Let’s open our Bibles together to Matthew chapter 6. Today is our last message in the sermon series “Developing a Thankful Heart”. God commands His children in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, ““In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” God’s will in every circumstance is that we praise and thank Him. Thanking God glorifies and magnifies Him, but doing this also benefits us. Giving thanks to God helps us to become unselfish and confident. Although gratitude is always beneficial, it is not always easy. Jesus knows this, and that is why he gives his followers the specific lessons in the passage that is often called the Lord’s Prayer. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus provides principles that should motivate us to be thankful in all circumstances.
Today we will examine the sixth principle
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Look at Matthew 6:13. Jesus tells His disciples to pray: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” The underlying principle in this last petition is this: God will provide the necessary guidance to lead us to victory when Satan tempts us. The petition, ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’ emphasizes that God wants His people to be spared from the misery of unnecessary pitfalls. This is the essential reason for this petition. The apostle Paul develops this idea with two illustrations in his first letter to the Corinthians. Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 10. In 1 Corinthian 9, Paul uses himself as an example of a mature Christian who disciplines himself to better serve God. In chapter 10, Paul uses Israel as an example of spiritual immaturity, shown in