Naylor Community Christian Church
I. Introduction
--
turn in Bibles to Matthew 6:9-13
Matthew 6:9 “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.’
--
back when Col Sanders was still alive, Kentucky Fried Chicken was going through
bad times -- for three straight months, he watched as sales of chicken in his
restaurants continued to drop -- so, he one day, he gets an idea and he calls
up the Pope and asks for a favor.
--
The Pope said, "What can I do?" -- Colonel Sanders said, "I need
you to change the daily prayer from, 'Give us this day our daily bread' to
'Give us this day our daily chicken'. If you do it, I'll donate $10 million dollars
to the Vatican."
--
The Pope replied, "I am sorry. That is the Lord's prayer and I cannot
change the words."
--
So, Colonel Sanders hangs up -- After another month of dismal sales, the
Colonel panics, and calls again. -- "Listen your Excellency. I really need
your help. I'll give you $50 million dollars if you change the words of the
daily prayer from 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our
daily chicken.'"
--
The Pope responded, "It is very tempting, Colonel Sanders. The church
could do a lot of good with that much money. It would help us support many
charities. But, again, I must decline. It is the Lord's prayer, and I can't
change the words."
--
So the Colonel gives up again. After two more months of terrible sales. the
Colonel gets desperate. -- "This is my final offer, your Excellency. If
you change the words of the daily prayer from, 'Give us this day our daily
bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken', I will donate $100 million to
the Vatican."
--
The Pope replied, "Let me get back to you." -- The next day, the Pope
called together all of his bishops and he said, "I have some good news and
I have some bad news. The good news is that KFC is going to donate $100 million
to the Vatican." -- The bishops rejoice at the news. Then one of them
asked what the bad news was -- The Pope replied, "The bad news is that we
lost the Wonder Bread account."
--
this morning, we're going to be continuing our series on the Lord's Prayer and
we're going to be looking at the fourth petition to God in this model prayer
that Jesus gave us
--
we find it here in Matthew 6: 11 -- "Give us this day our daily
bread"
--
as we go through this, notice that this is the only place in this entire model prayer
where we actually ask God to give us something tangible in our lives -- in the
first part of the prayer, Jesus taught us to praise God and to pray that His
kingdom and His will would be made manifest on earth as it is in heaven
--
in the rest of this prayer, Jesus tells us to ask for forgiveness and
protection from temptation and sin and evil
--
but here in this petition, we are asking God to give us our daily bread -- we’ll
talk more about that in a minute -- but see that this is the only place where
we make our daily needs known to God
--
out of all the petitions in this prayer, I think this is the one that is the
most misunderstood
--
although it seems so simple on the surface, when we cry out to God to give us,
this day, our daily bread, it means so much more than that
--
this request is carrying with it a multitude of requests to God wrapped up in
that one phrase, “our daily bread,” and it requires an expression of true faith
and trust in Him as the God who will provide for all our needs
--
so, there are two main things we need to understand and see in this petition
that Jesus gave us in this prayer
II. Our Daily Bread
--
first, we need to understand what is meant by the term "our daily
bread" -- as Voltaire said, “If you would speak with me, first define your
terms” -- and that is important -- what did Jesus mean when He told us to ask
God to give us our daily bread?
