SPEAKER_00: Have you ever stood in front of a refrigerator, stared inside for a full minute or so, closed the door, walk away, then come back 30 seconds later and open the door again, hoping that in those 30 seconds someone just magically restocked the refrigerator and found you found something that you were looking for.
SPEAKER_00: I think we've all done it.
SPEAKER_00: Food is something that we think about every single day.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us, multiple times a day, you know, we never say, you know, I ate last Thursday, so I'm guess I guess that I'm good for the month.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need to eat anymore.
SPEAKER_00: We know that every day we need food to live on.
SPEAKER_00: And as we will see, Jesus uses this ordinary reality to teach us an extraordinary lesson.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we expect, as we've been walking through the Lord's Prayer, we expect for Jesus to teach us how to pray for heavenly things.
SPEAKER_00: We expect him to teach us how to pray for things like forgiveness and for his kingdom to come.
SPEAKER_00: And he does, as we we've been walking through the prayer, he does teach us those things, but then he surprises us when he tells us to pray for today's bread.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you think he points that out?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because every meal is meant to remind us that we are completely dependent upon our Heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_00: For the past few weeks, we have been looking at how we are to open up our prayers.
SPEAKER_00: First, we are taught by Jesus that we are to come to God like a child does a father.
SPEAKER_00: This acknowledges both God's position and our position.
SPEAKER_00: He is the Father and we are his children.
SPEAKER_00: He is God, he is Lord of all creation, he is transcendent and majestic and holy, yet he invites all of those who are adopted into his family through Jesus Christ to approach him as a father.
SPEAKER_00: This is the posture that we must have as we approach God in our prayers.
SPEAKER_00: And the first thing that we are to ask for or petition for is that his name be hallowed throughout all the earth, that his name be glorified amongst the peoples.
SPEAKER_00: This is a prayer for his name to be set apart and for it to be reverenced and honored and magnified and praised throughout all of creation.
SPEAKER_00: And last week we looked at the second petition, which is your kingdom come.
SPEAKER_00: This is a prayer for God's reign and his rule to break into this world.
SPEAKER_00: This is a prayer that our hearts would be ruled by King Jesus, that King Jesus would come and rule and take control of our hearts, that God's reign would be realized and established throughout all of creation.
SPEAKER_00: It's a prayer that the gospel of the kingdom of God would advance throughout the nations and that the full consummation of his kingdom would finally come and be complete at his second coming.
SPEAKER_00: So today we're looking at the next petition, which is give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: You will notice that our prayers begin with eternal things.
SPEAKER_00: They start with a concern for the name of God and the glory of God and the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Before we get to us and our needs, we begin our prayers with God and his glory.
SPEAKER_00: The scope of our prayers is wide before it is narrow.
SPEAKER_00: They are outward before they are inward.
SPEAKER_00: Before we get to physical things that pertain to us, we begin our prayers with spiritual things that pertain to God.
SPEAKER_00: But in our prayers, God does want us to come to Him for our physical needs.
SPEAKER_00: And as we will see next week, for our spiritual needs as well.
SPEAKER_00: The first petition pertaining to us is give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: Now, daily bread in ancient times was often used as a metaphor for daily provisions.
SPEAKER_00: It's not meant only for bread or food alone, but for every other necessity: clothes, shelter, and other things that we need to live off of.
SPEAKER_00: So, simply put, this is a prayer for God to provide for everything that we need.
SPEAKER_00: If we were to be honest, it's what most people think of when we think of prayer, right?
SPEAKER_00: Asking God for things, asking Him to provide, or asking Him to give us what we need.
SPEAKER_00: But why does Jesus teach us to pray this again?
SPEAKER_00: Because there's an interesting thing that he says, or that he teaches, uh, in Matthew chapter 6, before he teaches the Lord's Prayer, and I'm going to read it in Matthew 6, verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: Before he teaches the Lord's Prayer in Matthew, he says this, and when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be like them.
SPEAKER_00: For your father knows what you need before you ask him.
SPEAKER_00: Your father knows what you need before you ask him.
SPEAKER_00: If God knows what we need before we ask him, why ask him?
SPEAKER_00: My kids don't have to ask me to eat every day.
SPEAKER_00: It's expected.
