This Is How You Should Pray -- Give Us Today Our Daily Bread -- 05/09/2021

Tibor Munkascy . . .

was born in Hungary. As a teenager Tibor evaded the Nazis three times before being captured and sent to a labor camp. Of that experience he said that he hated having to watch starving children grab at food like animals. He survived the war and like 11-20 million other people displaced from their homes; Tibor had no place to go. The Allies working with the United Nations set up Displaced Persons Camps; There were several facilities specifically for orphaned children. Tibor ended up at the first of these, Kloster Indersdorf. In this image on the screen, we see Tibor at age 92, now living in New York City, standing in front of a picture taken of him at Kloster Indersdorf in 1946. Tibor recalls that the older orphans, like himself, at mealtimes would reassure the younger kids they would have food the next day. Tibor said the kids “were worried that there wouldn’t be any bread the next day so they would grab food and take it to their bunk beds.”[1]

Daily Bread Provision[2]

If we are honest, we are not much different from those orphans who were afraid that tomorrow there would be no bread. Like those children, we have known real lack - when the “bread” - whatever we were counting on to sustain us - was simply not there - or not there in sufficient supply to meet the need. We know from personal experience it is possible to wake up tomorrow and there is, in fact, no bread.

Maybe your bread—that which you count on to sustain you—is money, your job, your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, your church, your social status, your reputation. Whatever “bread” is for you - when you lose it, you know the agony - the hunger is real.

In a fallen world . . .

sermon title slide

We know that the lack of “daily bread” is a genuine threat. Jesus is the ultimate realist. Jesus directly says to us “In this world you will have trouble.” Then, Jesus gives us another lesson in reality, “Take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Here Jesus is teaching us that because he has overcome the trouble of this world; we too, in Him, have overcome the trouble life brings to us.

We know that our Father in Heaven knows we need our daily bread and has made provision to give it to us, just has he daily gave manna from heaven to the children of Israel. However, in our fallen condition, we naturally doubt the goodness and ability of our Father to provide for our daily needs. The life of Jesus in us will overcome this doubt.

When we sincerely pray, “Give us today our daily bread” we intentionally throw our complete dependency on our Heavenly Father’s goodness, willingness, and ability to give us today what we need spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and physically.

The big idea of today message is simple:

Our Father in Heaven will supply all our needs every day.

Message Road Map

The basic source our persistent doubt

Why we can trust the goodness of our Father in Heaven

How praying the Lord’s Prayer build’s trust in our Heavenly Father’s goodness

Let us pray, the prayer our Lord Jesus taught us to pray.

The Cause of our Persistent Doubt

There is a basic cause to our persistent doubt. It all starts with . . .

Trouble in the Garden

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” (Genesis 3:1–7, NIV)

Thus began all our troubles. The temptation was to doubt God’s goodness. The temptation was to entertain the idea that God is holding something back from us that is desirable for our well-being. It was an effective temptation. Adam and Eve fell for it. All of humankind since then has fallen for it. Even we who are children of our heavenly Father fall for it too. The cause of our persistent doubt is a mistrust of the absolute goodness of our Father in Heaven.

When we doubt the goodness of our Heavenly Father, life is dangerously uncertain.

We do not know if the next moment will help us or irreparably harm us. Thus, we dread the harm that may come. The good that comes to us comes tinged with grief because we know it will not last.

show slide: Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

When we trust completely the goodness of God; believing that He is working all things for our good because we love Him and because He has enfolded us into his good purposes; then we know all that feels horrible to us has in it no ultimate harm for us. In fact, that which feels horrible must work for our ultimate good, which is to be more like Jesus. Then we know that Christ in us has overcome the trouble of this world, not in theological theory, but in our personal experience. If you are a child of God, you have experienced this - remember where and how God overcame the trouble of this world in your life. Remember and believe!

When we trust the Lord completely, we can receive the joys of life, with no twinge of grief; for we will receive whatever comes as the hand of God’s goodness.

When we trust the Lord completely; life becomes predictably stable.

We know that all things, trouble and joy, are making us more like Jesus, which is our goal. In Christ, we have completely overcome the world.

This does not mean that we will not have days when we feel horrible, days when we struggle, days when we doubt, and days when we fear - but through it all runs a divine stability - the rock-solid truth that God is working all things to my ultimate good. Our life as individuals and as a church family is stable, come what may because we have a good, good Father in Heaven.

Why We Can Trust the Goodness of our Father in Heaven

Give!

We begin our prayer with “give us today”. It is an imperative request with a sense of urgency. It implies that we are asking for something that is due to us or promised to us. As God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus, it is natural that we look to our Heavenly Father expecting He will provide all that is necessary for our ultimate well-being.

