Ask And You Shall Receive

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13

• Focus: Jesus’ Prayer Life. The example he sets, what he teaches about it, and the specific things he prays about.
• Last Week: Jesus teaches us to make our requests to God in the context of an ongoing relationship with God. 

Remembering God’s Faithfulness

• Passover— Annual reminder of God’s deliverance of the Israelites. God wanted to make sure that people would remember the story of their salvation. 
• Dayenu — “It Would Have Been Enough.” God lavishes us with his blessings.

Today: “Ask And You Shall Receive”

• Main Idea: God invites us to come to him in prayer with all our cares and concerns.

The Lord’s Prayer Has Something Important for Everyone.

• A Self-Reliant Person — A reminder to turn to God and rely on him as our provider. 
• A Self-Centered Person — A reminder to spend time focusing on God, not ourselves.
• A Self-Doubting Person — A reminder that God cares about us and invites us to come to him and tell him what we need. 

The God Who Sees Me

Hagar’s story (Genesis 16) reminds us that God sees and hears everyone, not just the obvious heroes of the faith.

• Hagar: An Egyptian slave who ran away after being mistreated by Sarah.
• About to be a single mom, on the run, in the wilderness, with no plan for the future.
• The angel appears and tells her to name the child Ishmael, which means “God Hears.”
• Hagar then gives God a new name, El-Roi, which means “The God Who Sees Me.”
• God sees and hears all of us, even if we don’t feel important enough to be noticed.

Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-16

• God invites us to come to him with our needs.
• Jesus gives us some powerful words to pray as we come before our Heavenly Father.

Give us Today Our Daily Bread

Scripture: Matthew 6:11-13

• Basic necessities, like food and shelter.
• Exodus story — Manna in the desert every morning. Daily provision to teach the Israelites to depend on God every day.

God has always desired to be our provider.

• He did not create us to be entirely self-sufficient. He created us to depend on God.
• See Also Psalm 37:4, Isaiah 55:1-2.

Abraham Understood that The Lord Always Provides.

• Genesis 22 — Abraham is told to sacrifice his only son as a test of his faith.
• Just before Abraham is about to kill Isaac, God intervenes and provides Abraham with a ram to sacrifice in Isaac’s place.
• Abraham called the place “The Lord Will Provide” or Jehovah-Jireh in Hebrew.

“The God Who Sees Me” and “The Lord Will Provide” are two sides of the same coin.

• In Hebrew, “to provide” comes from the same word as “to see.” 
• Genesis 16 — God sees us and notices us even when others cast us aside.
• Genesis 22 — God “sees us through” difficult circumstances and “sees to it” that our needs are met. 

Jesus wants us to know that God is our provider. He sees us, he knows us, and he sees us through.

• See also Matthew 6:25-34 (Don’t Worry)

Forgive us Our Debts

• Debt is equated with sin (Matthew 18:21-35; Luke 7:36-50; Colossians 2:14 in the NIV).
• A prayer of confession, a request for forgiveness, and a reminder to show mercy.

Lead us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver us from the Evil One

• A prayer for strength to stand strong against the Devil’s attacks.
• How did Jesus overcome his temptations? The power of God’s Word (Matthew 4:1-11)
• What else has God given us? The full armor of God (Ephesians 6).
• As we pray for victory, we need to be willing to take full advantage of the resources God has given us (the Word, the Armor of God). Otherwise we are praying for a hole while leaning on a shovel.

Summary:

• A Prayer for Provision (Daily Bread), Forgiveness (Debts), Protection (Temptation)
• In Prayer, We Invest in our relationship with God and make our Requests to God to Help us Live for God.

Application

• Don’t Let Your Self-Sufficiency, Self-Centeredness or Self-Doubt Prevent You From Praying Like Jesus. 
• Remember: If It’s Worth Worrying About, It’s Worth Praying About.
• Make “I Prayed For You Today” One of Your Signature Phrases in 2025.

Study & Reflection

“Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all.”

-D.L. Moody

Let’s read Isaiah 55:1-13, one of the passages Bryan alluded to in the part about God being our provider.

1. What do you think God means when he tells people to come to him when they are hungry and thirsty? 
2. God says that some people seem to be filling up on things that aren’t bread and don’t satisfy. What are some examples of things people turn to for meaning and happiness in modern life that don’t lead to true satisfaction?
3. Verses 6-7 focus on seeking God, repenting of sin, and receiving forgiveness. In your own words, what does a person need to do to receive mercy and forgiveness from God?
4. God hears all our prayers, but he doesn’t necessarily answer all of them the way we’d like. That can feel confusing or disappointing for us. How do verses 8-9 put that disappointment in the proper perspective?
5. God says that his word is intended to produce a positive result in the world and in our lives (verses 10-11). What are some of the positive ways the Word of God has impacted your life?
6. What are the similarities you can see between Isaiah 55 and the Lord’s Prayer? 
7. What are some of the key lessons we learn about God from Isaiah 55 and the Lord’s Prayer?
8. Is there some kind of call to action that God has placed on your heart after reading these passages and listening to this sermon?