SPEAKER_00: They might say it's time to eat.
SPEAKER_00: Or they might ask, when are we going to eat?
SPEAKER_00: But they aren't going to ask for something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: They know that it will be provided.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God is a better father than me.
SPEAKER_00: He's better than any earthly father, and he knows and has the power to take care of his children better than any earthly father.
SPEAKER_00: So why do we need to ask?
SPEAKER_00: Why do we need to ask him for our needs?
SPEAKER_00: Surely he doesn't forget, and surely he cares for our needs, and surely he's pleased to provide for us when we ask.
SPEAKER_00: So why ask?
SPEAKER_00: Well, there must be something that Jesus is trying to teach us in asking God to give us our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: It's not that God needs to be reminded about where our bread comes from.
SPEAKER_00: We're the ones that need that reminder.
SPEAKER_00: Asking God for our daily bread teaches and does something in the heart of the Christian.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what I want to unpack for us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: What does praying give us each day our daily bread do for us?
SPEAKER_00: And I want to point out six things.
SPEAKER_00: I know you might be thinking, you usually give us three.
SPEAKER_00: How long is the sermon going to be?
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: These six are not usually as long as my other points.
SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to point out six things.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, it acknowledges who provides.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, it acknowledges who sustains.
SPEAKER_00: Number three, it keeps us from worry.
SPEAKER_00: Number four, it keeps us content.
SPEAKER_00: Number five, it directs our heart to others.
SPEAKER_00: And number six, it directs our heart to God's promises.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at that first one.
SPEAKER_00: It acknowledges who provides.
SPEAKER_00: This is the first thing we learn and we are reminded about when we pray to God for our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: We are acknowledging that all of our needs are provided for by God, that everything that we need to live on is supplied to us by our Heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_00: Though we know this, we are tempted to forget it.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, the daily bread is what we need to live on.
SPEAKER_00: It is bare necessities.
SPEAKER_00: These are the things that we often take for granted.
SPEAKER_00: We usually pray for the extra things, right?
SPEAKER_00: We pray for the things above and beyond our needs.
SPEAKER_00: When we're desperate, we might pray for needs, but what about those times when we're not?
SPEAKER_00: What about when everything is all well and good?
SPEAKER_00: What about when we're not worried where our next meal is going to come from or we're not worried how the bills are going to get paid this month?
SPEAKER_00: Do we pray to God for our necessities then?
SPEAKER_00: You see why it's, I say it's often tempting to forget about these things because when we're not desperate and when we know that we have what we need to live, we we overlook God for those things.
SPEAKER_00: But this prayer directs our heart and it says, Lord, I take nothing for granted.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Lord, I'm dependent upon you for everything, from the great things and the big things, but also down to the small things.
SPEAKER_00: This prayer redirects our the glory, if you will.
SPEAKER_00: Because we can easily take the glory for our own provisions.
SPEAKER_00: We can easily say, Well, I supply for my own needs.
SPEAKER_00: After all, I'm the one who gets up early and goes to work.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the one who comes home tired from an eight-hour day.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the one who went to school all of those years to land the job that I have.
SPEAKER_00: It was me who developed the skills to earn this job and to make a living.
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like you should be praying, Lord, give me myself my daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: You see, it's easy to place our dependence in the wrong places and the wrong things.
SPEAKER_00: We too easily place our dependence on our efforts and our skills and our experience.
SPEAKER_00: And we start trusting those things more than we start trusting God.
SPEAKER_00: And we say that those are the things that put food on my table.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're not careful, that's where our hope is going to be.
SPEAKER_00: Our hope is going to be not in God, not in his abilities, not in his power, not in his strength, not in his glory, but in our own hands, in our own work, in our own effort.
SPEAKER_00: We might not say it, but we live our lives as we are independent creatures, as we are independent from God.
SPEAKER_00: When we live like we don't need God for the small things like food and clothes and shelter, then we'll say things like, God, I'll get to you when I run into some hard stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I'll get to you, Lord, and I'll come to pray to you and I'll acknowledge you when I run into some things that I can't handle.
SPEAKER_00: I'll come to you about those things, but don't worry, God, I got these things.
SPEAKER_00: I can provide for myself.
