Sermon Tone Analysis

(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.