Keys to Answered Prayer VII

Give Us Our Daily Bread
Fred R. Coulter—October 28, 2006

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Now let's come back to the model prayer and we'll be coming back here from time-to-time as we're going through the series. And as I mentioned, we are finished when we are finished. So whatever the number of messages are that we will have, that's how many we will have. And this way then we can cover an awful lot, but all of these things are designed to help spur you in your own studies in addition to what we cover here in the sermons.

So Matthew 6:11: "Give us this day our daily bread." Now that says an awful lot. And of course, it can also be: "Give us day-by-day our needed food"—that would be another way to say it. But God is the one Who has provided everything. And here's something we always need to remember in everything that we do, which is this: You have nothing that you didn't receive (1-Cor. 4).

• everything that you are
• everything that you own
• everything that you eat
• everything that you use

comes from what God has created. And, of course, as we have seen, this is why God does not want a physical temple. That's what He says in Isa. 66: 'What are you going to make for Me to honor Me?' No, the way you honor God is with a 'contrite heart and humble spirit' and be yielded to Him. And instead of having a physical building, God has chosen you for His dwelling place. As Paul said, 'No you not that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.' And God is dwelling in us, and Christ is dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit. So in approaching this thing concerning the physical things can also include all the physical things necessary for life.

Now He covers this a little later here in Matthew 6:22—and He gives a lesson, the rest of the chapter which we will cover. "The light of the body is the eye…." Now that is literally true from the point of view of health. Doctors can tell an awful lot concerning health. As a matter of fact, there's even a science called iridology, where they look at the iris of the eye and they can tell many, many things that are going on inside the body by analyzing the iris of the eye. You also have what is called in the Bible 'an evil eye.' There are some people who have cruel eyes. There are other people who have lying eyes—because when you are a habitual liar you can't hide it. You may be able to pretend, but you can never hide it. And also the light of the body is the eye in reflecting God's Spirit through your attitude, your behavior, your thoughts; so everything is tied up with that.

 "…Therefore, if your eye be sound, your whole body shall be full of light" (22). And that's just a general principle. And it's very, very interesting, too.

Hold your place and let's come to John 1, and let's read this verse. And let's understand something about human beings, about how we live and function and so forth, and why, in praying for our daily food, we need to eat the right food. And that's why God said that we should not eat unclean foods. But that's more to that today than just whether it's clean or unclean. You have to stay away from all the processed foods, etc., etc., etc. Well, we won't get into a health situation here.

John 1:9: "The true light was that which enlightens everyone who comes into the world." Now that's quite a statement. Now what does that mean? Well, I've been reading a book talking about the bioelectrical magnetic makeup of the body. And it starts at conception. That when a new life is conceived, there is a flash of electricity bio-generated in the body that's 480-thousand volts! Now even though that sounds like a lot compared to a watt of electricity, it is small. However, what that 480-thousand volts of bio-electricity does is that it congeals the egg, and the power comes from the sperm, and congeals the egg so that no other sperm can penetrate it. So that everyone who comes into the world has been enlightened by the light of the power of creation that God put in the reproductive system.

So the thing is this: The Bible is not only a way, telling us about God, how to live, how to serve God, how to worship God, but it also has everything in it referring to scientific things is true an accurate. And I've got a book at home—I haven't read yet—it's the scientific things in the book of Job, and it's quite amazing. And you think about it: Even Solomon said that the circuits of the wind go around. Isaiah said that God sits on the circle of the earth. So all of those things are scientifically valid. Yet, what happened when Galileo said that the earth is round? The Pope made him say it's flat. And after he confessed that it is flat, he walked out and said nevertheless it's round, because you can't deny it, and it's in the Bible. But it just shows what human beings do.

Now let's come back here to Matthew 6:23: "But if your eye be evil…" Now if you want to see evil eyes, go down to the post-office and look at the FBI's most-wanted—and look at those eyes. And then look at the eyes of a young infant:

• that are bright
• that are innocent
• that their lives have not been polluted by sin
• their minds have not been flooded with wrong thoughts and wrong teachings

And you look at the two of them. So what He's talking about here is accurate. "…your whole body shall be full of darkness…. [And isn't it true that they have discovered that many of the sicknesses that people have come from what? Mental attitudes. Not all—sometimes a mental attitude comes from sickness within and affects the mind. So you can't say you can think your way to be well if you just think about it. No! If you're overcoming sickness, then you also have to have right thoughts, but you also have to put into the body the right things.] …Therefore, if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness." Now where does this evil eye come from but Satan the devil, correct?

Now let's look at something else. What is the symbol of Masonry? A triangle with an all-seeing eye. And it's also on the dollar bill. Now, God gives these things so we can easily identify what's going on. And this is why when you get around some people, you get very uneasy because not only is the eye evil. But their whole body, their whole system is negative.

