2/12/2023 - Daily

(Opening Prayer)

Matthew 6:9b–13 (ESV)

9b ...“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 this day 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 evil.

(Sermon Introduction)

Today we continue our “Teach Us To Pray” Series, focusing on the Lord’s Prayer as recorded in Matthew 6.

We want to take an expository look at the most famous prayer ever recorded.

To begin today I have entitled the sermon, “Daily.”

(Lord’s Prayer Context)

Matthew records what is commonly referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer,” here in Matthew 6.

Truthfully, this prayer should be called, “The Disciple’s Prayer” as it really flows from the disciples lips to the Lord.

We call it “The Lord’s Prayer” because the Lord Jesus gave it to them.

It is also important to note that this style of prayer was actually quite common in Jewish circles of the day.

What is unique however is the interpretation and teaching that Jesus shares with it.

Matthew 6 is not the only place we see this prayer recorded.

It is also recorded in Luke 11.

We understand that these times were most likely not the only times that Jesus taught these things to the people and to His disciples.

(Gospel of Matthew Context)

We know that the focus of Matthew’s gospel is the teachings of Jesus.

His focus was not on the chronological nature of Jesus’ ministry.

But having started with what we refer to as “The Beatitudes,” in Matthew 5, Jesus takes the people on a journey of discovering what a true disciple looks like.

At one point, Jesus’ Disciples asked Jesus, “Teach Us To Pray,” to which Jesus responds with a phrase: “Pray like this.”

Jesus then begins to recite what has become the most famous prayer ever spoken.

We have already preached concerning:

“...When You Pray…Pray like this:” (Mt. 6:5-8)

“...Our Father in heaven...” (Mt. 6:9b)

“...Hallowed Be Your Name...” (Mt. 6:9c)

“Your Kingdom come...” (Mt. 6:10a)

“Your Will Be Done” (Mt. 6:10b)

“On Earth As It Is In Heaven” (Mt. 6:10c)

Today we are focusing on:

“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” (Mt. 6:11)

(Sermon Tension)

This statement fosters some questions:

What does “Our Daily Bread” mean?

Why should we pray, “Give us?”

Who is “us” referring to?

Why only “this day?”

Why is “bread” a prayer point?

Why is this important?

What does it have to do with prayer?

We won’t be able to address all of these questions today but I believe we will address some of them.

Having focused on God’s name, kingdom, and will, the Lord’s Prayer turns attention to our meals.

Is this a letdown?

Not at all: it is a genuine progression.

How so?

Those who truly pray the first three petitions thereby commit themselves to live wholly for God, and the natural and logical next request is for food to give them energy for this.

We in fact, depend every moment on our Father-Creator to keep us and the rest of the universe in being.

God really is concerned that his servants should have the food they need, as Jesus’ feedings of the 4,000 and 5,000 show.

God cares about physical needs no less than spiritual; to him, the basic category is that of human needs, comprising both.

But in many ways it is not ONLY for physical things but also for what we need in every aspect of our being.

Some regard petitions for personal material needs as low-grade prayer, as if God were not interested in the physical side of life and we should not be either.

But such hyper-spirituality is really an unspiritual ego trip; Paul speaks of this in Colossians 2:23.

He warns that man-made asceticism does not stop indulgence of the flesh (i.e., the sinful self).

The Bible opposes all long-faced asceticism by saying that if you enjoy health, good appetite, physical agility, and marriage in the sense that you have been given them, you should enjoy them in the further sense of delighting in them.

Such delight is (not the whole, but) part of our duty and our service of God, for without it we are being simply ungrateful for good gifts.

As Screwtape said (with disgust) in C. S. Lewis’ work The Screwtape Letters, “God values pleasure, and it is his pleasure to give pleasure.”

God desires that we delight in what He has made and given to us.

However, He calls us to do so His way.

Petitions looking to God as the sole and omni-competent source of supply of all human needs, down to the most mundane, are expressing truth, and as the denying of our own self-sufficiency humbles us, so the acknowledging of our dependence honors God.

Neither our minds nor our hearts are right till we see that it is as necessary and important to pray for daily bread as for the forgiveness of sins.

Notice what we are told to pray:

Matthew 6:11 (ESV)

11 Give us this day our daily bread

There is intercession for other Christians here as well as a petition for oneself.

"Bread,” man’s staple diet in both the ancient and the modern worlds, stands here for all of life’s necessities and the means of supplying them.

Praying the Lord’s Prayer (J. I. Packer)

Thus, “bread” covers all food; so the prayer is for farmers and against famine.

Again, the prayer covers clothing, shelter, and physical health; so the prayer becomes an intercession for social and medical services.

Or again, the prayer covers money and power to earn, and so becomes a cry against poverty, unemployment, and national policies that produce or prolong both.

Martin Luther wished that rulers put loaves rather than lions in their coats of arms, to remind themselves that their people’s welfare must come first, and he urged that it is under this clause of the Lord’s Prayer that prayer for those in authority most properly comes.

Prayers are not meant to be selfish in nature but humble, honest, and selfless.

In the western world we don’t understand this.

We understand the world through an ultra-individualistic viewpoint.

Every decision, every dollar, is focused on what benefits us.

