Daily Bread

Me

We are living in a time where men are struggling in this country.

This Covid even after 2 years - still see many people struggling to meet their baisc needs

People are hungry and starving

We see a few weeks ago a mother who confessed to killing her own child

When we look at the conditions that child was living in

Sorry to say this but it seems death was a blessing in disguise

People are seeing hard times

I think that the reason why we seeing crime spiralling out of control is because people are desperate

Some people forced to thief basic supples in order to provide for their own families

They are turning to a life of crime.

How many of you tonight know what it feels like to be in need

All your savings have ran out

Or it is beginning to run out

For a lot of people - they live paycheck to paycheck

Once one paycheck is exhausted they have no more money

They need money and cannot afford to lose a job

To those of us who are working we need to be very grateful to God that we have something

You may not have the biggest salary but at least you have something to take care of you and your kids

But it is not easy when you feel like you not sure where your next meal is coming from

It’s not easy when you are not sure how you are going to live through the month

it’s not easy when you have no money and the landlord doesnt care about you and they are ready to kick you out

I remember during Covid many trinis were stuck in America and other places

Imagine being stuck in another country and cant leave

You have no US dollars

How did these people survive there

The only answer I can think of is the grace of God

God had to provide for them to stay so many months away from Trinidad

If is one thing that Pandemic taught us is WE NEED GOD

At the end of the day we all need God

We cant depend on our families and our friends all the time

There is only so much - man can do for you

We need God

He is Jehovah Jireh our provider

God wants us to look to him and not to anyone else

Stop looking to Keith Rowley to meet your needs

He is just a man

May we look to God

God wants us all to depend on him for everything

It’s an insult to God when we look to someone else other than him to meet our needs

When you are a child you depend on your parents to provide for you and that is the role of parent

But when you become and adult you realise who is your real parent

And that is Abba Father - your provider

I remember there was this time with me when my contract wasn’t renewed when it was finished

The government basically had us home at least 2 months minimum without pay

This was around a Christmas time and Christmas time is one of the worst time to not have a job because that is a time you like to buy stuff

If you dont buy stuff for anyine or even yourself during the year Christmas time is when you buy stuff

I remember I will be going with my cousins who had Christmas shopping to do at that time of year and i will just be watching all that they are spending and wishing I could do the same

Now I must admit - i was not broke or had no savings etc but the truth is I didnt want to just spend my money crazy not knowing if I going to get back a contract

The point I am trying to make is when you no longer working and no longer have a job it can stress you out a bit

Becuase at the end of the day - whether we like it or not

Money is a neccessity

We need money to provide the basics of food, clothing and shelter

When we lack these things it can cause anxiety and depression and other feelings to creep in to our lives

We

Now I am sure that what I just described is not foreign to a lot of you listening to me tonight

I know that there are many of you listening to me tonight who has experienced something similar or even worst

I could still say I had some savings if i needed to spend money or my parent if I desperately needed money

In my case I had no wife and kids to take care off but for some of you listening tonight

You had all that as well to deal with

And it wasnt a nice experience

When you have a family especially to take care of it even harder

I know that for Covid a lot of you faced some serious challenging times

I know a lot of you would have been not working

Or working for half pay etc

Whike you might be grateful for half pay - half pay when you have a family doenst cut it

Some of you kniw what it is like to hear you boss tell you - you need to not work

You are not Essential

That was the main word during the Covid time

There was discrimination that time abiut who is essential and non essential

When you are non essential - it made it sound as though the work you do has no value

To everyone listening tonight I want you to know that the Work you do has value

You are making a difference whther you are a garbage man or a doctor.

You are essential whether your boss says so or not

But like I said it can be hard when you have no idea where your next source of income is coming from.

During the pandemic one man who was doing a lot of Charitable work was the Activist Inshan Ishamel

Whether you like the man or not - the man did bless a lot of people during that time with hampers

Some people say he was in it for fame - whatever is his motive - when you are desperate and have a family to mainitain to you dont mind whatever help you getting

You rushing for a hamper .

God

Matthew 6:9–13 NIV

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘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 today 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 the evil one.’

Let us see what God’s Word says

I want to focus on the 11th verse today which says

Matthew 6:11 NIV

11 Give us today our daily bread.

What is Bread

Bread was the basic sustenance for many in the ancient world and, therefore, was at times used metaphorically to refer to physical needs. Sometimes this is still true today. For example, the person in a household who makes the most money is often called the “bread-winner.”

When we ask God for our bread, we are asking him to supply our basic needs.