Now here's the key, here's the whole key in this concerning 'give us this day our daily bread.' God is your God, not the physical things. Verse 24: "No one is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." And mammon is any physical thing that is necessary for life. It includes: food, water, money, power, prestige, all of those things—mostly money.

Now v 25: "Because of this I say to you, do not be anxious about your life as to what you shall eat and what you shall drink; nor about your body as to what you shall wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?…. [So then He gives an example here, and this all comes down to believing God and trusting in Him. Because if we believe God and we ask for it, He will provide. Now He'll provide in different ways and different means as we'll see here a little later—and we also have our part to do.] …Observe the birds of heaven: they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor do they gather into granaries; and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? But who among you, by taking careful thought… [So this has to do with all the plans of man—whatever your plan. And what is a plan? A plan is what? Careful thought, counting the cost, all of that—careful thought.] …is able to add one cubit to his stature?" (vs 25-27). That's interesting isn't it? You can't do that.

And He says over here in Matthew 5:33: "Again, you have heard that it was said to those in ancient times. 'You shall not forswear yourself, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the [Holy] city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, because you do not have the power to make one hair white or black" (vs 33-36). And these are considered the least things. Now if you can't do that by the power of thought—and of course, one of the big problems that you have on the other hand is that if you think it you can make it happen. That's not always true. Yes, you do have to have the understanding, you do have to apply yourself, as we'll see a little bit later. But you cannot make yourself different than you are aside from God's Spirit and aside from God's laws. And the whole thing is that we are to be perfected as the Father in heaven is perfect.

Now back here to Matthew 6:28: "And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe the lilies of the field… [And take a look at any flower.] …how they grow: they do not labor, nor do they spin; But I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these" (vs 28-29). So those are all object lessons for us to learn by. That's why when we see the creation of God and see the beautiful things that He has made. You know they're here. They're beautiful. They're gone!

Now Leon Ritchie lives down in the desert and he goes out after the rain especially because the flowers bloom in the desert. And he's taken some pictures and sent them to us, and they're beautiful. But by time they get to us the flower is already wilted out—by time the picture is there. So this is just showing the fleetingness of life. And how many great plans of men have gone astray because they didn't trust God? Many, many, many!

So then he says, v 30: "Now if God so arrays the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much rather clothe you, O you of little faith?…. [So if you say, 'Give us this day our daily bread,' you have to have the faith. We're also going to see you have to have the work. You have to do things.] …Therefore, [He says] do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we be clothed?' For the nations seek after all these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things" (vs 30-32). So then He gives us the perspective in everything.

Now remember that v 33 summarizes all of Matthew 5 & 6.. "But as for you, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Now you'll notice in the margin there that the force of the Greek means: seek and keep on seeking. So if it doesn't happen right away, you continue in it. If God does not provide in the way that you need immediately, keep asking.

Now let's come over here to Luke 18 and let's see that, because this is also important for us to understand concerning our relationship with God. Luke 18:1: "And He also spoke a parable to them to show that it is necessary to pray always, and not to give up… [That's important! Sometimes before things work out before they ought to work out, that you are praying that they should work out, and you're hoping that God would answer that prayer, it may even look like the exact opposite is going to happen. But then God intervenes!] …saying, 'There was in a certain city a certain judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city; and she kept coming to him, saying, "Avenge me of my adversary" (vs 1-3).

Now let me just put in here something that's important to understand. There are necessary repetitions. And there are vain repetitions. Necessary repetitions are those things that you need to pray about such as: give us daily our daily food. Necessary repetitions are those things we need to pray about until we have a clear answer from God. Those are not vain repetitions. If you pray for health and strength every day, that's needed every day—correct? Yes! So this is the case here of this woman coming, repeatedly, to show that even if someone who doesn't fear God or respect a man, keeps coming, sooner or later there's going to be the answer. Now also we need to realize this: Sometimes the answer will be 'no.' Don't expect every answer from God to be 'yes.' But if we're praying according to His will we will have more yeses than no.

Now let's go on here: "'Yet because this widow is causing me trouble, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming.' Then the Lord said, 'Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And shall not God execute vengeance for His elect… [Yes, He will. Just put in your margin there, Psa. 149, because it shows that God is going to execute vengeance. When is the final vengeance going to be executed? At the resurrection. He'll take care of our enemies. Now God has intervened in all of our lives one way or the other in very difficult circumstances, and has intervened in very powerful ways] …who cry out to Him day and night… [through prayer.] …and patiently watch over them? I tell you that He will execute vengeance for them speedily…. [Whatever is necessary.] …Nevertheless… [which reflects on our age here today] …when the Son of man comes, shall He find the true faith on the earth?'" (vs 5-8). Now that's referring to those who are in His Church. Just put in your margin there, Rev. 3:15-21, which is the Laodiceans—there's an awful lot to be said.

