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.
II. God is the one who gives the supply – Give us
Who supplies the bread?
Of course, we would all say God but do we really understand the depth of this? In the first line of the prayer we call God our Father, which means, He cares for us like His children. In the second line of the prayer we proclaim God as our personal King by saying “Your Kingdom Come.” This means that God has everything at His disposal as the ruler of all things.
If God is your Father and He is your King, than He not only cares about the needs of your life but also has the resources to meet those needs.
Trust in the LORD and do good. Live in the land and feed on truth. Enjoy serving the LORD and he will give you what you want. Depend on the LORD; trust him and he will take care of you. Psalm 37:3-5 NCV
God is your source and if you think otherwise, let’s take a simple test on some of the basic needs of life.
Every person on this planet has a need for oxygen in order to live and without it we would die. Would you agree with this? How many of you here in this sanctuary have ever created oxygen?
Every person on this planet has a need for water in order to live and without it we would die. Would you agree with this? How many of you here in this sanctuary have ever created water?
Your life, whether you admit it or not, is dependent on factors that are totally out of your control. Your life depends on God doing what only God can do. Your life lies in the hands of God
III. God sets the schedule of the supply – This day
God gives us what we need as we need it and not a moment before. The fact is that you can only live your life one day at a time. This seems to frustrate some people. How many times have you heard someone say they wish they could get more hours in a day? When we try to live beyond today, we make life complicated, stressful and needlessly difficult.
When you pray for bread this day you are laying all of your needs for that day in the hands of God. God has the ability to meet your need before you ever realize you have the need.
When you pray for bread for this day, you are expressing ultimate confidence in God – Elmer Towns
The point is that God wants you to come to Him on a daily basis and ask Him for what you need. Parents, how would you feel if your children rushed out of the house in the morning just grabbing what they needed without a word to you?
This is far too often how we treat God, we just want to grab what we need without a word to Him.
Why does God work in this day?
The reason might be more simple than you think. God chooses to work in this day because it is where He exists, after all He is the Great I Am. Not I was, not I will be but I Am. The truth is that God wants you to live your life day by day because that is where His power rests.
When you live in the past God cannot help you today and when you live for tomorrow you will not hear His voice today. Plan for the future but let the focus rest in this day because God is here as the Great I Am.
IV. God proves His faithfulness day in and day out – daily bread
God sets His supply out each and every day for us and we far too often fail to recognize it. We fail to see just what God has done for us.
The best example of this comes out of the Old Testament during the early days of Israel’s freedom from slavery. God sent bread from heaven down to the people of Israel called Manna. Manna was God’s way of supplying for the needs of His people and God sent the Manna each day with more than enough to care for every person. God even sent extra for Friday so that the people would not have to gather on the Sabbath. However, if someone tried to gather more than they needed for the day it would spoil, with the exception of Friday because of the Sabbath.
Why did God chose to operate this way? Wouldn’t it have been easier to send it once a week or once a month or once a year? What was the point? God was building the faith of the people one day at a time by continuously proving His faithfulness.
There is an old hymn that captures the truth of this in a truly beautiful way. Great is Thy Faithfulness.
The real issue of daily bread is looking at the faithfulness God has shown you in the past and placing our personal trust in God that he will be faithful in this day.
So as we close this morning, let me ask you a few simple questions. When push comes to shove, do you really trust God? Where the rubber meets the road and life gets hard, do you really trust God? When the daily grind wears you out, do you really trust God?
This morning put your trust fresh and new in the hands of the One and Only God who is faithful and true. He is waiting for you, so why not make your way to the altar this morning to meet with Him?