--
I opened with the joke about Col Sanders wanting to change the prayer from our
daily bread to our daily chicken just to help make you aware that this petition
is really not just about food -- it's not about us just getting something to
eat for the day -- it's about something more than that
--
in the wilderness when Satan tried to tempt Jesus to turn the stones into
bread, Jesus said, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.' -- this shows us that this request is about
more than just bread alone, because that is not all we need to survive -- we
need more than bread -- and this prayer recognizes that -- it is a cry to God to
provide everything we need for the day -- not just food -- but everything else
that we might need -- even what we are not aware of
--
so, when we pray this petition from the Lord’s Prayer, it is a recognition of
our reliance on God for all our needs -- it is about recognizing our dependence
on God -- and God alone -- for our daily sustenance -- for all the things that
we need to keep us alive both physically and spiritually -- and we all know
that we need more than just food to live
--
when you pray, "Give us our daily bread," you are asking God to
provide all the physical things that you need to stay alive -- food -- water --
air -- a place to live -- a place to sleep -- clothing -- protection from the
elements -- protection from sickness and disease -- all the other physical
things that you need in your life just to survive
--
but it means more than that, too -- as Jesus pointed out, "Man does not
live on bread alone" -- and when we pray this prayer, it means that we are
asking for the other things in our life that we need each and every day
--
the things that make life worth living -- family -- friends -- love -- mercy --
forgiveness -- grace -- daily communion with our God and our Creator -- the
very word of God spoken into our lives and into us
--
when you pray, "our daily bread" -- you are asking God to give you
everything that you need to stay alive -- both physically and spiritually --
and it means that you are trusting in God's power and ability to provide what
you need on a daily basis
III. Give Us This Day
--
the second thing that I think Jesus wants us to recognize in this phrase is the
timing of the request and how that demonstrates our faith in God -- He tells us
to pray, “Give us this day” -- not tomorrow -- not the day after -- today
--
like I said, in its most basic form, this petition is a cry of faith in God --
it is a cry of trust in the power of God to sustain us and give us exactly what
we need in our lives when we need it -- not worrying about the future, but
trusting God in the moment and putting the future in His hands
--
God's desire is to bring us to the point where we are in total dependence on
Him for all the things in our life -- to bring us to the point where we don't
worry about the future or what we will eat or what we will wear because we
trust in Him and in His providence on a daily basis
--
a marvelous picture of this is seen in the Old Testament, and when Jesus taught
this prayer to His disciples during the Sermon on the Mount, I expect that they
immediately thought about this example -- about God providing food to the
Israelites in the desert
--
as you probably remember, after God had led the Israelites out of Egypt and
across the Red Sea, they were in the wilderness and they didn't have any food
-- the people complained to Moses and Moses prayed to God to provide food for
the nation of Israel
--
in Exodus 16:4, it reads, "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."
--
and the next morning, the Bible says that after the dew was gone, the
Israelites saw flakes like frost covering the ground -- they didn't know what
it was -- so Moses told them, "This is the bread that the Lord has
provided to you" -- they called it "manna" and noted that it
tasted like wafers made with honey
--
God used the giving of the manna to teach the children of Israel to trust in
His divine providence each day -- to not try to store up for themselves
treasures on earth or stockpile food for rainy days -- He wanted them to trust
Him to provide daily
--
so, the Bible tells us that the manna would only last for one day -- if the
Israelites tried to hoard it keep it for more than one day, it would rot and
maggots would fill the jar where the manna was kept -- so, every single day,
the Israelites would have to get up and gather enough manna -- enough bread --
to sustain them for that day
--
God provided their daily bread on a daily basis -- teaching them that He would
meet all their needs when they came up and not before -- teaching them not to
worry but to trust in Him
--
we have a hard time trusting God like that, don't we? -- we find it hard to
trust God to provide our needs on a daily basis -- whether that’s food or money
or whatever it is -- we want a security blanket -- we want to know that we’ve
got enough stored away somewhere to see us through just in case God doesn’t
provide -- and, so, we spend a lot of time worrying about what might happen in
the future
--
I know that this is something that I struggle with in my own life -- there's
not much that I'm good at, but I am good at worrying -- the Apostle Paul said
that he was the chief of sinners -- I'm the chief of worriers -- I can come up
with more gloom and doom predictions of the future and more things to worry
about than anyone else
--
but God is working on me -- and He's trying to get me to see that I should
trust in Him every day to provide what I need and not to worry about the future
but to simply trust in Him -- to simply pray, "Give us this day our daily
bread" and trust that He will bring it to pass -- to trust that, no matter
what is going on in the world, God is still in control and He will take care of
us and give us what we need when we need it, and not a moment before
--
worrying about the future and a lack of true faith in God was a problem with
the disciples, too
--
look down at verse 25 here in Matthew 6
Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell
you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your
body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away
in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more
valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your
life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about
clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one
of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here
today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe
you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or
‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek
first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to
you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
--
after teaching them to pray and to trust God to provide, Jesus makes a point
here of telling His disciples not to worry about the things of life
--
in essence, He was saying, "God knows what you need -- and God knows when
you need it -- and when you pray to Him and make your needs known to Him then
He will meet those needs on His timetable
--
you'll have the food to eat when you need it -- the water to drink when you
need it -- the clothes to wear when you need them -- if God provides all that
to the birds and to the plants, don't you think He'll take care of you, too --
if God provided manna for the Israelites every single day, don't you think He
will provide what you need, too -- so don't worry about tomorrow -- just ask
Him to give you what you need for this day -- and trust that He will provide”
--
the same principle that Jesus is teaching here holds true in our spiritual
lives, as well -- have you ever heard the phrase, "grace for the
moment?" -- that means that God doesn't give you grace to get through a
situation until you need it -- but when you need it, then He will give it to
you in abundance
--
a few years back, I was reading the book, “Tortured for Christ,” an
autobiographical account by Rev. Richard Wurmbrand of his time in a Romanian
prison suffering torture and abuse because of his faith in Christ -- Rev.