SPEAKER_00: But as Deuteronomy 8.18 says, it is the Lord who gives you power to get wealth.
SPEAKER_00: You may have woken up and gone to work, but it was the Lord who woke you up.
SPEAKER_00: It was Him who moved your employer's heart to hire you out of the countless other candidates.
SPEAKER_00: Acts 17, 24 says, the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to men, all of mankind, life and breath and everything.
SPEAKER_00: Who gives us life?
SPEAKER_00: God.
SPEAKER_00: Who gives us breath?
SPEAKER_00: God.
SPEAKER_00: Who gives us everything in life and breath?
SPEAKER_00: It is God.
SPEAKER_00: When we pray, give us each day our daily bread, we are reminding ourselves where everything that we have in this world comes from.
SPEAKER_00: The food that we eat is God's food.
SPEAKER_00: The clothes that we wear is God's clothes.
SPEAKER_00: The air that we breathe is God's air.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, without you, I would be hungry and naked and needy.
SPEAKER_00: But because you have provided for me like a child, like a father does a child, Lord, I want to thank you, Father, and I want to acknowledge you.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to ask that you would provide for me today just like you have provided for me yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing it does is it acknowledges who provides.
SPEAKER_00: Next, this prayer, give us each day our daily bread, also acknowledges who sustains.
SPEAKER_00: The prayer is not give us our bread, but it is give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a one-time petition, but a daily petition.
SPEAKER_00: We don't need his provision for yesterday's needs, we need his provision for today's needs.
SPEAKER_00: And we will need his provision for tomorrow's needs.
SPEAKER_00: How long does a does a big meal last you?
SPEAKER_00: You ever eaten one of those big lunches and you say to yourself, I ate too much.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to eat no more for the rest of the day.
SPEAKER_00: And then about 10 o'clock, you're back at that refrigerator, right?
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't last too long.
SPEAKER_00: Our bodies know that it needs to be continually fed to sustain.
SPEAKER_00: And it is the Lord who created our bodies, so he knows that as well.
SPEAKER_00: He is not only our provider, but he is also our sustainer.
SPEAKER_00: He not only gives us us life, but he also keeps us living.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah 9:6 says, You are the Lord, you alone, you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all of their hosts, the earth and all that is in it, the seas and all that is in them, and you will preserve all of them, and the host of heaven worships you.
SPEAKER_00: This prayer is a daily show of our dependence upon God.
SPEAKER_00: It is not to be prayed once a year or once a month or even once a week, but every day we are to acknowledge God as the provider and as the sustainer of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, I know that you see my needs even before I ask them.
SPEAKER_00: You know that I need to eat.
SPEAKER_00: You know that I need to eat to live.
SPEAKER_00: You know that I need clothes to keep warm.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you know that I need a roof to live under, but I'm still gonna ask because I want to remind myself and I want to remind my heart where all of this comes from.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want my heart to be deceived into thinking that I can obtain these things on my own because I know I truly can.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't provide for me today, there will be no tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Father, give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: Today's bread is for today.
SPEAKER_00: But I will need bread tomorrow as well.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not only going to come to you today, I will be back tomorrow, and I will keep coming back every day because Lord, you are the fount of all life.
SPEAKER_00: You are not only my provider, but you are also my sustainer.
SPEAKER_00: This prayer acknowledges not only who provides, but also who sustains.
SPEAKER_00: Next, it keeps us from being anxious.
SPEAKER_00: I think we've all been through a season of uncertainty when it comes to our provisions.
SPEAKER_00: We've all been through a season where we're not quite sure what tomorrow holds.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we're not sure how that bill is going to get met or paid, or how that need is going to get met.
SPEAKER_00: And those uncertainties can draw us to things like fear and doubt and anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: And they can really, I mean, if we're honest, those things can wreck our days.
SPEAKER_00: They they can weigh on our hearts and minds, and it can be all that we think about, and it can rob you of your joy, and it can rob you of your peace.
SPEAKER_00: But we also know that we know enough scripture to know that as Christians, we shouldn't be living like that.
SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't be living lives of fear and uncertainty and wondering where our provisions are going to come from.
SPEAKER_00: And one thing's that one thing that helps the Christian during those times is this prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: The prayer directs our heart to the moments, it directs our heart to today.
