Progression so far in the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven…..

Hallowed  be your name ….

Your Kingdom come your will be done …..

Today:

Matthew 6. 11  Give us this day our daily bread.

I like food. It is one of the pleasures and necessities of life.

Initially, God gave to man all that was needed to support and sustain his life, without working for it. But after the first couple deliberately defied God’s instructions and ate of the wrong food, this arrangement of a free lunch was altered.

Genesis Ch. 3:19

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."

If God told us that we would have to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow, how come He wants us now to pray for it?

Elsewhere the Bible says that if a man wont work he shouldn’t eat.

The principle is, that the natural resources of the earth are supplied for us by our Heavenly Father. They are more than adequate to meet our basic needs. But just as God supplies for the wild birds and animals they still have to go out and find it. God doesn’t just drop the food into their mouths. And He doesn’t give handouts to lazy people to sit in the shade and do nothing.

James Ch. 1:17

17  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

God gives to us life and health, soil and sunshine, plants and animals, the air, trace elements, whatever is necessary for the production of food has its origins with our Heavenly Father.

There is enough to feed and care for this whole planet except we selfishly waste much of it.

God has made bread available if we do our part.

Matthew Ch. 6:33

33  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (This includes bread.)

Psalm 37:25

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

If we put God first, He promises to provide for us the other things necessary for life.

We’re talking about God’s answer to anxiety.  What do you worry abut the most? Finances?  Your job?  School?  Kids?  Your weight?  Your schedule?  This is the age of anxiety.  People seem to be uptight about everything. 

The Bible says in Proverbs, "The anxiety in a heart brings a man down" -- it weighs a heart down.  The old English word for "worry" literally means to choke, to strangle.  That's what worry does to us.  Worry does not work.  It produces a lot of energy but it never gives any progress.  It's like a rocking chair -- back and forth.  It just doesn't work.  It's useless.

Research has shown that 40% of all your worries are about the future and they never happen; 30% of your worries are about the past and they can't be changed; 12% are needless worries about our health; 10% are petty worries, not worth worrying about; 8% are legitimate concerns. 

Is there an antidote to anxiety?  Yes. 

Philippians Ch. 4:6 (LB)  

"Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything, tell God your needs." 

That's the message in a sentence.  God says, “Don't worry, pray!” 

 Jesus gives three keys in how to overcome worry in that one little sentence of the Lord’s Prayer. 

1.  REMEMBER TO ASK GOD FOR HELP.

Ask for God's assistance.  "Give us..."  Rather than worry, you ask God to help you out. 

Worry is an attempt to control the uncontrollable.  When you feel like you're helpless then you start worrying.  But how much is out of God's control?  Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

What does God say to do? 

James 4:2 "You do not have because you do not ask God!" 

If we prayed as much as we worried, we'd have a lot less to worry about.  Over 20 times in the New Testament, God says, “Ask.”  He wants you to ask.  He's waiting for you.  The things you're worrying about -- don't worry about them.  Instead, ask Me for assistance because nothing is out of My control. 

Numbers Ch. 16:32 "God is the source of all life."

God wants you to see Him as your source for all your needs. 

• When I don't know what to do, God is my wisdom.
• When I run out of energy, God is my source of strength.
• When I feel like everything is caving in and depressing me, God is the source of my happiness. 
• Source of hope when things look hopeless.
• When life becomes stressed out, God is my source of peace.
• When I'm irritated and about to blow up, God's my source of patience.
• When I'm overwhelmed with guilt, God is my source of salvation.
• When I feel like giving up, God is my source of encouragement.

Don't we have a great God?  He's the source of all these things. I was tempted to call the sermon today, "May the Source Be With You."  He's says, "Look to Me"  God is waiting for you to ask. Ask for assistance.

2.  REMEMBER TO TRUST GOD’S TIMING.

When you pray and you remember this is no problem for God, you trust Him for His time as to when He answers.  "Give us today our daily bread." 

This is often the most difficult part in overcoming worry.  How many of you have discovered that God's timing is not the same as yours?  It's way off a lot of the time.  I'm always in a hurry -- "God, I need it now!"  God says, "No, you don't.  You need it when I say you need it."  God's timing is perfect.

He wants us to trust Him daily.  Moment by moment. "Give us this day our daily bread..."  Not weekly, not monthly, not annually.  Daily bread.  It's a statement of trust.  He wants you to trust for the crust. 

If God gave you every thing you'd ever need for the rest of your life all at once, how often would you come and talk to Him?  Not very often.  So He wants to provide it on a daily, moment by moment basis.