Let's continue on. Let's come back here and see how God provides in every circumstance. Let's come to 1-Kings 17. Now Elijah was one of most powerful prophets of God on earth. But you look at his life, and you compare that with how you live today. And you compare that with what kind of faith that he had, and yet, weakness of faith a little later on after all the prophets of Baal were killed—he ran away from Jezebel because he was afraid. So all of us have our weakness and all of us have our little doubts. And it's also true, if you read about Abraham, that not only did Sarah laugh about having a child, but also Abraham laughed in himself.

1-Kings 17—now here's Elijah—and isn't it interesting: How many men in the Church of God want to proclaim themselves to be Elijah or the power for whatever? All right, if you want to be Elijah, start out this way. Let's see how you do. Let's look at his life. 1-Kings 17:1: "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, 'As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.' And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying… [Because now he had to run for his life.] …'Get you hence, and turn you eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that you shall drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.'…. [Was God able to take care of it? Yes, He sent the ravens. So what did they do? They probably went and got the best of the fruit, the best of whatever, because God commanded them to do it. Now I don't know what kind of meat they may have brought him or not, I couldn't tell you if they did.] …So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD…" (vs 1-5).

Key thing! Whenever there's a promise of God, you go do according to the Word of God.

• You have trust
• You have faith
• You have belief
• And do according to the Word of God.

"…for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and [fish] flesh… [Oh, they brought him fish, he did have food.] …in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the Word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 'Arise, get you to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon… [now, a Gentile woman!] …and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you.'…. [Now, she didn't know that God had commanded her. But it was by the circumstances.] …So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, 'Fetch me, I pray you, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.' And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, 'Bring me, I pray you, a morsel of bread in your hand.' And she said, 'As the LORD your God lives, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse… [Now, here's the lesson: don't always look to the circumstances, because God can always change the circumstances.] …and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die'" (vs 5-12).

So she said, 'Look, this is all I've got. I've got two little sticks of wood. I'm going to go fix this up, cook it on these two sticks of wood and we're going to sit there and die.' "And Elijah said unto her, 'Fear not; go and do as you have said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for you and for you son" (v 13). Now, at first thought, this would seem kind of selfish—wouldn't it? But it wasn't, because the Word of God said what? 'I will nourish you there.' So God is going to take care of it.

He gives the explanation here, v 14: "For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, 'The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'…. [How's God going to do that? By a miracle. So sometimes it takes a miracle to intervene for God to carry out His Word for you.] …And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the Word of the LORD, which he spoke by Elijah" (vs 14-16).

And I wonder how many times that the woman would go up there and she would open up the top wherever the flour was and behold there was the same amount that was there yesterday, before she made the cakes. And she took the cruse of oil, and she picked it up her hand, she poured out the oil. And I wonder how many times she thought, 'When I come here is the flour going to be gone and is the oil going to be gone?' So when we tie that together with what Jesus said back in Matt. 6: 'Don't be anxious, don't worry about it.' There are going to be times and circumstances will look hopeless, but nevertheless, God will intervene! How He will intervene, you've got to trust Him in faith.

Now how about the children of Israel? Let's come to Psalm 78. You know what God did? We'll just summarize it, what is there in the book of Exo.: They said, 'We don't have any food to eat.' So God said, 'Okay, I'll send you bread in the morning, and I'll send you flesh at night.' Actually, the flesh came first and then the bread. What was the bread? It was manna. Bread from heaven.

Now, I've often thought about this: How impenetrable is the carnal mind? Think of this: 40 years you had manna—everyday you'd go out and pick it. Now you have to do your work. We'll talk about doing your work. God is not going to back up a grocery truck into your house everyday. And He's not going to give you the food, that all you have to do is put a funnel in your mouth and open it up. Now many people might wish that would be so, but nevertheless, here's manna every day, forty years, and the miracle of the manna remember—was what? If you kept it over during the week it would breed worms and stink. But on the sixth day you keep it over for the Sabbath, it didn't breed worms and stink and you were allowed to gather twice as much. Now also another miracle: there was an omer—or about a pint jar—of manna that God said, 'You take that and you put inside the ark with Aaron's stick that budded, and the manna and the law. So that lasted all that time until the temple was destroyed. Think of that! So that's quite a miracle.

