Supplication as Prayer

Matthew 6:7-13

Introduction

We are now approaching the end of our series on the ACTS model of prayer. We have seen that prayer is not just about asking for stuff but also includes adoration, confession, and thanksgiving. However, this is not the ACT model but the ACTS model and so we have to look at the final part, a word that we do not necessarily use frequently in every day conversation: supplication. The definition of supplication is “the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly.” So it is asking for something but not just a simple request. So, for example, asking a waiter for a bowl of soup is not supplication. But if you are in danger of being laid off from a job and you are the only source of income for your large family, the request you make to your employer to keep you on may be supplication. 

This word was used frequently used in previous centuries when kings and other local leaders had the final say, often in life and death, and begging for mercy was often the only option.

That is not to say that we should see God as one of these human tyrants. The point is that there is a sense of urgency in the request because the supplicant feels the depths of their need. There are prayers that we pray that would be nice if they were answered but no real big deal. There are other prayers that have much more desperation behind them. This is supplication. We are going to look at this form of prayer by looking at one of the most famous prayers: The Lord’s Prayer.

Teaching Prayer

In this passage, Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray. We could spend a lot of time just on this prayer. For example, the first part of prayer is actually a prayer of adoration. The prayer also includes a prayer of confession. The only thing it is missing is a prayer of thanksgiving. This reminds us that the ACTS model, as helpful as it is, does not have to define every single prayer that we pray. Prayer is meant to be conversational and just like we do not feel the need to include every type of conversation in one conversation, each prayer may include one or some or all of the elements of prayer.

However, the part that I would like to focus on is the supplication. Give us this day our daily bread. Is this a true supplication or is this simply a request? I really enjoy freshly baked bread. It is delicious. But I do not have it every day, nor do I even have store bought bread every day, and yet this does not bring me to a place of despair. So how is asking for bread a supplication?

I suppose we should ask why Jesus included bread in this prayer in the first place. Bread can be taken literally here but it can also be a symbol for a larger category. For some people in that time and place, bread might be the main part of their diet. We should not imagine anyone other than the rich having a well balanced diet. So for some people, praying that they would have bread to eat each day would be a very real and literal prayer. But bread can also stand in for other types of food. When they pray for their daily bread, they actually mean that they hope that they will have all of the food and drink that they need for their family for that day. And remember that there was no guarantee that they would get this. There were no government subsidies if things went wrong and the family ran out of money, But there is another way to understand bread. Bread can represent all those things that you need. I do not mean things you want but could live without. There are many things that might fall into the bread category, including health, relationships, inner healing, and so on.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus says “I am the Bread of Life.” His listeners try to figure out what that means but Jesus was using bread in its widest meaning of that which people need most.

One of the things that we should notice is that the prayer for bread is daily bread. This might make us feel uncomfortable. We do not want to live day to day. We want to have security and reserves, well into the future. This is not Jesus saying that we should only keep one day’s worth of food in our home at a time and then hope more food will appear the next day. What it is doing is reminding that we are to rely on God daily. Not just for our physical needs but for every area of our life. A lot of anxiety gets aimed at things that have not happened yet. I appreciate how AA looks at sobriety. They do not begin with the question of how to remain sober for the rest of their life, they begin with a focus on staying sober today. One day at a time.

Jesus makes it clear here that we can pray for our own needs and not just for the needs of others. Many Christians have told me that this feels selfish and yet here this is what Jesus teaches. We are to pray for our daily bread, to pray especially for the things we absolutely need, to pray in supplication.

My Experience of Supplication

This topic is very important to me, not because I regularly find myself in challenging situations, but because this kind of prayer was central to my return to faith. I would like to share my story.

I have mentioned previously that I was raised going to church, became an atheist in my teens, returned to belief in God during university, and began following Jesus a few years after that. But something happened that helped move me from being a generic theist to a follower of Jesus.

During my first few years in university, I was a heavy drinker. Around that same time, I had encountered some Christians who had tried to convert me. I thought some of the things they said were strange and so I started reading the Bible to prove them wrong. Seeing what the Bible said about drunkenness, I decided it was time to make some changes even if I was not quite ready to identify as a Christian. This was the situation I was in during one spring time in the early 1990s. Me and a friend were going to Mexico for a vacation and I informed him that I was cutting my drinking. He was skeptical and for good reason as our first night there, I became incredibly drunk. Three bad things happened. I had my wallet stolen with lots of money and all of my identification, was kicked out of the bar without my friend knowing, and I found myself picked up by the police and placed in jail. A Mexican jail. Not having the money to pay the fine and being denied a phone call, I was in a desperate situation. If ever there was a need to supplicate, it was then. I prayed a simple but desperate prayer: “Dear God, get me out of jail. In Jesus’ name.” This was a silent prayer and yet soon after, one of the other people in the cell offered to pay my fine and get me out. In the moment, all I felt was gratitude for the release.

Returning to Canada, I began to think more about what happened. Aside from taking a firm stand on my abuse of alcohol, I thought about the consequences of that prayer. Despite going against what I knew to be the right way, God heard my prayer and delivered me from my own foolishness. God met me in my desperation. This pushed me to go all the way and become an actual follower of Jesus.

I have been in numerous desperate situations since then, not all of them my fault. I will not claim that every prayer I have prayed was answered the way I asked. But I could share numerous examples of how God did answer my prayers in some amazing ways. God has given me my daily bread. Sometimes at the last minute, but God has provided.

My encouragement to you is that you call out to God. You can pray for all the little things like getting that parking spot and that we would sing your favourite hymn. But really go to God in prayer for the things that are most important to you. What are the things that you need more than to request, that you need to supplicate? It is not selfish to pray for these things, even if the desperate situation is specifically about you. Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread. Our daily bread can be all sorts of things and in the end can look like something very different than you expected.

Conclusion

I want you to think about prayer. Prayer is so much much more than just saying grace or opening a church meeting with some nice words. The ACTS model helps us to see the wider picture of prayer. Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. This model is not meant to be strict. You can pray in a different order or only include some of these parts of the prayer. The point is that prayer is much more than just reading off a list of requests. Yes, we do ask God for help, especially our daily bread, whatever that might be. But we should include plenty of adoration and confession and thanksgiving as well. This is not to try and impress God as a way to more likely get what we want. It is about deepening our relationship with God, something that has a direct benefit for us.