Matt 6:11 Give Us Our Daily Bread
Finally, we come to the part in the Lord’s Prayer that talks about us –
· The next 3 concerns are all about SELF - Give us... Forgive us... Lead us...
o Provision - “Give us today our daily bread…” - provision takes care of our present.
Pardon – “Forgive our trespasses…” - pardon takes care of our past.
Protection - “Lead us not into temptation…” - protection takes care of our future
· If you start off the prayer with this line, “Give us this day our daily bread!”, it would seem demanding and rude.
· The prayer that Jesus taught us – I believe is the same way that He approaches God – is to be concerned about God’s concerns – His Name, His Kingdom, His will to be done.
· We are FIRST to pray to God, about the things that he most concerned about (his name…). AND – only after that are we ready to pray for others and ourselves…
· By the time we talk about our stomach, the priority would have been set right; we would have thought about His desires and works
God indeed gives daily bread to all men, even to the wicked, without our prayer
· We pray this line ACKNOWLEDGING that even our daily bread is His PROVISION, His GIFT. He is our Master Provider. He is Jehovah-Jireh.
· When Jesus uses the word "bread", he is referring to everything we need for our earthly existence.
· He cares about even our smallest daily needs. The One who clothes you with righteousness (spiritually), clothes you with cloth too. The One who provides food for your soul (His Word), will give food for your body too. Your salvation and your evening meal, comes from the SAME HAND.
Max Lucado describes it this way – God has a great KITCHEN – a BIG kitchen…
· Every one of us needs a kitchen, that’s where my basic needs are met.
· A garage may be optional. A dining hall may be negotiable. A study room is a bonus. But a kitchen? Absolutely essential.
· He is not a spiritual guru who cares only about spiritual stuff – Jesus demonstrated that in His ministry – He cares for those without food, who are sick and lame, the widows...
· Martin Luther wrote in 1529:
“What does daily bread mean? Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money, possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees, devout and faithful rulers, good government, peace, health, discipline, honor, good fiends, faithful neighbors and other things like these…”
We need to be conscious of how utterly dependent we are on our Father to provide for our daily physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs.
But - "Does God really provide all of this?"
· PEOPLE OF ISRAEL - When Israel was freed from the bondage of Egypt, they were faced with a dilemma.
o How would thousands of people be able to sustain themselves long enough to cross a huge desert? Humanly, it wasn’t possible.
o But what happened? Were they forced to return to slavery in Egypt? No. Exodus 16:4:
"Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions’" (Exodus 16:4).
o Someone did a calculation - the ground cover each morning by the manna was equal to abt 266 football fields.
· They wandered for 40 years in the desert - over 2 millions people. God provided them manna and water. Imagine!
o Exo 16:35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
o God will provide until you do not need it anymore.
o Deut 8:4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
They find strength physically (health) - travelled on foot in desert & yet feet did not swell.
o Deut 29:5 During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.
· PROPHET ELIJAH - when running from King Ahab
1 Kings 17:4-9 4You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there." 5So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9"Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food."
· DAVID says in Psalm 37:25 "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."
· If God cares so much for us and delights Himself in fulfilling our needs, then why are we so reluctant to trust in Him? Why do we cheat on our taxes, steal, or rely on human means to survive?
· Before sin entered our world, Adam and Eve were completely dependent on God, and God delighted in providing for them.
o But then sin entered the world, things changed.
o God didn’t change - God still delights in providing for our needs.
o But we changed. We became self-sufficient, self-reliant, and complacent.
· We need to continue depending on God. We need to believe He will fulfill our needs because He cares for us.
· You are urged to talk to God about the necessities of life.
GOING TO THE UNIVERSITY
A young man got into the university, and then learns the cost of tuition fees. He runs back to his father and pleads, "I’m sorry to ask so much, dad, but I have nowhere else to go. I want to go to the University and I don’t have the money."
The father puts his arms around the son and smiles, saying, "Don’t worry, son. The day you were born I began saving for your education. I’ve already provided for your tuition fees."
The boy made the request only to find the father had already met it.
You prayed only to find out that your heavenly Father had already prepared what you need.
Through this PRAYER, we are transformed…
1. FROM FEAR TO CONFIDENCE…
o Do you feel confident in approaching God with your daily needs? Do you think he really cares about what you are going through and struggling with?
o Matt 7:9-11 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
2. FROM GRUMBLING TO GRATITUDE
o The Israelites had many great experiences of God’s provision in the desert, yet they were grumbling against God, at the smallest inconveniences or lack. It is so easy for us (like the Israelites) to forget all the ways & times, that God has taken care of us, isn’t it?
o The word ‘give’ in “Give us this day our daily bread” - teaches us that everything we have comes from God.
o James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows…”
o Israelites were told to remember His provision - Moses was instructed to keep an omer (~3.5 litres) of manna in the ark of covenant.