All right, so here's what happened. Psalm 78:22: "Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation… [We'll come back and talk about trusting in God in relationship to prayer.] …Though He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven" (vs 22-24)

Makes you wonder: Whenever I read that I think of this: At the wedding feast on the Sea of Glass I wonder what the food is going to be like? And I wonder what the wine will be like? Spiritual, heavenly wine and spiritual, heavenly food for spirit beings newly resurrected. Can you believe that? That's going to be awesome! And we're going to be sitting there. I don't know what the length of the tables will be or how many tables will be there, but the angels are going to wait on us. And they're going to provide the food. I wonder what the plates will look like; and the glasses will look like? I wonder how the angels will be dressed? We'll be dressed—we'll have on our new garments. We have to have them on—don't we? Yes! And we have a new name. So we'll probably have, you know, a new name on a new stone—right? And we'll have crowns on our heads. Yes! This is going to be a royal, regal thing! So the next time you're eating your paltry little cereal, if that's all you have, think on that and what God is going to do for you! Now cereal's good, especially if you get natural whole grains and you cook it right and you eat it right, that's probably better. And I will have to say, a hundred times better than all the processed food, the dry cereal. Dry cereal is virtually worthless. It may taste good but it's virtually worthless.

Now manna—let's talk about this a little bit more. Verse 25: "Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full." Then sent them the east wind and they walked through on dry ground.

All right, let's learn a lesson, let's come back here to John, the sixth chapter. Again notice whenever we talk about the physical things, what does Christ point to? He points to the spiritual things, doesn't He? Yes! Now remember, there are three places where Christ fed the four thousand and the five thousand—it's mentioned there. But here we'll see this of the five thousand, and then we'll see the lesson that we have for us. John, the sixth chapter, is a perfect study in do not look at the circumstances because the circumstances can change, because God can change them. And all the way through the Gospels, you will see that there are many things that Jesus did to change the physical circumstances.

Now let's pick it up here in John 6:3: "Then Jesus went up into a mountain and sat there with His disciples. Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. And when Jesus lifted up His eyes and saw a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, 'How shall we buy enough loaves to feed all these?' But He said this to test him, because He knew what He was about to do…. [So sometimes circumstances come around to test us to see what we will do. And you can read circumstances in the Old Testament about that.] …Philip answered Him, 'Two hundred silver coins would not be sufficient to buy enough loaves for each of them to receive a little.' Then one of His disciples, Andrews, the brother of Simon Peter, said to Him, 'Here is a little boy who has five barley loaves and two small fish; but what are these for so many people?'…. [You try that at a baseball or football game and there's only that much food and everybody is standing in line and you feed the first person and it's gone, you're going to have a riot.] …Then Jesus said, 'Have the men sit down.' Now there was much grass in the place…" (vs 3-10).

Let me just interject here. The way that the climate was back during the days of Jesus and before into the time of the children of Israel when they first went into the land—totally different than what it is today, totally different. So they sat down on the grass. It's probably a rocky knoll today.

"…therefore, the men sat down, about five thousand in number… [So we have an impossible situation that Christ is going to make it work by changing the circumstances.] …And Jesus took the loaves; and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting; and in like manner the small fish, as much as they desired" (vs 10–11). And of course, I've often thought of this—I've mentioned it before—I wonder what it was like to be sitting there and see them continually breaking the bread and the bread not going away, and continually giving out a portion of the fish and the fish continually rejuvenating itself. So you see, the thing is this: God is able to take care of what He has promised back there in Matt. 6 because this is the important point to remember.

Now let's continue on here in John, the sixth chapter. So you know the rest of the story. They fed all of them, as much as they wanted (v 11) and then the disciples went out and they 'gathered together the fragments that are left over' so there wasn't anything left and they filled twelve baskets (v 13) with the fragments of the barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.

"Now when the men saw the miracle that Jesus had done, they said, 'Of a truth, this is the Prophet Who was to come into the world'" (v 14). Then they were going to take Jesus and make Him king. So what you're dealing with here is this: People always look to the physical thing, and Jesus is teaching us the spiritual comes first. You need to do the spiritual things and that's why prayer is so important. So when we ask, 'Give us this day our daily bread' we also need to realize that every teaching of Jesus follows along with that prayer.

Let's notice it over here a little further in John 6—they found Him (v 25)—they finally located Him because He walked across the sea and they didn't see Him go that way. So they said, v 25: "And after finding Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, 'Rabbi, when did You come here?' Jesus answered them and said, 'Truly, truly I say to you, you do not seek Me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the bread and were satisfied." So here's the lesson.

Now remember what He says, what we read, Matt. 6:33: "Seek first the kingdom of God…"—correct? Yes! Says virtually the same thing here, John 6:27: "Do not labor for the food that perishes… [Now, you've got to work…in this sense He's saying: don't make this the whole priority of your life and your work and your works endeavor, of food and physical things.] …but for the food that endures unto eternal life… [And of course, as we have mentioned, everything in the whole Bible keys around Jesus Christ and the Passover, the Sabbath and Holy Days—everything! So keep that in mind. So this is what He's emphasizing here.] …which the Son of man shall give to you; for Him has God the Father sealed. Therefore, they said to Him, 'What shall we do, in order that we ourselves may do the works of God?'" (vs 27-28).

