learn from the Ninevites. Even though Jonah was expecting their destruction, they repented and were saved from destruction.

If you have trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, may you exercise this great privilege of prayer. God wants us to pray seriously, confidently, and in faith for his will to be done. Let me give you an illustration of a prayer that the mighty Luther prayed. In the year 1540, Luther’s friend and fellow soldier Friedrich Myconius lay dying. Myconius wrote a letter to Luther, informing him of his impending death. But when Luther got the letter, he instantly wrote back. And in the words of Luther to Myconius we see something of Luther’s habit of confident, mighty, powerful prayer. He told Myconius, “I command thee in the name of God to live because I still have need of thee in the work of reforming the church. The Lord will never let me hear that thou art dead but will permit thee to survive me. For this I am praying; this is my will, and may my will be done because I seek only to glorify the name of God.” And perhaps you know what happened. Friedrich Myconius lived six more years, surviving Luther by two months. That was serious, confident prayer. That was praying in faith to the heavenly Father that his will be done.

If we have trusted in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation, it is our privilege to read the word of God, pray according to the will of God and see what God will do for us. God is for us, and he will meet our physical and material needs. He is our heavenly Father! He sent his own Son to save us, and, therefore, he will save and help us throughout our lives. May we even this day begin to pray as Jesus taught us! Amen.