Martin Luther said, “everything necessary for the preservation of this life is bread, including food, a healthy body, good weather, house, home, wife, children, good government, and peace.”1

In the ancient world, this petition was very relevant. Commonly, laborers were paid on the very day that they worked. The pay was typically very low, and it only provided enough to purchase food for that day. It was almost impossible to save money.5 This prayer would have given these day laborers great hope—God would meet their needs for the day, just as he did the day before.

Now if you are a multi millionaires listening to me tonight then you may be saying - well i have enough bread for years and that may be true for you but for the majority of people it is not.

This petition reminds us to ask for our needs based on God’s generous, fatherly nature

Today I want us to know that we can boldly go to God and ask him to Provide For Our Daily Needs

Today I do not know what your needs are today but I want to let you know that you need to see God as your Provider

God is a Father to you

God is someone who wants to provide for you

In a day and age where people might want to look to man as their source and may want to run down people like Inshan Ishmael etc

We need to look to God

“BRUCE Wilkinson, the author of The Prayer of Jabez, was meeting with a leader of a growing ministry. The ministry leader hoped to talk with Bruce and glean some principles from him that would help grow his own ministry. After answering many of the leader’s questions, Bruce asked if he might ask a question of his own. “How many donors do you have?” The leader grew silent as he started calculating how many donors the ministry might have. After a few seconds, Bruce said, “It sure is taking you a long time.” The leader apologized and assured Bruce that he wanted to give him as accurate of a count as possible. “I’m not sure. I just need a minute to think about it.” Bruce halted him in the middle of his calculations. “The mere fact it’s taking you this long means that you’re not approaching this right.” The leader looked a bit puzzled. “What do you mean, Bruce?” “Well,” Bruce continued, “you only have one donor. Now, the One may work through many, but the only donor that matters is the One. The many just give the ministry what the One has given to them. Your donors aren’t your true source.

God is

Here is what is most important

No matter how much you have - you must never stop looking to God as your source.

There is no one who cares about your needs more than God

I know lots of people today - who might have Covid and they cant even rely on their own family for help

It’s like people scared of this virus so much that their own family wont even offer them any food because they scared they catch the virus

Even if they have to help out with the basic needs - they scared to do it

They keeping their social distance from their own families

Tonight I want you to know that God is not social distancing himself from you

He loves you and he cares about you and longs to meet your needs

Matthew 7:9–11 NIV

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 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!

He loves you oh so so much

your earthly father wont give you a stone if you ask him for bread

God wont do the same as well for you

His mighty hand is not far from you

His hand is more than willing to provide for you

Every single one of us who experienced times of desperate need we can thank God that he supplied our needs.

As a good good Father he will provide for you.

This petition reminds us to be content with our needs.

When Christ refers to bread, he is referring to basic sustenance that any commoner would need. He doesn’t say to ask for steak, wine, or dessert. Sometimes in popular Christianity, it is taught that God wants to make every person wealthy. However, that is not biblical.

The majority of Christians throughout the centuries have been poor and that includes Christ and the disciples. God promises to meet our needs and tells us to pray for them (Matt 6:33, Phil 4:19). Now, it’s not necessarily wrong to pray for wants, but in the Lord’s Prayer, we are taught to pray for our needs. Therefore, the implication is God wants us to learn contentment with having only our needs met.

Are we contended with what God has blessed us with?

God never said he will bless you with a Benz or BMW

Not that there is anything wrong with it but he knows what you need and he knows what you want

Some of you are in a point in life where you need a vehicle

That doesnt mean that you need a Rolls Royce

I am not here to tell you that God wants to bless you with a million dollars

In fact there is no scripture that says that

Some preachers today that is what their main focus on

No where did Jesus tell his Disciples to focus on their wants

I believe we make God sad when he blesses us with so much but we still are not contented with what he has given us

He blessed us with a much better job than we expected to have but we still bombarding him and complaining about what we have

Sometimes we can behave like spoil brats and little kids

We never satisfied

We watching what our neighbour have - we watching what our friends have and we want theirs

Iphone 11 Pro

We become disconctented with what we have

I believe that this scripture also reminds us that we should be contended.

In 1 Timothy 6:6-8, Paul teaches Timothy the same. He says, “Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit. For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either. But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that.” The word “shelter” can be translated “covering” and therefore could refer to clothing and shelter. If we have food, clothing, and shelter, we should be content. However, most of us are not content with our needs, and therefore, we are prone to covet what others have, become jealous, and even complain. In the wilderness, God disciplined the Israelites for the sin of complaining, and he will do the same with us.