Because everybody wants to do good things, good things, good things—right? Here we are ready for Halloween this week and they already have all the Christmas things up and now we're going to see all the good of Halloween and the good of Christmas and the giving of food. And we've got Thanksgiving thrown in there and they're always some reporter going to go down to some soup-kitchen where they're feeding four thousand, five thousand, whatever, and they give them turkey and so forth, and all the fixings. And you can see a lot of people in there that are well fed and well dressed and they're just there for the meal, they're not there because they're poor. But nevertheless, it gets spread all out. So they're doing a good work. But unless you have the first priority, which is Jesus Christ, all your good works are going to come to nothing.

Verse 29: "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God: that you believe in Him Whom He has sent'…. [You're to believe in Christ.] …Therefore, they said to Him, 'What sign will You perform, that we may see it and believe You?…. [Let's do a magic trick.] …What work will You do?…. [So then they said, 'Now look, we've read the Bible.] …Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written: "He gave them bread to eat that came down from heaven…."' [So what they're saying now, 'Jesus, what are You going to do? If God did that, then You're from God. Now what are You going to do?'] …Then Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven…. [Then He's talking about Himself.] …For the bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world'…. [So they said, 'Oh boy, this sounds great]: …Therefore they said to Him, 'Lord, give this bread to us always.' Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life…" (vs 29-35).

Unless Christ is the very focal point of everything in your life, with God the Father, all the other physical things—though you strive for them, though you work for them, though you plan for them, though you make all kinds of things for them, just like the man who had the crops, remember that? He had abundant crops. He says, 'I don't know what I'm going to do.' He says, 'I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to build greater barns, I'm going to pack it all in there, and I'm going to say, 'Hey, have your ease.' What was the message? 'You fool. Your life is required of you tonight.' So likewise, here's another lesson. Always put Christ first. God the Father and Jesus Christ first.] …'I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time" (v 35). Now, we'll save the rest of that for when we get to the Passover and so forth.

Now let's see this same principle apply in the Old Testament again. Here you see the consistency of the Bible together. Let's come to Psalm 37—let's see how similar this is to what we have been reading in the New Testament. And the reason that it is, is because the mind of God has inspired both. Now granted, in the New Testament, there are a whole lot more spiritual lessons for us to learn. But let's also understand this: The book of Psalms is the most spiritual book of the Old Testament. And this is why in many versions of just the New Testament they include the Psalms. This becomes important to do because what is one of the things that people automatically begin to do? Compare themselves with other people—correct? And isn't this the whole basis of socialism? Let's have it equal: he has, I need. I don't have, you take it from him, give it to me. And when we compare ourselves among ourselves as it says in 2-Cor. 10, we're not wise.

Let's see how we solve the problem. Don't look at what someone else has and then be jealous or be envious of that or get upset because you don't have it. If you are Christ's and you belong to God the Father, you are guaranteed eternal life. And everything else comes from that, because that's the most important thing. And also remember this: That Satan rewards those who follow him. So not everything that you see in the world that other people have are necessarily blessings. They may be rewards for following him.

So that's why it says here in Psalm 37:1: "Fret not yourself because of evildoers… [Don't worry about it.] …neither be you envious against the workers of iniquity." And what happens? You look in the world and what do you see? Exactly this: Those who are corrupt succeed. And when they're caught, you're a Democrat, it's just natural; and if you're a Republican you're a no good nothing. If you're just an average person in the world, hey, that's life. If you're a Christian you're a total hypocrite. So he says don't worry about it, don't be envious of them—you know, of their cars and homes and limousines and butlers and maids and bank accounts and gold and silver and jewels and all of this sort of thing.
"For they shall soon be cut down like the grass… [Always remember this: their day is coming, and they're being rewarded for their evil by Satan.] …and wither as the green herb…. [Here's the solution: Don't compare yourself with others. Don't look what other people have and think you need exactly that. If it's something you need, God can provide it for you, provided you have your part to do.] (And your part begins with v 3): …Trust in the LORD, and do good… [Now that's loving God, keeping His commandments, practicing the Truth, etc., etc.] …so shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed…. [An answer to the prayer: 'Give us this day our daily bread'—correct?] …Delight yourself also in the LORD… [Rather than fretting and stewing and comparing and worrying about evil people who are successful in the world.] …and he shall give you the desires of your heart" (vs 2-4).

Now think about that. That's important to understand. But your desires then, that if you delight yourself in the Lord, your desires are going to be what? According to the will of God. Now, we won't turn there, but the last couple verses in Ephesians 3 says that God is able to do exceedingly above everything that we ask or think. And that doesn't necessarily mean in this life, because we're only living this life to get to the resurrection. Isn't that correct? Because that is the true life. So always keep that in mind. So, if you 'delight in the Lord' and the desire of your heart is to be in the Kingdom of God, to be a spirit being, to live forever according to the way that God has laid out for us, God will give you that desire. Then the other things that come along in this life that you need as well.

