Give Us This Day - 11

 Give Us This Day - 11

Subject – Thanksgiving and Worship

by Rick Welborne

Matthew 6:9-15 (NKJV)
⁹  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹  Give us this day our daily bread.
¹²  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
¹⁴  "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
¹⁵  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

--As we draw near to Thanksgiving it is easier to concentrate on all the things we are thankful for. In light of this series “Give Us This Day” we see in the Lord’s prayer what prayer, worship, and thanksgiving looks like.

--Obviously we see worship as a part of prayer…Our Father, Hallowed be Your Name. Worship is definitely one of the main ways that we are thankful for all He has done.

--If we are thankful for His wonderful salvation and His daily provision, it will be easy to give Him thanks on a daily basis. 

--Another part of prayer that I see which is also a part of being thankful is submission to His will. Thankfulness will flow from a heart that believes God’s will is what is best for us. Your will be done. 

--It becomes easy and even joyful to submit to our Father in Heaven when we know absolutely that He has our good in mind. In my prayer and worship, I tell God I trust Him.

--Asking for forgiveness and extending forgiveness to others should also be a piece of the pattern which we call prayer. Heavens open when we receive forgiveness and extend it to others. 

--Before we can truly pray “Lord, Give me this day” we must understand this aspect of prayer along with thanksgiving.

Matthew 8:1-4 (NKJV)
¹  When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.
²  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."
³  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
⁴  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 

--What Jesus sees in this leper.

1. Jesus sees a man not deterred by the crowd.

--The multitude was all around Jesus and that can be intimidating for someone who has leprosy or any of today’s societal ills. 

--Not to mention, it was against the law for those with leprosy to leave their designated places to live. Also, because he was (according to the law of Moses) unclean he could not be around people. 

--People can be reluctant to come to Jesus or church because they fear what people will think. What we should think is, thank God they are coming to Jesus. They should always be welcomed at Life Church. 

--If we are being technical, Jesus rendered Himself unclean by touching this man who had leprosy. This is so important to all of us today…please get this:

--Neither Jesus nor the man cared very much about what others were thinking but what they did care about (both of them) was having a divine encounter that was life changing. About Jesus dealing with Zacchaeus: 

Luke 19:9-10 (NKJV)
⁹  And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
¹⁰  for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

--People of Jesus’ day looked at tax collectors and lepers about the same way. Stay away from them because all they bring is pain and suffering. Amazingly these people were interested in Jesus.

--You may not be aware of this unless you get out where people live and truly find out what they are thinking, many people feel they are not worthy or good enough for Jesus to save them.

--I guarantee you someone had mentioned to this leper Who Jesus was and what He was doing everywhere He went. That sparked faith in his heart. 

--Jesus saw a man who was truly crying from his heart “Give me this day my daily bread”. The bread he needed was healing bread…the Bread of Life!

--No crowd, no matter how important they were or no matter how important they thought they were, were going to keep this man from Jesus. God help us stop worrying about what people think.

--What did Jesus see? Jesus saw a man full of faith, a man motivated by hope, a man who someone had convinced him Jesus was Who He claimed to be. 

--Jesus saw a man who said, “Lock me up, stone me, reject me, or kill me but I have to get to Jesus because for me it is life or death.”

--Jesus saw a man who was willing to worship Him without knowing all the details and having all of his questions answered. He saw a man of faith and a man willing to worship. Great combination.

2. Jesus sees a man who is willing to worship before he is healed.

Mark Batterson – “Gratitude is thanking God after He does the miracle. Faith is thanking God before He does the miracle.”

--True people of worship and thanksgiving do not have to see the signs and wonders to worship. They see Jesus as the object of their worship instead of what He can do for them. 

--They know He is their source and that there is really no other help they can run to for their answer.

Hebrews 11:1&6 (NKJV)
¹  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
⁶  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 

--What was the leper who came to Jesus hoping for? Of course, it was his healing. Make sure you do not miss how this man came to Jesus.

--First, the proof of this man’s faith was found in the fact that he came worshiping Jesus. He had heard what Jesus could do but He also, I’m sure, had heard who Jesus was…the Messiah.

--If you are only coming to Jesus because of what He can do for you, there is a really good chance that you are not going to receive your miracle. 

--But if you come to worship…all bets are off because nothing is impossible with God. This leper came worshiping and because of that Jesus made him feel comfortable to ask for a miracle.

--Second, listen to the man’s request…"Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Lord, if you are willing. What a beautiful prayer…he wanted God’s will in his situation.

--I have heard and I am sure you have heard from misguided people who say it is a cop out to pray, “Lord, if You are willing…” Who does this sound like? Jesus! This is exactly what Jesus was teaching:

Matthew 6:9-10 (NKJV)
⁹  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 

--Also, when Jesus was facing the cross and the inevitable torture He would be enduring for us…listen to His prayer:

Matthew 26:36-39 (NKJV)
³⁶  Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."
³⁷  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
³⁸  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."
³⁹  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

--When you need a miracle come to Jesus worshiping and praying for His will to be done in your life.

3. Jesus sees a man who understands the power and the authority He has. 

--I am sure this leper had well intentioned believers come to him with a dozen remedies for leprosy. None of them worked for him.

--But now, he has an opportunity to take his need to the source Who actually has the power and authority to do something about it. This leper called Jesus Lord.

--Jesus saw a man who understood lordship, understood that He was the Master, who understood that He was the Messiah, who understood He was Savior and Healer. 

--He saw the man’s faith to believe and his willingness to submit to the will of God. I believe Jesus is still looking for the same thing today. We want the miracles with no strings attached. 

Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV) ²¹  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
²²  Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
²³  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

--Jesus sees!