This petition reminds us of how God’s providence and people’s diligence works with prayer.

now it is vitally important that we as Christians dont just think that we will just pray to God and everything comes our way without doing anything on our own

It is vitally important that we also do our part as well

Greg Laurie Sermon Archive The Lord’s Prayer

Now having established the fact that God provides that does not mean that we should sit around and be inactive and not work. Don’t be a lazy bum and say, “Lord provide.” Work. The Bible says, “If a man does not work he should not eat.” You say, “Greg I don’t have a job.” Go look for a job and work hard at looking for a job and work where you can and be as responsible as you can be.

If we need a job but we refuse to even look for one then that is plain stupidity

God isn’t going to just give us a job just so.

Now I admit that there will be times God may miractulously provide for us but that is an exception

God expects us to work to provide for our families

If you are out of job and you are looking - God can and will step in during such times but you are not to just sit idly

Send in a resume

Talk to people

Do something

We also have a role to play as well in it

if a person wants a godly mate, one should prepare himself to be godly and maybe even put himself in a position to meet somebody. If a person wants to be a doctor, one should study diligently and go to medical school. If a person wants to save souls, one must pursue opportunities to share the gospel. In the same way that faith without works is dead (Jam 2:17), prayer is often dead and useless without work. It has often been said that we should pray as though it all depends on God and work as though it all depends on us. There is some wisdom to this saying.

This Petition reminds us of our need for God

I want to let you know something tonight

God has promised to meet our needs but there is a greater need that man has than food, clothing and shelter

We can have all those things and not be satisfied

We can have all the money in the word and not be satisfied

The only thing that can bring satisfaction in our lives is God

Everything else that we go after is just chasing after wind

It brings no satisfaction

Whatever little satisfaction we get - is just temporary

We need God

Our hearts are restless until we find God - Augustine

Some of you listening to me you say you have all your needs met

You dont need more food, clothing, shelter etc

But you still lack this one thing and its the most important thing in life

You lack God

You can have this entire world but if you dont have God you have nothing

He’s all you need

Jesus said what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul.

In John 6:35, he said, “‘I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.” We need Jesus more and more each day, and therefore, we should cry out for him. James 4:8 says to draw near to God and he will draw near to us. One of the ways we draw near God is in prayer—seeking to know him and his presence more. In Matthew 4:4, Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God’s Word is our bread

We should make this our prayer

Lord, we are hungry—in body and soul—for what only you can provide. “Give us today our daily bread.

Today's Best Illustrations, Volume 5 Prison Reveals Need for God

Howard Rutledge, a Vietnam prisoner of war, was incarcerated at the prison the Americans called Heartbreak Hotel in Hanoi. In his book, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, he writes:

“During periods of enforced reflection it became so much easier to separate the important from the trivial. For example, in the past, I usually worked or played hard on Sundays and had no time for church. For years Phyllis had encouraged me to join the family at church. But I was too preoccupied to spend one or two short hours a week thinking about the really important things.

“Now the sights and smells of death were all around me. My hunger for spiritual food soon outdid my hunger for a steak. I wanted to know about that part of me that will never die, to talk about God and Christ and the church. But in Heartbreak solitary confinement there was no pastor, no Sunday school teacher, no Bible, no hymnbook, no community of believers to guide and sustain me. I had completely neglected the spiritual dimension of my life. It took prison to show me how empty life is without God.”

Tonight I want to remind every single one of us listening tonight

That we need food not just for our bodies but for our souls

We need physical food to help us live on this earth and heavenly food to live as citizens of heaven

Every single one of us have needs today

Tonight I want to remind us that God said that we can pray GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

GOD IS CONCERNED WITH YOUR NEEDS TONIGHT

Conclusion

A farmer in Kansas was worried about his wheat crop. There had not been rain in weeks. To keep his crops from being totally lost, he took buckets of water from his well and poured water on the crops. This meant hour after hour after hour of pouring water on the soil so that he would not lose everything. But the well also began to go dry, until the farmer realized he had to stop using this water. He was seemingly at the end of hope. He merely said, “Lord, unless You send rain immediately, all I have is gone.” The next day he saw clouds that began to form rain. The rain came and soaked the area thoroughly in just a few moments. The farmer took a chair out to the wheat field and sat in the chair as the rain came down on his face. His wife said, “Have you lost your mind?” “No,” he replied, “I am just enjoying seeing God do so easily what was so hard for me to do.”