Wurmbrand points out that he did not know if he would have the strength to
withstand the torture and the imprisonment -- he worried that he wouldn’t be
able to bear what he was going to face -- but God gave him the strength at just
the moment he needed it and Rev. Wurmbrand survived his ordeal and went on to develop
the worldwide ministry “Voice of the Martyrs,” which ministers to Christians who
are being persecuted for their faith, just as he was
--
that's exactly what He does for us, too -- God doesn't give you the grace and
the strength to deal with a death in your family until you face a death in your
family -- He doesn't give you the grace and strength to face a severe sickness
until you actually come face to face with that sickness -- He doesn't give you
the grace and strength to withstand anything until you actually need it -- that
is why it says in Lamentations 3:23, "God's compassions and mercies are
new every morning" -- they come to us just like the manna did to the
ancient Israelites -- every day, exactly when we need it
--
that’s why Jeff Shreve, a preacher who’s on WAFT in the morning at 6:30 am,
says that he likes to call God by the name, Jehovah Nick of Time, because He
always provides in the nick of time, just when you need His help -- He’s never
early -- He’s never late -- but He provides for us when the need arises
--
I can give you story after story of times like this in my life -- of when I was
needing something and didn’t know how I was going to get it -- like the time we
were running short on money and had a bill that had to be paid and I just
couldn’t pay it -- and I was praying about it while I was driving -- I stopped
at the mailbox -- and someone had sent me a card with a check in it that covered
the whole amount of the bill -- and it was almost to the penny -- I think it
was for like $0.05 more than I needed
--
but that’s the way God works -- He knew the need -- He knew the amount -- and
when I prayed, “God, give me this day what I need,” He provided in the moment I
needed it and gave me exactly what I was praying for -- Jehovah Nick of Time
--
that’s the heart of this petition in the Lord’s Prayer -- when we pray,
"Give us this day, our daily bread" -- we are also asking for God to
give us the grace that we need to make it through that day -- He knows exactly
what trials and tribulations and temptations that we are going to face that day
-- and He knows what we need for that day -- whether it’s spiritual or physical
or emotional -- and He’s going to give it to us at the moment we need it
--
it would do no good for Him to give us grace now to handle a situation that may
come up in the future -- it’s not like we can stockpile grace or strength or anything
else -- that is why Jesus tells us in verse 34, "don't worry about
tomorrow -- today has enough troubles of its own"
--
when we pray, “Give us this day, our daily bread,” we’re making the statement
that we trust God to deliver what we need, when we need it -- whether that’s
for our physical, our emotional, or our spiritual needs
IV. Closing
-- I want to close by sharing
with you the story of one of my heroes in the faith -- Brother Andrew -- Andrew
is known as "God's Smuggler" and you can read his autobiography in
the book by this same title
-- Andrew is not a
seminary-trained minister -- he's just a common man like you and me -- but a
man with extraordinary faith that God has used in extraordinary ways
-- when Andrew finally
responded to God's call and became a Christian, he left his native Holland to
go to England to attend missionary training at WEC -- the Worldwide
Evangelization Crusade
-- it was there he learned to
truly trust in God and lean on faith in his daily life and what it means to
pray, “Give us this day, our daily bread”
-- the focus of WEC was to
teach the students to trust God for everything -- in one exercise of trust,
Andrew and four other students were told to go on a missionary tour of Scotland
-- the students were each given a one-pound banknote -- in today’s dollars,
that would be about $20 -- and from that $20 they were given, they were
responsible for paying for all of their expenses on the trip -- their lodging
-- their transportation -- their food -- everything -- and were told to never,
ever ask for money from anyone to support them -- they were to depend on the
Lord to mee all their needs -- in addition, when they got back, they were told
they would have to return the $20 to the organization
-- one day they were holding
meetings in Edinburgh and decided to host a tea party for a group of young
people they were witnessing to -- the only problem was they had no tea, no
cake, no bread and butter, and only five cups, way short of the number of
people who were coming to the gathering
-- the young people they were
ministering to volunteered to bring everything but the cake -- so, the young
missionaries in training had everything they needed for their tea party, except
for the cake -- and, as Andrew put it, "without cake, these Scottish boys
and girls wouldn't consider tea, tea." -- their gathering would be a
disappointment
-- So that night the
missionary group prayed a very specific prayer: "Lord, from somewhere
we've got to get a cake. We don’t have the money to pay for it. We don’t know how to get it. Will you help us?"
