Our Daily Bread

Introduction

Story of Martin Luther’s friends finding a scribbled note in his coat pocket that said “We are beggars, that is true.”

This is our human condition. . . we are all needy creatures reliant on someone outside of ourselves to go on living. . . we are all like beggars whose only hope for food and shelter is the compassion of Another.

But do we honestly feel like that today?

Unfortunately we don’t think we are beggars because we have bought the lie from satan that we are “good” . . . that we are “self-sufficient,” “independent” and don’t need anyone’s help.

Our sinful pride has blinded us to see our constant need for God and that we truly need him for every second of every day of our existence.

This is the lesson that Jesus wants to teach us in the school of prayer tonight. . . that instead of wealthy princes, we are actually poor helpless paupers who need to cry out to God every moment for our daily bread.

But the wonderful promise is that when we realize our need and cry out to God daily, we will see the goodness of our gracious Father in that he has the power to provide for our needs and satisfy our souls.

In verse 11, which is the fourth petition in the prayer, Jesus shifts from praying for God’s glory to instructing us to pray for the good things we need each day.

Again though, let us not forget that before we ask for our needs, we must ask for God’s glory to come through his name, his kingdom, and his will.

It might seem odd for Jesus to go from teaching us to pray about God’s name, kingdom, and will to then something that seems so “unspiritual” such as food, but, if you think about it, this is actually a natural progression. . . for if we are going to serve the Lord faithfully and live out all the things we just prayed about his name, kingdom, and will. . . then we will need the food for the day to give us the strength to accomplish these tasks.

In short, praying Matthew 6:11 is saying “O, Lord, give us the strength and life we need that we may honor your name, that we may live for your kingdom, that we may obey your will.”

So, in Matthew 6:11, Jesus instructs us to say:

Matthew 6:11 ESV

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

In our time tonight, I want to walk through each one of these words in the petition so that we can be reminded three truths:

The goodness of our gracious Father

Our constant need for him,

And his powerful provision to provide for our needs.

Give Us

When we ask God to give us the things we need, we are assuming and implying three things about his character and nature.

He is Good and Gracious

James 1:17 ESV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Heidelberg Catechism: “Give us this day our daily bread” means: Provide for all our physical needs so that we may recognize that you are the only source of everything good, and that neither our care and work nor your gifts can do us any good without your blessing. Therefore may we withdraw our trust from all creatures and place it in you alone.”

Matthew 7:7–11 ESV

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

He is Able/All-Powerful

Psalm 104. . . God provides for the earth, the mountains, the plants, the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and all people on the earth. . . and all of creation looks to him!

When we ask God to give us what we need, we are signifying that he is our only hope and the only one who can help us and provide for us. . . thus, we are renouncing our trust in all other people or things.

He Love Us

It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom! (Luke 12:32)

Asking “give” is a way to honor the giver because it indicates we believe he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and has the power and ability to help us.

Notice Jesus says Give us. . . Once more, this prayer is a communal activity. . . but also, by using the pronoun “us,” Jesus teaches us that we should not only pray for our needs, but we should also intercede for the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We should pray God would provide for us so that we can be a blessing and provide for others.

Our Daily Bread

By using the words “day” and “daily” Jesus reminds us that we need to rely upon God for our needs. . . not just for the future or every now and again. . . but every day. . . moment by moment.

It is like Graysen and Emersyn. . . they have to ask us for everything they need because they cannot take care of themselves. . . we are the same way. . . for we are God’s children and must depend on our heavenly Father for our every need.

Notice that Jesus uses the word “bread,” which would communicate the basic needs that would preserve and allow life to flourish. . . (he doesn’t say cake!)

So, asking for one’s daily bread would not only mean food, but also include clothing, shelter, physical, health, social and medical services, money and the ability to earn a good living.

By Jesus commanding us to ask the Father for our daily needs, it demonstrates that Jesus cares about both our spiritual and physical needs.

This means that our physical bodies matter and are important to God. We are both body and spirit being made in God’s image.

If God cares for our physical needs, then we should take care of our physical bodies.

Also, if we are going to imitate Christ in serving others, then we should help care for people’s spiritual and physical needs as well.

By honoring and caring for our body, we honor our maker and communicate the goodness and sacredness of his physical creation.

So we ask God for our spiritual, physical, and emotional needs, not our wants. . . but look again that Jesus emphasizes the word “day or daily” twice. Why does he do this?