The word "daily" is an interesting word.  This is the only time this Greek word is used in the entire Bible.  When the scholars were translating the Bible into English they couldn't find this word anywhere in Greek history.  They thought maybe that somebody had just made it up -- maybe the Lord had made up this word. 

In 1947 they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in Israel and as they were pulling them out of the cave and found all the rare documents and manuscripts of the Bible which proved its authenticity and veracity back thousands of years earlier, they found this word on some fragments.  When they discovered what the fragments were -- they were like a shopping list.  These items were perishable items that you couldn't store for more than a day.  In those days they didn't have refrigeration.  You had to go to the store every day for things like milk, ice, frozen yogurt, ice cream... all those things we have to have today.  Those were items that didn't last.  Then they knew what the word meant:   Give us this day our daily ration ... not enough for tomorrow... not enough for the next week, but for today.  That's how God wants you to live.  One day at a time.  That's what it means to live by faith. 

Israel in the Wilderness:  You can go back to the Old Testament and read dramatic things like the Exodus, for forty years in the desert God fed three million people on a daily basis.  Literally.  He sent bread down from heaven that covered the ground.  Literally daily bread for forty years for three million people.  It was called manna.  Manna is the Hebrew word for "What is it?"  They had never seen anything like it.  (What is it, for breakfast, lunch and dinner).

The interesting thing about manna is God provided it.  It was kind of a bland, tasteless bread and you had to get up early in the morning.  They would gather it every morning.  If you were lazy and slept in you didn't get any.  The early bird got the manna. 

When God says "Don't worry", He's not saying "Don't work."  This is not an invitation to be lazy.  "I'm not going to get a job.  I'm just going to sit hear with my DB lager in front of the TV and let God provide."  He's not saying that at all. He's not saying “Don't work,” “He's saying Don't worry!”  More people die of worry than die of work because more people worry than work. 

God gave them manna.  They would gather it early in the day. They would get just enough for that day.  You couldn't store the manna.  You couldn't save it.  If you tried to save it overnight it would get worms and go rotten and it was useless.  God made it so that it was only enough for that day and every day, day in, day out, for forty years for three million people.

Matthew 6:44 (NIV ) "Each day has enough trouble of its own!"

You say then, “Shouldn't we plan?”  Of course we should plan.  The Bible teaches you how to plan for the future.  The wise man plans for the future.  You can plan for the future but you've got to live today.  You can't live in tomorrow as much as you try. 

Worry is an attempt to control both the past and the future.  You worry about the past that you can't change. You worry about the future that you can't change.  Worry doesn't change the past, it doesn't change the future, it just messes up today.  It makes you miserable today.                           

What is the antidote to worry?  Pray and live one day at a time.

Psalm 68:19 "Praise the Lord who daily bears our burdens."

3.  REMEMBER GOD KNOWS YOUR NEED.

Worry means we've forgotten God's promises and that He has unlimited resources at His disposal.  "Give us today, our daily bread."  That seems inappropriate here in NZ.  We have more than enough food.  This is a prayer for Ethiopia.  Daily bread. Why should I pray about it, if I can go down to “Baker’s Delight” and buy it?  More appropriate here would be, "Lord, help me today to not eat too much bread!" 

Bread represents the basic necessities of life.  Everything you need.  Your sustenance, what it takes to keep you going through the day.  God is concerned about all of our basic needs. 

Philippians 4:19 (Phillips) "God will supply all that you ever need from his glorious resources in Christ Jesus." 

What does "all" include?  Everything.  If this verse is really true, what do we have to worry about?  Nothing.  All that anxiety you're carrying around is worthless if God really does supply all that you ever need. 

It doesn't says, "My God shall supply all your greed."  There's a big difference.  He doesn't say He'll supply all you want. 

Advertising today makes a lot of our wants seem like needs.  Parents, do you give your kids everything they want?  No, because kids want everything.  Do your kids know what is best for them?  Not most of the time.  Often we're not very good judges of what we need most.  God gives us what we need, not what we want, because He is a loving parent.  Why don't you give your kids everything they want?  Because you love them.  Why doesn't God give you everything you want?  Because He loves you.

2000 years ago Jesus said don't worry about food and clothing.  Isn't that up to date?  Two thousand years later that's what most people are preoccupied with:  How do I look and what am I going to eat?  The same issues today, people worry about.  Do you eat to live or do you live to eat?  Big difference.

This is not a promise for everybody.  It's a promise for those who put God first in their lives.  Pray for God's will in your life and then you can expect God's guarantee to have your needs met. 

It's like for a teenager who goes to his father and says, "Dad, I need money, but I hate your guts!  ... Dad, let me borrow the car but I'm not going to do anything you ever tell me to do."