Verse 5: "Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." God will do it. Now sometimes it will take a while to get there. But that's okay, don't worry about it. God will do it! He's promised to do it.

Now hold your place there in Psa. 37 and come to Proverbs 16, and this ties right in with it. And as we go through this, and as you study your Bible, see how the Bible internally agrees with itself over and over and over again—which is a sign of the inspiration of the Word of God. Because you count the number of men who have written different books in the Bible, do you think for any one minute that they would all agree as precisely as the Bible does—Old and New Testaments—if they all wrote it just because they wrote it themselves. No, you would have a divergence of opinion like an encyclopedia that you couldn't hardly believe or stand.

Proverbs 16:1: "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD…. [So God gives you the ability to think and pray. Now here's the thing that's important that you always seek the Kingdom of God first.] …All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes… [That's why we commit ourselves to God, so that we are not doing our will. That's why we pray, 'Your will be done and not our will be done.' But notice the contrast:] …but the LORD weighs the spirits…. [He's looking at the heart. He's looking at the spirit. And it says in another place, He tries the reigns. And it's interesting, a lot of people say, 'Well, what does God mean by that, because the Hebrew means kidneys?' Well, very simple: look at the human brain. There are two hemispheres and they look just like kidneys, don't they? So it's scientifically accurate. But that's the way people do.] …Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established" (vs 1-3). That's how you overcome carnal thinking. There it is right there.

Verse 6—You want to overcome sin? You want to overcome bad habits, whatever it is? "By mercy… [That's through forgiveness and repentance of sin.] …and Truth… [which is the Word of God] …iniquity is purged… [And replaced with the laws and commandments of God written into your heart and your mind.] …and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."

Now let's come back here to Psalm 37, showing the trust, showing the reliance on God and everything that we need to do. Psalm 37:6: "And He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light… [When will that happen? Ultimately, at the resurrection. But remember what Jesus said: 'If the light of the eye in you is good,' it's what it's talking about here.] …and your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…" (vs 6-7).

Sometimes it's very hard to be patient, especially in this society because we have 12-minute attention spans trained by television. And you think about that, you think about that! You sit down and see how you feel after about 12-minutes of study. Are you ready to get up and do something? Is your mind starting to wander? Are you ready to go to the refrigerator and get a snack, like you do when there's TV because you don't want to watch the commercial? We're all trained with 12-minute attention spans. So we need to get out of that. And things don't happen immediately.

"…wait patiently for Him… [and in the meantime] …fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger… [Because you get angry over that—right? 'God, you're not fair. Why does he have it and look at him sinning out there, and I don't have it. And I've been asking and praying for this all the time.' And if God could reach down and say, 'Listen, I've called you to eternal life. Hold on! Don't worry about it.'] …and forsake wrath: fret not yourself in any wise to do evil" (vs 6-8). Because that's what some people do. And what happened, what happened when people found out, well, you don't have keep the Holy Days; or well, you don't have to eat unleavened bread during the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Hello! What does the Feast of Unleavened Bread mean? Yes, have Easter cakes—right? Total nonsense! How many people flocked out when it was told them—a complete lie—it's okay to eat unclean foods? They ran out and they get their ham, and they get their shrimp and lobster and all this sort of thing, because the evil prosper don't go out and do evil yourself.

Remember this: God is judging you and God has called you so you can't go out and do the things that the evil in the world do and are rewarded by Satan the devil. Because your God is the true God and Christ is the Head of you, and not the god of this world. So if you go out and try and do it, you're going to fall on your face and totally fail because you're sinning against God! Whereas the wicked, they're blinded, they're cut off, they're not called to eternal life.

But remember this: v 9: "For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait… [that's patiently] …upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth."

Now come over here to v 16. Remember this, never forget this: "A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked." Never forget that. Now this can apply in many different things. Now a lot of people are impressed with cars and all this sort of thing. And if you have a new, expensive car that's the greatest thing in the world. However, remember this—and I'll never forget it—Judith Anderson told me this years ago, she said: 'I've thought about buying a new car, but then I remembered as soon as I drive it off the lot it is used! And it has lost $2,000.' And with that advice, I always buy used cars. All right, let's go on—just a little example there.

Verse 17: "For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholds the righteous. The LORD knows the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever" (vs 17-18). Because if you are always focused on what God wants and keep that in mind and purpose. That's why every prayer starts out: 'Our Father Who is heaven, Your name is Holy; Your will be done; Your Kingdom come.' That's the focus. That's why every prayer starts that way. Because God made us as human beings that we need focus, we need purpose, we need reinforcement of that, we need to continually put it in front of us.