Exo 16:32 Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: ’Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’"
o YOU – only have this house, car, job, ability... because God gave it to you….
o AND - David said the following –
1 Chron 29:14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand”
And in Psalm 145:16 “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing…”
3. FROM TROUBLED TO TRUSTING
o He will provide - every day...
o Manna - Israelites have to trust God to provide every morning. They can’t collect more and keep for days to come.
o We want to have more, so we can be prepared. God wants us to TRUST Him. A DAILY trust.
o Jesus says (Matt 6:34): Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matt 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Matt 6:32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
GEORGE MUELLER’S ORPHANAGE
Things looked bleak for the children in George Mueller’s orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast and there was no food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Mueller was visiting in the home. Mueller took her hand and said, "Come and see what our Father will do."
In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but also there was no money in the home’s account. The children were all standing around waiting for their breakfasts, and Mr. Muller said to them, "Children, you know we must be in time for school." He then lifted his head and prayed, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat."
Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller, I could not sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have any bread for breakfast, and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2:00am and baked some fresh bread and here it is." Mueller thanked him and gave praise to God.
Moments later there was a second knock at the door. It was the local milkman whose milk wagon had just broken down in front of Muller’s orphanage. He offered all his milk to Muller and the orphans so he could have his wagon hauled to the nearest repair shop. [Colin Whittaker, Seven Guides to Effective Prayer, S.v. "George Muller" (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1987), p33.]
4. FROM SELFISHNESS TO SELFLESSNESS
o NOTICE – that Jesus does tell us to pray – “Father give me my daily bread…” BUT – rather “Give us our daily bread… NOW - that’s a completely different prayer.
o Every time you pray this prayer you are not only invited and encouraged, but you are commanded to pray with and for your brothers and sisters in Christ…
o AND IF – we only pray for our own needs with no thought to the needs of others we are most definitely not praying like Jesus…
o What’s the character of God? In the words of Jesus (Matt 25:34-36) – for the hungry and you give them something to eat, thirsty, something to drink; a stranger and you invited him in; needed clothes and you clothed him; sick and you looked after him, in prison and you came to visit – that is the very character of God. He is such a God.
o Do you know of anyone in this church who has a need for some bread, someone who has a physical, emotional, relational or spiritual need…?
o DO you pray for those needs? How often? As often as you pray for your own?
o AGAIN - if our first response in prayer is to pray for us and only us – we have missed the whole point of prayer according to Jesus…
Conclusion
GOD KNOWS AND IS ABLE TO MEET YOUR NEEDS
· In life, sometimes we KNOW the needs but UNABLE to meet them.
· We know a God who is AWARE of our needs and is ABLE TO MEET our needs.
· It is NOT really about – bread – the gifts from God. It is about the Giver. We need Him.
· We need the “Bread of life”. We need to DEPEND on Him DAILY for survival.
· We need to PRAY.
· When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness:
· Luke 4:3-4 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone.’"
“Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.” … Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones.
Close with the story of the servant sent by Mary and Martha to Jesus: (p.195 Experiencing the Heart of Jesus, Max Lucado)
THE ONE WHO PRAYS
I’d like you to think about someone. His name is not important. His looks are immaterial. His gender is of no concern. His title is irrelevant. He is important not because of who he is, but because of what he did.
He went to Jesus on behalf of a friend. His friend was sick, and Jesus could help, and someone needed to go to Jesus, so someone went. Others cared for the sick man in other ways. Some brought food, others provided treatment, and still others comforted the family. Each role was crucial. Each person was helpful, but none was more vital than the one who went to Jesus.
He went because he was asked to go. An earnest appeal came from the family of the afflicted. "We need someone who will tell Jesus that my brother is sick. We need someone to ask him to come. Will you go?"
The question came from two sisters. They would have gone themselves, but they couldn’t leave their brother’s bedside. They needed someone else to go for them. Not just anyone, mind you, for not just anyone could. Some were too busy; others didn’t know the way. Some fatigued too quickly, others were inexperienced on the path. Not everyone could go.
And not everyone would go. This was no small request the sisters were making. They needed a diligent ambassador, someone who knew how to find Jesus, someone who wouldn’t quit halfway. Someone who would make sure the message was delivered. Someone who was as convinced as they were, that Jesus must know what had happened.
They knew of a trustworthy person, and to that person they went. They entrusted their needs to someone, and that someone took those needs to Christ.
"So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick" (John 11:3).
Someone carried the request. Someone walked the trail. Someone went to Jesus on behalf of Lazarus. On behalf of Mary and Martha. And because someone went, Jesus responded.
· When the request was made, Jesus answered straight away: John 11:4
o When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it."
· Even though man would only see the miracle after 4 more days, it was already decided in heaven.
o The answer has already been granted. The timer was set when the appeal was made.
o All that was needed was the passage of time.
DO YOU WANT TO BE THAT SOMEONE?
· Why not? We have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
· If we have a God who HEARS and RESPOND to prayers, why not? We’ll LOSE out if we don’t.
