Petition For God's Provision Series

Petition for God’s Provision

Series: The Blueprint for Prayer

Matthew 6:9-13

Introduction

A tired-looking woman entered a grocery store and asked the owner for enough food to make a Christmas dinner for her children. When he inquired how much she could afford, she answered, "My husband was killed in an accident. Truthfully, I have nothing to offer but a little prayer." Although the man was unmoved at first, he thought of a clever response to the woman’s simple request. "Write your prayer on a piece of paper and you can have its weight in groceries," he said sarcastically. To his surprise, she plucked a folded note out of her pocket and handed it to him saying, "I already did that during the night while I was watching over my sick baby." Without even reading it, he put it on one side of his old-fashioned scales. "We shall see how much food this is worth," he muttered. To his dismay nothing happened when he put a loaf of bread on the other side. But he was even more upset when he added other items and it would not balance. Finally he blurted out, "Well, that’s all it will hold anyway. Here’s a bag. You’ll have to put these things in yourself. "I’m busy!" With a tearful "Thank you," the lady went happily on her way. The grocer later discovered that the scales were out of order. As the years passed he often wondered if that was just a coincidence. Why did the woman have the prayer already written before he asked for it? Why did she come at exactly the time the mechanism broke? Whenever he looks at the slip of paper which bears that mother’s petition, he is amazed, for it reads, "Please, dear Lord, give us this day our daily bread!"

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 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. ’ for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

One of the things that I really love is fresh baked bread and every once in a while Elizabeth will bake a loaf. I love watching the bread rise. I love smelling the bread as it bakes. I love eating the soft warm bread and letting it melt in my mouth. In fact, when we have fresh baked bread, I will eat it for a snack after dinner.

When you hear the word bread what comes to your mind?

Some of you might think like me of a loaf of fresh baked bread. Other might think of a loaf that you would pick up at the grocery store or the bakery. Still others might think of bread as a reference to having money.

Would any of you think of your house as part of having bread?

Would any of you think of your job as part of having bread?

Would any of you think of your family as part of having bread?

Most likely none of these things would cross your mind. In fact, most of you would say that your house, your job and your family have nothing to do with bread at all. Nine times out of ten I would agree with you. However, the Hebrew understanding of bread is radically different from the loaf that comes out of the oven. Bread meant anything that was needed for living out the day and this includes more than food.

Martin Luther defined bread in this way: “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.”

What does it really mean to ask God for daily bread?

I. There is a supply that you can have

There would be no point in asking for something that you could never truly gain. It would be totally pointless. So there must be “bread” that God has for us each and every day.

God gives us what we need for our physical well being (Matthew 6:31-33)

God gives us what we need for our mental and emotional well being (Philippians 4:8)

God gives us what we need for our spiritual well being (John 6:33-35)

The basics of what you need to get through the daily grind of life are provided. It takes far more than just food. When you pray for God to send daily bread you are really asking for Him to cover every area and every aspect of your life with His strength and supply.