Now, notice what else he says: "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time… [You can claim that promise. There are going to be times of evil and difficulties that are going to come upon us in this nation. How far down the road we don't know, but they are going to come. And we need God's blessing and protection in that time.] …and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied" (vs 17-19). Just like Elijah. Didn't have much—bread and oil. Enough to survive—right? Yes! So this all ties in with 'Give us this day our daily bread.'

Now drop down here to v 23: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delights in his way…. [Now, if we do the things that are pleasing in God's sight, He delights in that—doesn't He? Yes, indeed!] …Though he fall… [And it says in another place, 'A righteous man falls seven times but God raises him up.' So remember this: If you sin a sin not unto death, repent of it. If you have difficulties in doing things and they don't succeed right away, keep at it, learn from it.] …he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholds him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (vs 23-25). All tied in with 'Give us this day our daily bread.'

Now, we've got our part to do. Let's come to the book of Proverbs—we'll look at some things here concerning in the book of Proverbs. If you need a job and you say, 'Oh Lord, give me a job.' You get up off your knees, you run into the living room, you plop down in the TV chair, turn on the remote and watch TV all day long. And you're sitting there wondering, 'Well, I wonder when God is going to give me a job.' And nothing happens. So the next day you pray and you get up off your knees and you don't go out looking for work. Maybe you may not watch television, but maybe you might sit around and just kind of fret and stew and be depressed and wondering 'when is God going help me.' What's going to happen here? And you're not doing anything. God expects you do something. If you want a job, go out and look for one. Now sometimes people get all upset when they start keeping the Sabbath, they're fired! And maybe they might have a little trouble right at first. But, I've seen so many, many, many times that God removed them from that job because there were other things involved in it, such as toxic chemicals and things like this and they got another job at a lesser pay; but it was a better job because it didn't destroy their heath. Now which would you rather have? A high paying job with toxic chemicals or a lower paying job where you have peace of mind? But whatever it is.

Now let's come here to Proverbs 10:4, and let's see our part that we need to do. "He becomes poor that deals with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent makes rich." You need to get out and work. You need to get out and do. You need to get out and perform. And if you need a job, you need to make a job of getting a job.

• ask God for help
• ask God for guidance
• ask God for grace and favor

If you go in for an interview, ask God to help you and inspire you to say what is proper from your heart. And if you're on the job, I can tell you this, if you know how to count and if you know how to think, and if you know how to organize, once you get the job you're going to keep it. Because there are too many people today who don't know how to do those things. And God will bless you in it. So keep that in mind.

Verse 5: "He that gathers in summer is a wise son… [Which is: 'make hay while the sun shines' kind of thing.] …but he that sleeps in harvest is a son that causes shame." You know, that's quite a thing. If you have a harvest out there and you don't get out and get it, you think God is going to give you your bread? No, it's going to rot right on the vine!

Let's come over here to Proverbs 12:24: "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule…" So if you work hard, you do good work, you have quality work, you will be promoted. You need to also, in your work and job, continue to increase your expertise in what you are doing—whatever that needs to be. And never be satisfied with what you have done that cannot be improved—that's a key thing. Never be satisfied with what you have done, because tomorrow's another day. So don't come in tomorrow and say, 'Well, boy look what I did yesterday, I'm just gonna sit back and kind of relax a little bit.' Well, get out there and work hard. Now notice the other hand of this—this is why the Proverbs is so good. It's right and wrong, good and evil.

Here we have diligent and "…but the slothful shall be under tribute." Now v 27: "The slothful man roasts not that which he took in hunting… [Brings it home, doesn't do anything with it. Now, here's another thing]: …but the substance of a diligent man is precious." So whatever you have—much or little—don't worry about it.

Now come down here to Proverbs 13:4: "The soul of the sluggard desireth and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." That's not an excuse for being overweight. In this case it means we'll have abundance.

The Proverbs have an awful lot of things that will teach us practical day-by-day things that we need to do. Now here's another thing that happens when you're diligent. When you're diligent you plan. When you're diligent you make a way. When you're diligent you figure out your way around obstacles. Proverbs 21:5: "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness… [You will have plenty. That's a promise of God, but you have your part. This is the whole thing that we need to understand in everything we do. We all have our part. For example: If someone says, 'Oh God, help me to understand Your Word,' then you never study it. You'll never know. You have to apply yourselves. Or take that, 'Oh God, give me a job. Oh God, help me with this. Oh God, help me with that.' Unless you get out and are diligently doing it, how can God answer the prayer? It gets back to this, the same old saying: 'Ninety percent of inspiration is perspiration.' When you're working, that's when you are inspired and come up with ideas and things that you need to do.] (Now notice the rest of this Proverb): …but of every one that is hasty only to want. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death" (vs 5-6). That's self-explanatory.