I believe that when Jesus taught the disciples to depend upon God every day for their needs, it is likely he was reminding them of the example of the manna God sent from heaven in Exodus 16.

After God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, he graciously provided them with bread from heaven while they were in the wilderness on their way to the promise land.

Exodus 16:4–5 ESV

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.”

However, when he provided food for the people, he only provided enough manna for that day. If the Israelites gathered more than they needed for that day, it would be spoiled and rotten the next day.

Exodus 16:19–20 ESV

19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

God was trying to teach the Israelites that they must not get ahead of themselves and worry about tomorrow, but know that every day, they must depend on the Lord for their provision.

It is the same way for us today. . .

Like the Israelites, we struggle to trust God because, sinfully, we think we are self-sufficient and we live in a culture that is self-sufficient.

If you don’t believe me. . . ask yourself this: when was the last time you asked God to provide food for you for the day? Clothes to wear? A house to live in?

We don’t ask God for these things because we are so used to living in a fluent and wealthy culture that we think we can provide for ourselves.

This is why the writer said in Proverbs 30:8-9 that he did not want poverty or wealth from God because he knew that if God gave him too much he would deny the Lord and say “who are you?”

There are two deadly results of believing the lie that we are self-sufficient.

First, we began to think we are invincible and will live forever.

Yet, the Bible teaches that our life is a vapor (James 4:13-15)

The truth is, we can do nothing apart from Christ (John 15:4-5).

Second, we allow ourselves to be burdened with stress and anxiety that cripples us from worshipping and serving God.

When we think we are self-sufficient, we try to do everything ourselves. In short, we play God and tell ourselves we are infinite, all-powerful, and all-knowing, when God actually created us as finite and dependent people.

The reason why we struggle so much with anxiety is because we do not seek God’s Kingdom and his righteousness. Instead of believing our Father and King can provide for our needs, we make ourselves king and look to ourselves.

But Jesus teaches us that this is foolish, because our Father will provide for our daily needs.

Notice the seven times Jesus tells us not to be anxious:

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? (Don’t be anxious, because life is too important)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? (Don’t be anxious, because you are too important) 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (Don’t be anxious, because it doesn’t help anything) 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? (Don’t be anxious, because God cares about you) 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. (Don’t be anxious, because that is what unbelievers do) 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Don’t be anxious about your needs, because the kingdom matters more) 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Our anxieties and worries normally come from worrying about the future when it hasn’t even happened yet. . . but God never promises to provide manna two weeks from now today, instead, he promises to provide manna only for today.

Thus, when we pray “give us this day our daily bread,” we must trust in Jesus’ promise in Matthew 6:33 that when we ask for the Lord to provide, he always will according to what we need for that day.

But, we don’t need to miss the significance of Jesus’ teaching us to pray for our daily bread. . . because even though he is speaking to our physical needs, he is surely also speaking to our spiritual need to feast off his flesh, which is the true bread from heaven.

Deuteronomy 8:3 says that man does not live on bread alone, but every word from the mouth of God. Jesus repeated this phrase during his temptation in Matthew 4:4, and perfectly depended upon the Father and his words every moment of his life.

John 6 says that Jesus is the bread of life that has come down from heaven and whoever comes to him will never be hungry, and whoever believes in him will never thirst. . . if we feast on him, we will live forever!

Therefore, if God has provided for our greatest need, in redemption from sin through the death of Christ, then surely we can know and believe he will provide for our lesser needs each day.

Remembering and believing the gospel each day should radically change our lives. . . the way we think, speak, act, and live. . . .PAUSE

Thus, in light of God being our gracious Father and powerful provider, I believe their are three attitudes we need to posses and live out in response to his word tonight. . .

Response

Spirit of Contentment

We should be content with the bread he provides.

1 Timothy 6:6–8 ESV

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

Spirit of Gratitude

We should be thankful for the bread he provides.

Spirit of Dependence

You must depend on the bread of life daily to save you.

You must depend on the bread of life daily to sustain and strengthen you.

Look to God to satisfy you (Psalm 145:15-16). . . not the things of this world.

Unless God does the work, the labor is in vain (Psalm 127:1-2).

**Consider closing prayer for students to repent of being self-sufficient, ungrateful, and discontent.

**for students to truly ask the Father what they need. . . but submit to him and believe he will give them what they need when they need it. . . .

**Ask God to help you rely upon him more, to help you see that you are nothing and helpless without him

**Praise and thank God for all that he has provided for you.