We have the audacity not to call upon our Father merely to think kindly of us but to do something - to act on our behalf. The word translated “give” in this verse has the sense of bestowing something upon someone. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says this specific word “has its riches significance in the expressing of God’s abundant gift of grace and love.” In 1 John 3:1 the translation of this word is “lavished”.

1 John 3:1 NIV

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

We can trust our Father in Heaven to give us our daily bread, because He has already lavished his grace and love upon us in the giving of His Son to die for our sins. Through our faith in Jesus, the Father claims us as his children. Because God is perfect, we can trust him to parent us perfectly.

Give us!

Jesus said,

Matthew 7:11 NIV

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!

We can trust the goodness of our Heavenly Father, because He is perfect and delights to give us good gifts that will make us perfect as he is perfect. We can trust our Perfect Father to parent us perfectly personally and as a church family. We can trust that whatever he allows (no matter how it feels) is good for us and whatever he forbids (no matter how good and right it seems to us) will ultimately harm us.

Give us today!

Today is our present moment; it excludes the past and the future. Give us today . . . means we cast our dependence on our Heavenly Father for what we need right now. If we are going to trust God at all it must be trust grounded in the present moment. When we trust God today, right now. Then will have trusted God in the past, when today becomes yesterday. When we trust God today were will find ourselves trusting God in the future when tomorrow becomes today. Then we will know in our own experience individually and as a church family that

Hebrews 13:8 NIV

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

We can trust the goodness of our Father in Heaven, because we know that just Our Father was good to us yesterday, he will be good to us today, and he will be good to us tomorrow.

Give us today our!

In this petition, Jesus teaches us to ask for what is rightfully ours - that which we already possess. Let’s follow the New Testament logic on this point.

Colossians 1:16–17 NIV

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Hebrews 1:2 NIV

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

Romans 8:17 NIV

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:32 NIV

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

We can trust the goodness of our Father in Heaven, because He has made Jesus the heir of all things. We are co-heirs with Jesus, therefore, all that is good for us is already ours in Christ Jesus. Our Father will not withhold from us anything that is ultimately for our well-being. This does not mean we will have everything we want and everything we ask for, because everything we want and everything we ask for is not always what is best for us. We make those judgments for our own children because we can see more than they can see. Likewise, God makes those judgments for us because he can see more than we can see. Our Father will give us our rightful inheritance, which is everything that will make us more like Jesus.

Give us today our daily bread!

Our daily bread is that which is a constant requirement for sustaining our life. We will need our daily bread today, tomorrow, and the next day. We will never stop needing our daily bread. Our daily bread is that which sustains our physical well-being. God knows we need these things and provides them for us every day.

Jesus said,

Matthew 6:31–32 NIV

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Our good Father in Heaven intends to meet our physical needs necessary for our bodily life, which is temporary and perishing. God intends to meet our physical needs within the context of us first seeking that which will nourish our soul, which is alive for eternity.

Jesus said,

John 6:35 NIV

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Now with these words ringing in our minds and hearts, hear again these words of our Lord.

Matthew 6:31–33 NIV

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

We can trust the goodness of our Father in Heaven to give us our daily bread because he has already given to us that which is most necessary for us, Jesus Christ, the bread of life. As we feast on Jesus; as we grow deeper in allowing the life of Jesus to flow through us to satisfy our spiritual hunger; our Father will provide for our physical needs in the ways most beneficial to us becoming like Jesus.

How Praying the Lord's Prayer Builds Trust in our Heavenly Father’s Goodness

• We daily lay our needs before him.

• We trust our Father to take care of them in the best way for our wellbeing.

• We are attentive to what happens next.

• We receive what our Father sends to us with thankfulness—especially when what God sends us does not meet our current hopes and expectations.

This is the practice. We dare not say that prayer is not practical. We must practice telling our Father what we need, trusting him, observing what happens, and receiving what happens with thankfulness. We will either practice this or we will not practice this.

Will you practice prayer this month?

There is an email in your inbox right now that give you an opportunity to respond positively to this challenge

I commit to pray the Lord's Prayer through Sunday May 30

• Each Morning and Evening

• Each Morning

• Each Evening

• As I remember

We have created a Faithlife group for those who are committed to praying the Lord’s prayer this month. In the group we will share our experiences in prayer, have access to more resources, and encourage each other. Imagine what might happen among us if every one of us were committed to spending time praying the Lord’s prayer in a meaningful way.

[1] This Orphanage Did More Than Find Homes for Children of the Holocaust. It Helped Them Reclaim Their Humanity. Hagen, C. March 14, 2017. Smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved May 7, 2021 from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/orphanage-helped-them-reclaim-their-humanity-180962516/

[2] Image source: University of Minnesota Libraries UMedia: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll220:60