Now one more Proverb 22:29—tie this in with Matt. 24:42-the end of the chapter: about the servant who is doing the will of his lord, always. "See you a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men." Now this applies to everything, not only your work, but study, prayer, everything that you do. And just put in your margin there: Remember Joseph. He was cast in prison to humble him, to prepare him for the job to save Israel and to save the ancient Near-east. And what happened? He stood before the king and the king said, 'Work.' And he gave the interpretation of the dream, and Joseph said: 'Now search out and find a man who's able and you can appoint over this business to do it.' And he said, 'I found him, you're the man.' Perfect example.

All right, let's come back to the Psalms and let's see some more Psalms in the way of trusting God. Because not only to we need to do the things that we have to do, but in it we trust God. We ask God to bless us and prosper us in the way, and if a trial comes along, we don't get thrown back for a loop and give up—we go on. If it's something that we need to learn, we learn. If it's something that we've done wrong, we change, whatever it may need to be.

Psalm 40:4: "Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust… [Now that ties right in with Matt. 6 where we started—right? Yes!] …and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies…. [Then notice the thoughts. Notice how David thought]: …Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts which are toward us: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto You: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered" (vs 4-5). So think about that in relationship to God's blessing upon you.

Let's come here to Psalm 20:4—now here's part of the way that we pray to God: "Grant you… [that is, to me] …according to your own heart, and fulfil all your counsel…. [Now, let me ask you a question: Into whose hands could you better place yourself than God? Nobody! Not your own thoughts, not your own ways, not someone else, not their schemes—or whatever. Into God's hands. And remember, there's always going to be human nature tugging there and pulling against that, so that's why you need to have the focus everyday on the goal.] (Now continuing, v 5): …We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all your petitions…. [So He will answer you.] …Now know I that the LORD saves His anointed…" (vs 4-6).

We can say that applies to David, the king, that's true. We can say that applies to Christ when He was here in the flesh, that is true. But do we have an anointing? Yes, indeed, we have an anointing of the Holy Spirit—don't we? Is God able to save you then? Of course! That's His whole purpose, able to save His anointed.

"…He will hear him from his Holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand…. [God will intervene.] …Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call" (vs 6-9). All these very inspiring Psalms, what we need to do and follow.

Let's come over here to Psalm 62—this also helps give us perspective. In all of these things we have to have the right perspective, the right outlook, the right understanding, the right focus and trusting in God. Psalm 62:5: "My soul, wait you only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." Very important. When there is a promise of God, He has put it there for you to claim. Not to appropriate it to yourself, but in this manner: 'Oh God, You have promised. Oh God, You cannot lie. Oh God, You are true. Please intervene and help and hear. Please intervene, I'm in trouble. Please intervene, I don't know what to do.' And He will! You're expecting Him to fulfill His will and His promise.

Verse 6 "He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defense; I shall not be moved…. [Remember that. If you build your house on the Rock, as Jesus said, the wind will come, the rain will come, the flood will come, but you won't fall. You may be beaten upon, you may have difficulties, but you're not going to fall.] …Trust in Him… [Whenever you're in trouble. Trust in Him in the good times. No, it says:] … Trust in him at all times; you people, pour out your heart before Him… [That is, in prayer.] …God is a refuge for us. Selah…. [Now 'Selah' means: stop and think on this.] …Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie… [Boy, you sure know that whenever they start running for political office, don't you—and the competition gets hot. It's amazing!] …to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Trust not in oppression… [Don't try and work it out yourself] …and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongs unto God…. [He'll be able to take care of you; He'll provide for you.] …Also unto you, O Lord, belongs mercy: for You render to every man according to his work" (vs 6-12).

Well, that shows what we need to do as far as 'Give us this day our daily bread.'

Old Testament Scriptures from the King James Version
New Testament Scriptures from The New Testament in Its Original Order—A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 6:11, 22
• John 1:9
• Matthew 6:23-27
• Matthew 5:33-36
• Matthew 6:28-33
• Luke 18:1-3, 5-8
• 1-Kings 17:1-16
• Psalm 78:22-25
• John 6:3-14, 25, 27-35
• Psalm 37:1-5
• Proverbs 16:1-3, 6
• Psalm 37:6-9, 16-19, 23-25
• Proverbs 10:4-5
• Proverbs 12:24, 27
• Proverbs 13:4
• Proverbs 21:5-6
• Proverbs 22:29
• Psalm 40:4-5
• Psalm 20:4-9
• Psalm 62:5-6, 8-12

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• 1-Corinthians 4
• Isaiah 66
• Psalm 149
• Revelation 4:15-21
• Exodus
• 2-Corinthians 10
• Ephesians 3
• Matthew 24:42-51

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 11-25-07
Reformatted: 12-01-09