Purpose: To explain the importance of asking God to supply our daily needs.
Aim: I want the listeners to see how dependent they are on God for everything.
INTRODUCTION: Today we are looking at the first of three requests for personal needs in what we call the Lord's Prayer.
The first personal request has to do with our present physical needs: "give us this day our daily bread"
The second personal request has to do with our past mental needs: "forgive us our debts"
The third personal request has to do with our future spiritual needs: "deliver us from evil"
In the first three requests we saw that we should be praying that God will be glorified: we should be asking that God's name will be seen as holy, that God's Kingdom will come, and that we will do God's will.
As we look at the last three requests for our personal needs we are going see that they also are for God's glory as well.
Before we look at what Jesus is saying about prayer it is interesting to learn what the world thinks about prayer. A few years ago an article by Kenneth L. Woodward in Newsweek Magazine gave us a modern perspective on prayer.
Kenneth L. Woodward has been responsible for Newsweek's Religion section since 1964. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Woodward graduated with honors from Notre Dame University in 1957. Over the years Woodward has lectured at over 40 colleges and universities. In 1993 he was Regents Visiting Professor in the Religious Studies Department at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
This is what he had to say about prayer: "For some theologians, the basic issue is simple. Modern science presents an increasingly compelling model of how the world works to which religion, if it is to remain intellectually honest, must adjust its ideas about God."
By the way, let's remember that it was "Modern Science" that used to think that the earth was flat. It was "Modern Science" that led the doctors to bleed President George Washington to death thinking it would cure him. It was "Modern Science" that disgraced Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis and forced him to lose his job because he insisted that doctors wash their hands between patients, even though the practice proved to reduce mortality rates by 99%.
Woodward went on to say, " For these theologians, prayers of petition are understandable but intellectually outdated. 'It's not very helpful to think of God as an old man in the sky waiting for communication and answering it,' says Gordon Kaufman, emeritus professor at Harvard Divinity School. 'We have to think of God much more in accordance with the general picture of the world.' According to that picture, Kaufman argues, the universe is an ecological system where scientific laws govern the course of events, making the idea of a transcendent personal God untenable. 'I prefer to think of God as creativity, rather than as creator,' he says. In this reconfigured world, therefore, praying to a personal God, as he once did, makes no sense." [1]
Jesus, on the other hand, tells us to pray to God about everything--even our every day needs.
It is important to note that Vs. 11 does NOT say that we should thank God for our daily needs (although we should do that), it DOES say that we should ASK God to supply our daily needs.
► I. Praying for our Daily Bread shows our dependence on God
We have to remember that having plenty to eat was not a given in Christ's day. The problem for most of us is that we don't see the need to ask for our daily needs. For example, we have so much food in America that if we didn't have machines to harvest our crops it would take 31 million people and 61 million horses to get the crops in every year.
Even with all that we have in America, I want to show you why it is still important to ask God to provide our daily needs.
When we ask God for something, we are acknowledging that He is the source of what we need and that He owns everything.
Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. (NAU)
St. Augustine said, "When thou sayest, "Give us this day our daily bread," thou dost profess thyself to be God's beggar. But be not ashamed at this; how rich soever any man be on earth, he is still God's beggar. ... If he were not in need, he would not knock at the ears of God in prayer. And what doth the rich man need? I am bold to say, the rich man needeth even daily bread. For how is it that he hath abundance of all things? whence but because God hath given it him? What should he have, if God withdrew His hand? Have not many laid down to sleep in wealth, and risen up in beggary? And that he doth not want, is due to God's mercy, not to his own power."
Think of it this way: it would be like a wealthy father giving his son a large bank account, but making him write a check every day for what he needs that day.
This leads us to see that,
► II. Praying for our Daily Bread keeps us humble
Daily needs ONLY come from God, even when we don't ask for it.
There is a great danger in having more than we need. Deuteronomy 8:13--18 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. "In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.' "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. (NAU)
When we cry to the Lord for our needs then we see ourselves in a different light. Psalm 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles. (NAU)
► III. Praying for our Daily Bread Reminds us that God is Good
The Lord is not only able to provide our daily needs, He wants to provide our daily needs. This helps us to understand what God is like.
1 Timothy 6:17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. (NAU)
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (NAU)
Jesus promised us: Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (NAU)
Since God is not required to give us anything, anything He does give us is by His grace. Psalm 136:25 Who gives food to all flesh, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. (NAU)
God often blesses even when we don't ask. Matthew 5:45 ... He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (NAU)
God gives to those who cannot give Him anything back, like animals and children. God gives to those who don't want to give Him anything back, like the unsaved. God gives to all in spite of the fact that we don't deserve anything He gives.
► IV. Praying for our Daily Bread Keeps us from Worry
Look at Matthew 6:24--34 ... You cannot serve God and wealth. "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NAU)
God gave us life which is very valuable to Him, so our life will continue as long as God wants it to. So, God will supply the things necessary to continue the life He created.
► V. Praying for our Daily Bread Forces us to Focus on God
God's power is unending and our needs are unending. God Hebrews 1:3 ... upholds all things by the word of His power.... (NAU)
Romans 11:36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (NAU)
God provides only one day at a time so we will keep our eyes on Him. Our evil hearts want to possess the future--something that belongs to God alone. Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin by promising them "... that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5 NAU) i.e. you will know things you don't know now.
It does not matter how long you live, you will never possess tomorrow. Tomorrow belongs to God, not to us because we are NOT God.
► VI. Praying for our Daily Bread Increases our Faith
As we ask for God's provision and then see God provide it increases our faith that He will provide our needs. James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. (NAU)
The Bible says, Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (NAU) Do we believe this?
► VII. Praying for our Daily Bread Brings Great Contentment
Hebrews 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," (NAU)
Are you content with what you have in life? Do you find yourself wishing that you had more money, more things, more talent, better looks, an easier job, better friends, or better health? Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Is He enough for you, or is He not enough for you?
If you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior then you have an iron clad promise from God: Psalm 34:10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing. (NAU)
Thomas Watson, a great Puritan preacher who dearly loved the Lord said, "If all be a gift, see the odious ingratitude of men who sin against their giver! God feeds them, and they fight against him; he gives them bread, and they give him affronts. How unworthy is this! Should we not cry shame of him who had a friend always feeding him with money, and yet he should betray and injure him? Thus ungratefully do sinners deal with God; they not only forget his mercies, but abuse them. 'When I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery' (Jer. 5:7). Oh, how horrid is it to sin against a bountiful God!--to strike the hands that relieve us!" [2]
Thomas Manton: "We should say of every morsel of bread, This is God's gift to me; of every night's sleep, This is the Lord's goodness." [3]
Manton went on to say, "Your happiness lies not in abundance, but in contentment: Luke 12:15 Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." (NAU) This doth not make a man happy, that he hath much; but this, that he is contented; he hath what God will give him."
1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. (NAU)
CONCLUSION: God tells us to pray without ceasing; (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NAU). How can we do that? When we are aware of our own helplessness, our utter dependence on God, then we will pray without ceasing.
Are you depending on the Lord day by day and moment by moment? Are you willing to live a life that is totally dependent on the Lord? Have you ever humbled yourself before the Lord Jesus Christ and admitted your need, not only for daily bread, but also of complete forgiveness?
► Humility produces contentment. If you are not content then you are not humble.
[1]Is God Listening? By Kenneth L. Woodward, Newsweek Magazine March 30, 1997
[2]The Lord’s Prayer [London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1972], 197
[3]The Works of Thomas Manton Vol. 1 Page 161