--
by this time, Andrew and the other four young men had started to truly believe
and trust in God and His ability to provide what was needed -- so that night
they went to bed expecting to wake up and find the cake ready for the party
-- but morning came -- no cake
-- they waited for God to send a heavenly messenger to their door bearing a
cake as a present -- no one came
-- the morning mail came --
they ripped open two letters, expecting to find money inside to be used to buy
the cake -- there was none
-- a woman from a nearby
church came by to see if she could help -- Andrew said they all wanted to say,
"Bake us a cake," but they trusted God and swallowed their words and
shook their heads -- "Everything is in God's hands," they said
--
the tea was scheduled for four o’clock in the afternoon -- at three, the tables
were set, but they still had no cake -- Three-thirty came and went -- they put
water on to boil
-- three-forty-five -- fifteen
minutes before the young people would arrive -- the doorbell rang -- they
opened the door and the mailman was standing there with a large package
-- he told them that the
package had just come in and that even though the delivery day was over, he
said it felt like a food package and he hated to leave a perishable package
overnight at the post office -- so, he brought it on over on his way home
-- they took the package and
closed the door and saw that it was addressed to Andrew from a woman in London
-- they handed it to him and stared at him with expectant eyes
--
let me read you what Andrew wrote about this experience in his book, and I’m
quoting here:
"I took the package and carefully
unwrapped it -- Off came the twine -- Off came the brown outside paper --
Inside, there was no note -- only a large white box.
"Deep in my soul I knew that I could
afford the drama of lifting the lid slowly -- As I did, there, in perfect
condition, to be admired by five sets of wondering eyes, was an enormous,
glistening, moist, chocolate cake."
-- And thus began a life of
trust -- Brother Andrew learned to trust God for every provision he ever
needed, big or small -- he learned to trust that God would provide his needs
exactly when Andrew needed it, and not a moment before
--
He trusted God when he took Bibles across hostile borders -- He trusted God to
blind the eyes of border guards who searched his car for illegal gospel tracts
-- He trusted God to provide the resources needed to carry the gospel to people
living in bondage behind the Iron Curtain -- and he continues to trust God
today as he ministers to Muslims in the middle East
-- Brother Andrew is an
example of someone who understands what it means to pray, “Give us this day,
our daily bread,” in true faith and trust in God
--
when you pray that prayer, remember that this is more than just a request for
food for the day -- it is a demonstration of our faith and trust in God to provide
for all our needs for that very day -- whether those needs are physical, or
emotional, or spiritual
--
it is a reminder for us to put our lives and our future in God’s hands -- to
not worry about tomorrow -- to not worry about the future -- but to trust God
in the moment and to put our faith in Him, no matter how dark the days ahead
might seem -- knowing that God is going to provide what we need at the very
moment we need it -- just remember, Jehovah Nick of Time always provides
--
before we close in prayer, let me share one more thought with you about this
prayer -- this is prayer that Jesus obviously intended we pray at the start of
every day -- it would make no sense to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,”
after the day had passed
--
but remember, for the Israelites, the new day began in the evening, right
before they would get ready to go to bed -- their day began at 6:00 pm, and
ended at 6:00 pm the next day
--
so, when they prayed this prayer, “Give us this day, our daily bread,” they
went to sleep -- and Jesus is telling them to sleep in peace -- trusting in
faith in the God who would provide -- they didn’t need to worry about what they
would eat or what they would need after they woke up -- because God was already
there and all their needs would be met
--
it’s an enormous demonstration of faith to pray a prayer like this before you
go to sleep, when you can do nothing on your own to bring about answers to your
need -- and all you can do is trust in God to provide
--
we look at time differently than the Israelites -- we start our day in the
morning and end it at night -- but the same principle holds -- when we pray this
prayer -- when we cry out, “Give us this day, our daily bread,” we need to do
so in the peace and in the trust that comes through our faith in God to provide
--
so, let’s close in prayer to the One who knows our needs -- who meets our needs
-- and who provides for us every day what it is that we need to get through that
day -- let us put our faith and trust in Him and rest in His goodness and grace
--
let us pray
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