We come to God and say, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in my life.  Because I want to do what's right now, I expect You to meet my needs."  God says, “I guarantee I will!” 

But there is also a fourth point we need to remember

1.  REMEMBER THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN BREAD,

Deuteronomy Ch. 8:3

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Moses made this statement right after God had been supplying the people with food for forty years.

He is saying to the people that God’s miraculous provision of food is not sufficient to sustain them in soul and  . There is more to life than food.

John 6:32

35  Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

We don’t only need bread to survive each day, but we must also daily draw upon the very life of Christ.

What is bread?

It is living kernels of grain, broken, crushed and ground into flour. This flour is mixed with salt, water and yeast. It is kneaded, shaped into loaves and allowed to rise. After that it is baked in an oven.

In this new form as bread, the life that was in the grain now provides life to those who eat it.

By a similar series of processes, the life of God in Christ has been made available to us. He was crushed and bruised at Calvary, placed in a grave, and arising out of that grave, He became God’s bread for us.

The bread we eat in the Communion Service is a picture of this.

1 Corinthians Ch. 11:23-24

23  For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,

24  and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."

And just as Jesus took the few loaves and fishes and feed a multitude, so His life satisfies anyone who hungers for God.

“Oh Father, give me this day my daily bread.”

It has been said, that we are what we eat. If we feed our souls and spirits on God’s bread from heaven, it follows that is what we shall become.

What is the result?  If I really develop the conviction that God is the source of everything I need... Then my job is not the source of my income.  If you feel that way you're going to get under tension if you lose your job.  You're uptight.  God is the source of your income.  He just happens to be using a particular job as the channel.  If He turns off one faucet He can just as easily turn on another. 

What happens when I really make God the source of my life and I really look to Him to provide all my needs?  Two things happen:

1. You become more at peace.  Circumstances don't bother you any more.  You look beyond the circumstances to the One who is ultimately in control. God is my source. 

If tomorrow you went to work and they asked you to make an unethical decision and you refused because you are a Christian and you got fired, what would you do?  Panic or pray?  Would you feel like you're going under for the last time, that your life is falling apart?  Or would you say, “God is my provider; He'll provide another job because I'm honoring Him.  He said if I put him first in my life I don't have to worry.  He's going to take care of my needs between now and when I get the next job which He has in mind.” 

If you were passed over for entry to a course, does the world end?  Or do you say, “I'm not going to panic, I'm going to pray.  I know God is my source.” 

If God asked you to quit your job and for six months serve the Lord full time, could you do that? 

This is what it means to live at peace when you recognize that God is your source, not anybody else.  You're putting your faith, not in your bank account or stock options or work or anything else.  God is my source.  You become at peace.

The other thing that happens... How do you know when you're really trusting God?

2.     You become more generous.   When you're stingy with your time, your money, your effort it means you really don't believe God's going to provide for you.  So you've got to hoard it, hold on to it, and you can't give it away. 

If I am absolutely convinced that God is the source of my supply and He's my need meeter, then it's easy for me to give to a need, it's easy for me to tithe ten percent of my income.  God's my source.  People won't tithe because they don't really believe God's going to meet their needs.  It's a faith issue.  How generous am I?

If you're a Christian, do you realize that every Sunday when the offering buckets are passed, God is giving you a faith quiz.  He's giving you a test, every week.  Can I live without X dollars? Can I do what God has told me to do, or can I not trust Him?  I can't afford to tithe because I need every bit I make to make my payments.  Do I really believe God?  That's the issue.

What are you worried about the most?  Your job?  Your health? Have you thought about asking God for assistance and remembering His resources and then trusting His timing?  Some of you are afraid to trust God.  You're Christians and you're believers but you're afraid to trust God. 

You think if I really give my life to God, He'll turn me into a fanatic.  If I really put Him first in my life, He's going to make my life miserable.  If I really start tithing, I'll go broke.  You don't really trust God.  He is waiting to show what a loving, providing God He is.  He wants to teach you to live by faith day by day.  "Give us this day our daily bread." 

If you've never met Christ, you need to meet Him.  Jesus said, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never hunger again." 

That dissatisfaction in your heart, that which is missing in your life is Jesus Christ. 

You have a God shaped hole in your life that only God can fill.  He is the bread of life that really satisfies. 

If you've never said “Yes” to Him, say yes today.  But if you're already a believer, you've already done that, then I challenge you today to develop the bedrock conviction that for the rest of your life you're going to look to God as the source to meet all your needs.

 Claim the promises. He does have a track record of thousands of years of meeting needs.  .

Altar call