Give Us This Day

RECAP AND INTRO

Matthew 6:5–15 NIV

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Give Us This Day our Daily Bread - this might be one of the hardest lines for us in the Lord’s prayer. Not because it is difficult, but if we are honest most of us don’t need to rely on God for our daily needs. We have a home to go to, food for our next meal, clothes to where, etc.

However, this line of the prayer reminds us—if we need reminding!—that we are needy creatures. We were created by God and he knows exactly what we need. Lodahl writes, “The fact that we must eat is a strong indication that we are not self-sufficient, self-reliant, isolated beings. We exist together in a vast, complex living system of creatures that both require and provide nourish-ment.” (See Praying with Jesus p. 57.)

This is the reality of the flesh that we live in.

Isaiah 40:6 NIV

6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

God is the creator, but is also the ultimate provider for all flesh.

In Scripture, God is acknowledged as the One who feeds all creatures, human and nonhuman.

Psalm 104:24–30 NIV

24 How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. 26 There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. 27 All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. 29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. 30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

The word “give” in our prayer indicates this complete dependence we have on God for everything. John Hamby says it this way:

“God made us with needs so that we would have to look at him to supply them. When we pray “give” we are asking for God’s help, we are putting our trust in God that he can and will supply our needs.

Friends, God created us and understands that we are but dust, knows how we are put together, and what it takes to keep us going.

Psalm 103:14 NIV

14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

God fed the Israelites in the wilderness with their daily bread of manna. In Exodus 16 we see God providing quail and manna for the people.

Exodus 16:4–5 NIV

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. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

However, they are only to collect what they need for that day, except on the day before the Sabbath they are to gather two days. God is faithfully providing, yet there are still those who tried to hoard.

We have the same problem today in our world. There are those who hoard and don’t share with others. There are also those who do the opposite. Lodahl writes, “God works in and through the daily grind of creaturely existence to bring nourishment to us humble creatures.” (p 60).

This statement points us back to Genesis 3:19, which reminds us that there are consequences that came after the fall.

Genesis 3:19 NIV

19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

God wants us to look to him in all things:

When we don’t know what to do, he is a source of wisdom.

When we feel like everything is caving in on us, he is our source of encouragement.

When we run out of energy, he is our source of strength.

When things look hopeless, he is our source of hope.

When we are stressed, he is our source of peace.

When we are irritated, God is our source of patience.

When we are overwhelmed with guilt, God is our source of salvation.

God has given us this wonderful promise that we find in:

Philippians 4:19–20 NIV

19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

God didn’t create for this to be the case, but was the result of the first man and women turning their backs on God. We were created to be in perfect communion with God the Father and he would provide everything we needed. However, do to the choice of the first man and first woman, we still live in a sinful, lost, and broken world that has the consequences that come with it. There are many things that do not make sense in our world today. Sickness, loved ones being taken by death earlier that we think they should be and so on, homelessness, and hunger. Even today, there are thousands starving to death around the world. How do we reconcile this fact with this idea of give us this day our daily bread? Does this prayer include those who are starving in this very moment?

This is where the “us” in our prayer comes in. Did you notice it doesn’t says give me my daily bread but instead says give us our daily bread? This us is Jesus reminding, or maybe straight out telling us, that we are to pray for the needs of others.

The reality is that only Jesus, the supreme revelation of God, can answer this question. Many have sought answers to some of these types of questions, but I don’t think that is something that we will ever understand in these earthly bodies.

Jesus fed a great Jewish crowd (Mark 6) and a great gentile crowd (Mark 8).

Between these two great feedings, Jesus encountered a gentile woman with a persistent yet humble request: “Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28).

Jesus fed all the hungry who came to him through the agency of his disciples.

Ergo, we as Jesus’s disciples in the world today ought to be feeding the hungry whenever and however we can.

So what do we do about this? Well, I think there is something that we can do, in our own human imperfection. We can follow the example of Jesus and give. God gives to us and we should be willing to show that same generosity toward others.

Matthew 25:34–36 NIV

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

If you remember this parable, you will remember that they are surprised by the king, for they were so busy doing, that they didn’t consider why they were doing it. It was just something they had to do.

‌When we pray for others, we are recognizing god’s sovereignty as does “our father hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come.” The selfless act of praying for others is a natural outcome.

And there is also a link to the idea of worrying. This day refers to not getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s focus on today - how can we live out this parable the way we were created to today - not tomorrow, not next week, but today.

We need to be obedient in our walk with Christ

John 15:7–8 NIV

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

We also need to think about others by serving them - praying for the needs of others and doing what we can tangibly to serve the needs of others.

Hebrews 10:24–25 NIV

24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

How we live our lives and express our relationship to jesus christ and to others, can be a shining example of the provision of the lord.

In addition to obedience, we also need to have faith that God is who he says he is and will do what he says he will do.

Hebrews 11:6 NIV

6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

We need to have faith and believe God will provide in his timing and how he sees fit, not in our time, or our way.

When we pray this prayer in seriousness, wonderful things can happen to us and we will be transformed.

‌From fear to confidence: we will learn that god will meet our daily needs.

Grumbling to gratitude: we will stop focusing on our need and be grateful to god for meeting that need.

Troubled to trusting: we will live in the realization that god will meet our daily needs and trust him to do so.

Let me remind you of a story about 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 there was no money in the home’s account. The children were all standing around waiting for their breakfasts, and Mr. Mueller said to them, “Children, you know we must be on time for school.” Then he lifted his head and prayed, “Dear father, we thank thee for what thou art going to give us to eat.”

Immediately they hears a knock on the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. “Mr. Mueller, i could not sleep last night. Somehow i felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast, and the lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2:00 a.m. And baked some fresh bread and here it is.” Mueller thanked him and gave praise to god.

What will each of us to do to serve others, in the example of Jesus himself, to provide for the needs of others as Jesus asks us to do. We are going to sing about our Good Father as we close this morning. Let’s each be in prayer and respond to what it is that God is asking of each of us this morning as we sing.

CLOSING SONG - Good Good Father

Prayer, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer

As we close, I’d like to pray this benediction over you from:

Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.