Topic: Learning Dependence
Text: Matthew 6:11
Key Verse: Give us the food we need today. – Matthew 6:11 JCB
At Creation, God made a self-sufficient world, where everything reproduces after its kind and nurtures itself to maturity and reproduction. God created the woman with breasts to feed her young; even the men have breasts too, functional or not, but as a reminder of the place and season of dependence on another.
The most important thing man needs to live is the breath of life; God has given that freely to all; we do not work, pray or do anything to have it; God has given it to all, even his enemies.
The next most important thing for living is food; in our key verse today, Jesus teaches us in the prayer to look up to God as the source of all we need for food! Why is this lesson so necessary in prayer? Why do we have to pray for food when we can buy it from the stores or cook what we have in our kitchen? Let us listen to the Holy Spirit.
In the beginning, we had everything provided for before our creation. God gave man food; he didn’t have to earn it; all he had to do was choose.
Then God said, “Here! Throughout the whole earth, I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. – Genesis 1:29 JCB
Adonai, the God, planted a garden toward the east, in ‘Eden, and there he put the person whom he had formed. Adonai, the God, gave the person this order: “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because, on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die.” – Genesis 2:8,16-17JCB
The Father provided everything man needed for food; that is how it was initially and how it ought to be even now. God teaches here that it is the role of a Father to provide for his children and household.
“Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are? “So don’t be anxious, asking, ‘What will we eat?’ ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘How will we be clothed?’ For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. – Matthew 6:25-26,31-32 JCB
Do you see God as a good Father who provides even before you ask? Do you truly believe he is your source? Or you still have a mindset that says, “l eat because l work,” “I have food because l worked for it,” or maybe your heart says, “I have food because of my skills, wisdom, talents, and being in the right place at the right time.” Hahaha. That is the mindset of fallen Adam, but you are of the second Adam who has learned to call God Abba Father.
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to what your wife said and ate from the tree about which I gave you the order, ‘You are not to eat from it,’ the ground is cursed on your account; you will work hard to eat from it as long as you live. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat field plants. You will eat bread by the sweat of your forehead till you return to the ground — for you were taken out of it: you are dust, and you will return to dust.” therefore Adonai, God, sent him out of the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. – Genesis 3:17-19,23 JCB
Listen, work is part of man’s creation; God works and is still working. God worked for six days to create the world. Man worked before the fall, the difference is man was thrown out of the garden, the place of provision, and God cursed the ground because of sin. He had to sweat to eat, and labor to get an increase from the earth.
On the seventh day, God was finished with his work which he had made, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day, God rested from all his work which he had created so that it could produce. Adonai, the God, took the person and put him in the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate and care for it. – Genesis 2:2-3,15 JCB
Your circumstances change when you acknowledge God as your source. The blessing neutralizes every curse. God blessed man and gave him everything he needed.
God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I gave you green plants before, so now I give you everything — – Genesis 9:1,3 JCB.
Trusting God for provision is an act of faith and surrender. When we pray for food, we acknowledge that we believe God knows what we need and what’s best for us. We are confessing our willingness to be satisfied with his supply and not on the cravings of the carnal nature. Note the text reads…” the food we need”
The Lord said to Moses, “Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way, I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions. – Exodus 16:4 GNT
To enjoy the provision of God requires following instructions! Obedience is a habit that must be learned and developed on the journey to the promised land.
If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. – Isaiah 1:19 GNT
The first temptation Jesus faced was to work for food, to seek food. But Satan lost since the word was already in Jesus.
Then the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.” But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.'” – Matthew 4:3-4 GNT
Food is good and important, but God’s word comes first; we look to God to lead us to the place of provision as the shepherd leads sheep.
The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. He gives me new strength. He guides me on the right paths, as he has promised. You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup to the brim. – Psalm 23:1-3,5 GNT
The man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him; the sheep hear his voice as he calls his sheep by name, and he leads them out. When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture. – John 10:2-4,9 GNT
Our greatest need is to hear the shepherd’s voice as we pray, to discern his leading to the pastures we seek. Prayer should not be made to instruct God on how to play his role but to surrender to his guidance for provision to meet our needs, not our wants.
We need God’s leadership for where to work, invest, and how to manage the resources at our disposal. Elijah had a Brook and Ravens for a season, just as Paul had to use his tent-making skills at a point in his life instead of his training as a lawyer or waiting on his disciples to pick up his bills. Do you discern God’s leading in this season for provision?
And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs. – Philippians 4:19 GNT
And God can give you more than you need so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause. As the scripture says, “He gives generously to the needy; his kindness lasts forever.” And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity. – 2 Corinthians 9:8-10 GNT
Prayer
Father, we worship you for your faithfulness to provide all we have needed; we ask for forgiveness for the times we have been ungrateful for your provision and trusted in ourselves. Please help us keep our eyes on you as a maid looks to her mistress or a servant to his master. Teach us to trust you daily, knowing you love us and you can meet all our needs in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Ada
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