Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread Series

Matt 6:11 Give Us Our Daily Bread

Finally, we come to the part in the Lord’s Prayer that talks about us –

· The next 3 concerns are all about SELF - Give us... Forgive us... Lead us...

o Provision - “Give us today our daily bread…” - provision takes care of our present.

Pardon – “Forgive our trespasses…” - pardon takes care of our past.

Protection - “Lead us not into temptation…” - protection takes care of our future

· If you start off the prayer with this line, “Give us this day our daily bread!”, it would seem demanding and rude.

· The prayer that Jesus taught us – I believe is the same way that He approaches God – is to be concerned about God’s concerns – His Name, His Kingdom, His will to be done.

· We are FIRST to pray to God, about the things that he most concerned about (his name…). AND – only after that are we ready to pray for others and ourselves…

· By the time we talk about our stomach, the priority would have been set right; we would have thought about His desires and works

God indeed gives daily bread to all men, even to the wicked, without our prayer

· We pray this line ACKNOWLEDGING that even our daily bread is His PROVISION, His GIFT. He is our Master Provider. He is Jehovah-Jireh.

· When Jesus uses the word "bread", he is referring to everything we need for our earthly existence.

· He cares about even our smallest daily needs. The One who clothes you with righteousness (spiritually), clothes you with cloth too. The One who provides food for your soul (His Word), will give food for your body too. Your salvation and your evening meal, comes from the SAME HAND.

Max Lucado describes it this way – God has a great KITCHEN – a BIG kitchen…

· Every one of us needs a kitchen, that’s where my basic needs are met.

· A garage may be optional. A dining hall may be negotiable. A study room is a bonus. But a kitchen? Absolutely essential.

· He is not a spiritual guru who cares only about spiritual stuff – Jesus demonstrated that in His ministry – He cares for those without food, who are sick and lame, the widows...

· Martin Luther wrote in 1529:

“What does daily bread mean? Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money, possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees, devout and faithful rulers, good government, peace, health, discipline, honor, good fiends, faithful neighbors and other things like these…”

We need to be conscious of how utterly dependent we are on our Father to provide for our daily physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs.

But - "Does God really provide all of this?"

· PEOPLE OF ISRAEL - When Israel was freed from the bondage of Egypt, they were faced with a dilemma.

o How would thousands of people be able to sustain themselves long enough to cross a huge desert? Humanly, it wasn’t possible.

o But what happened? Were they forced to return to slavery in Egypt? No. Exodus 16:4:

"Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions’" (Exodus 16:4).

o Someone did a calculation - the ground cover each morning by the manna was equal to abt 266 football fields.

· They wandered for 40 years in the desert - over 2 millions people. God provided them manna and water. Imagine!

o Exo 16:35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

o God will provide until you do not need it anymore.

o Deut 8:4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

They find strength physically (health) - travelled on foot in desert & yet feet did not swell.

o Deut 29:5 During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.

· PROPHET ELIJAH - when running from King Ahab

1 Kings 17:4-9 4You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there." 5So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9"Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food."