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The Scriptorium

Prayer: Supplication and Intercession

Now we're ready to bring our requests to the Lord. Matthew 6.11, 12

Matthew 6: The Sermon on the Mount: Inner Life (4)

Pray Psalm 40.11-13.
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD;
Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
Therefore my heart fails me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
O LORD, make haste to help me!

Sing Psalm 40.11-13.
(Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
Keep Your mercy not from me; let Your love and truth prevail.
Evil and iniquity make my trembling heart to fail.
Lord, be pleased to rescue me! Let my shelter with You be.

Read
Matthew 6.1-12; meditate on verses 11 and 12.

Prepare.
1. What does “our daily bread” represent?

2. What are our “debts”, and what must we seek concerning them?

Meditate.
Jesus’ template for prayer begins with a clear focus on God the Father, exalted in glory, reigning in light, with Jesus at His right hand to intercede for us. Begin your prayers by setting your mind on the things that are above, where Christ is seated in heavenly places (Col. 3.1-3). Let the beauty of the Lord, the majesty of His glory (Ps. 93), and the sense of His great power and love (Ps. 110) draw you to Him, like the elders and tribal heads of Israel were drawn to the glory of God on Mt. Sinai (Deut. 5.23).

In that setting, commit yourself to God’s Kingdom and will, for in so doing you embrace His glory, tap into His power, and prepare your soul for the rest of your prayer, and for the day ahead.

With Christ in focus and His will our aim, we’re now ready to begin asking for things. As we turn to supplication and intercession (v. 11), we must always remember the promise of Psalm 37.4: “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” What will the desires of our heart be, when we are delighting in the Lord Jesus Christ? They will be for more of Him and His Kingdom and righteousness, of course! Thus our prayers for daily provision and for the forgiveness of our sins will be received in and answered toward the fuller realization of Christ’s Kingdom and glory in every aspect of our daily calling (1 Thess. 2.12).

All our “daily bread” – all our material provisions, first of all – is from the Lord. We must not be so foolish as to think that by the work of our own hands we provide for our needs. God expects us to work, so that we will be able to care for ourselves and those entrusted to us. But He is the ultimate Giver of every good and perfect gift (Jms. 1.17); thus we seek for each day the provision we need to serve the Lord and further His Kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven.

But we must also remember that Jesus is the Bread of life (Jn. 5.35), and we need Him as our daily Bread every day, all day long. Our daily bread includes all the spiritual fortifying we will need for the work ahead of us each day.

Linger over the need to confess your sins in prayer (v. 12). Our sins are often hidden from our immediate sight. We must wait in silence for the Spirit to search us, convict us where needed, and lead us into repentance (Ps. 139.23, 24; Jn. 16.8-11). Don’t rush past this part of your prayer by mouthing some trite request for forgiveness. Name your sins. Hate them, and repent of them. Seek the Lord for a new course of life, one that leads in the paths of righteousness, for His Name’s sake (Ps. 23.3).

Keep focused on Christ as you pray, and in each successive stage of your prayers, you will sense yourself being drawn closer to Him.

Reflect.
1. How can you make sure to keep your focus on Christ and His Kingdom as you pray?

2. Why do we need to request our daily bread every day?

3. Why is confession of sin an ongoing necessity?

“Daily bread” may be understood both spiritually and simply, because both meanings help us to understand salvation. For Christ is the bread of life; and this bread is not the bread of all, but it is our bread. And as we say “our Father,” because he is the father of those who understand and believe, so too we say “our bread,” because Christ is the bread of us who touch his body.
Cyprian (fl. 248-258), Treatises, On the Lord’s Prayer 18.

Feed me with Your Bread today, O Lord, and cleanse me of all my sins, so that as I go forth from here, I will…

Pray Psalm 40.1-10.
Praise the Lord for His many wonderful works, and commit yourself this day as a living sacrifice, delighting to know and do His will, and to proclaim His righteousness in your Personal Mission Field.

Sing Psalm 40.1-10.
Psalm 40.1-10 (Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
I waited patiently for God; He inclined and heard my cry,
lifted me up above the sod, set me on a Rock on high!
New songs in my mouth He gave; may He through me many save.

Blessed are all who trust in You, turning both from lies and pride.
Countless wonders, Lord, You do, and Your thoughts with us abide.
Lord, Your worth who can declare? None with You can e’er compare.

Off’rings You do not require – open now my ears, O Lord.
What from me do You desire? Firm delight to do Your Word.
Take my life in ev’ry part; write Your Law upon my heart.

Lord, Your truth will I proclaim to Your people gathered ‘round,
nor will I my lips restrain – let Your precious ways resound!
Of Your saving grace and Word I would speak, most loving Lord.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from
The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
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