But there is a truth that Jesus reveals in this prayer that guides us as followers of Christ:

1. We Are Called to Trust — Communally

Matthew 6:11 (ESV)

11 Give us this day our daily bread

We see in this prayer that there is to be a communal aspect to our prayers.

All around the world the community is seen as the place individuals find their place in the world.

The church is the greatest community and we are called by God to take part in this community that He calls His own.

This aspect would become a part of how the church would be known to the world looking in.

Acts 2:42–47 (ESV)

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Jesus expected His followers to lean on one another, pray together, and trust God together.

2. We Are Called to Trust — Constantly

Matthew 6:11 (ESV)

11 Give us this day our daily bread

The more we have the harder it is to trust God.

This brings to my mind what Jesus would go on to say shortly after the Lord’s Prayer:

Matthew 6:25–34 (ESV)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,

29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Jesus knows exactly what happens to us.

He knows the allure and enticement of anxiety and worry.

Humans can become such worrisome people.

Often Jesus encouraged His followers to trust Him.

The Bible is filled with stories and commands about how we are to respond to the anxieties and worries of life.

Well-meaning Christians will often respond quickly to these commands and say, “I am not worried, I just want to be prepared!”

“Wisdom” is the reason most Christians give as an excuse to not trust God the way He desires of us.

Now don’t get me wrong I am not advocating that we be foolish with what the Lord has entrusted to us.

I am not saying that we are not to be good stewards.

What I am saying is that part of being a good steward of His accounts is to be sure we are doing it His way and not that we have money in the bank.

Being good godly stewards involves us trusting God and following His way.

It is better to live day by day and trust the Lord for each bite than it is to have more than enough and need Him not!

Often the blessings of God can become a curse to us when we forget the reason for the blessing and the One Who gave it to us.

If the enemy can get us to forget the purpose and the person of the blessings, He can lead us away into “the love of money which is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).

But why day by day and not week by week?

It would easier after all and doesn’t our Father in heaven want it to be easier?

George Muller (1805-1898)

George Müller was a pastor, missionary, and philanthropist. He spent many decades dedicated to pastoral and evangelical ministry.

Müller pastored Ebenezer Chapel in Devon, England; he also founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad.

Müller is most known for the orphanage that he started in Bristol in 1836.

He writes about it in his book Answers to Prayer:

Introduction

Whether it was for more property, for the fixing of a boiler, for managing an outbreak of the measles, for the conversion and spiritual growth of the orphans, or for daily bread, I never sent specific details to donors; I prayed, consistently, agonizingly, sincerely, and faithfully.

Chapter 3

It has for months appeared to me, as if the Lord meant, by His dealings with us, to bring us back to that state of things, in which we were for more than ten years, from August, 1838, to April, 1849, when we had day by day, almost without interruption, to look to Him for our daily supplies, and, for a great part of the time, from meal to meal.

George Müller is considered by many in Christian circles to be a faith hero.

The truth is, Jesus is calling each one of us to trust Him with the same resolve.

He may not be calling us to exactly what George went through or to even do exactly what he did.

However, He is calling us to trust Him for each moment.

Just like He desired the Israelites to trust Him in the desert.

Exodus 16:2–7 (ESV)

2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,

3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?”

We are led to believe throughout Scripture and told plainly in the words of Jesus that all that the Lord provided for them in the wilderness was meant to lead them to Christ.

3. We Are Called to Trust — Christ

Matthew 6:11 (ESV)

11 Give us this day our daily bread

We could rightly say “give us this day (each day) the bread we need.” We are told to ask for bread, as the Israelites were told to gather manna, on a day-to-day basis: those who follow Christ are to live in constant dependence on God, day by day.

Also, we are to ask for the bread we need; i.e., for the supply of necessities, not luxuries we can do without.

This petition does not sanctify greed!

It echoes the attitude and words of the Apostle Paul when he said:

Philippians 4:11–13 (ESV)

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Moreover, we must as we pray be prepared to have God show us, by his providential response of not giving what we sought, that we did not really need it after all.

Now comes the real test of faith.

Have you prayed for the bread for today?

Will you now believe that what comes to you, much or little, is God’s answer, according to the promise of Matthew 6:33?

And will you on that basis be content with it, and grateful for it?

John 6:31–41 (ESV)

31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

Are we content to have Christ and what He gives?

(Response)

(Invite Worship Team)

(Closing Tension)

I believe Christians can have grumbling hearts as a result of missing this piece...

Every need met by our Lord is a gift and a proof of His love and care for us.

But like selfish children we can respond with, “is that it?”

If we are not careful we can become entitled and ungrateful just as the Israelites did.

They were…free!

They falsely believed that they were better off in slavery!

Jesus sets us free from sin and sets us apart as His children to trust Him.

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus

Just to take Him at His Word

Just to rest upon His promise

Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him

How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus

Oh, for grace to trust Him more

Daily:

We Are Called to Trust — Communally.

We Are Called to Trust — Constantly.

We Are Called to Trust — Christ.

Give Us...We are called to trust Him together.

This Day Our Daily...We are called to trust Him constantly, day by day.

Bread...We are called to be satisfied and content in Him.

(Response Card)

1. Would you like to become a believer in Jesus Christ? (Yes/No/Already Am)

2. How are you trusting today? (Blank Lines)

3. How are you going to trust Him more? (Blank Lines)

4. How are you praying “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” today? (Blank Lines)

(Closing)