SPEAKER_00: We're not praying, again, we're not praying for tomorrow's provision.
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, we will pray for those tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: But today, we're praying for today's provisions.
SPEAKER_00: We're praying for today's bread.
SPEAKER_00: The prayer reminds us that we shouldn't worry about tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: It reminds us whose hands we're in at the moment.
SPEAKER_00: We're in the hands of God, the Father, the creator of all the earth.
SPEAKER_00: We're in the hands who sees our very needs.
SPEAKER_00: Look what it says in Matthew chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: A bit of a longer passage, 25, starting at verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.
SPEAKER_00: Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
SPEAKER_00: Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.
SPEAKER_00: Are you not of more value than they?
SPEAKER_00: And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life?
SPEAKER_00: And why are you anxious about clothing?
SPEAKER_00: Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
SPEAKER_00: They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
SPEAKER_00: But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you?
SPEAKER_00: O you of little faith.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What will we eat?
SPEAKER_00: Or what shall we drink?
SPEAKER_00: Or what shall we wear?
SPEAKER_00: For the Gentiles seek after those things.
SPEAKER_00: And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
SPEAKER_00: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
SPEAKER_00: Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
SPEAKER_00: A God who provides for the creatures of the field will certainly provide for the children in his home.
SPEAKER_00: And he doesn't want us worrying about where our next meal is going to come from, or what we're going to wear tomorrow, or where we're going to live for the rest of the year.
SPEAKER_00: He will take care of those things when the time comes.
SPEAKER_00: The question is: do you have something to eat today?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have clothes to wear today?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a place to go to today?
SPEAKER_00: Not will I have those things tomorrow, but do I have those things today?
SPEAKER_00: I think there's an important lesson we can overlook in this passage where Jesus tells us not to be anxious.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 32, verse 32, he says, For the Gentiles seek after these things.
SPEAKER_00: Who are the Gentiles?
SPEAKER_00: The Gentiles are not Jews in this time.
SPEAKER_00: They were those who were outside of the covenant.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, they're unbelievers.
SPEAKER_00: Now in the new covenant, God welcomes through Christ Gentiles, but here in this passage, Gentiles is used for those who do not believe.
SPEAKER_00: So we have a distinction.
SPEAKER_00: There is those who believe and those who do not believe.
SPEAKER_00: There are those who are God's children and those who are not God's children, those who are Christians and those who are not.
SPEAKER_00: Those who are Christians, those who are heathens.
SPEAKER_00: The unbeliever, the one who is not a child of God, the one who is not a Christian, is free to worry about all of those things.
SPEAKER_00: They're free to worry about tomorrow because they are not given the assurance of the provision that the children of God have.
SPEAKER_00: Now, God, through his common grace, may choose to provide for them and choose to clothe them and feed them here or there, but they have no claim to God's covenantal promises.
SPEAKER_00: But you, if you are a Christian, if you are a child of God, you are a new covenant believer.
SPEAKER_00: You are not an outsider.
SPEAKER_00: You are a part of the household of faith.
SPEAKER_00: You belong to the household of God.
SPEAKER_00: And our Father always provides what he knows his children truly need.
SPEAKER_00: Even, and this is key, when his provision comes through hardships.
SPEAKER_00: God may take you through a trial here or there to test your faith.
SPEAKER_00: He may bring you through seasons of difficulty where you are starting to worry about where your next meal is coming from.
SPEAKER_00: He will take you there.
SPEAKER_00: But remember his promise.
SPEAKER_00: His promise is to provide.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a promise for just anybody.
SPEAKER_00: This is an exclusive promise for those who are his children.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a Christian, that is you.
SPEAKER_00: And he says to you, do not be anxious about things of this life.
SPEAKER_00: Let the heathens, let the unbelievers be anxious, let the heathens worry.
SPEAKER_00: But you, I want you to trust me.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to believe in me.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to believe that I will provide for today's needs.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Look, tomorrow's not even promised to you.
SPEAKER_00: But be reminded that you're in my hands today.
SPEAKER_00: Come to me for today's needs.
SPEAKER_00: And you, child, my child, will find a father with an open hand.
SPEAKER_00: My kids never come to me on Monday and ask, Dad, what are we gonna eat next Thursday?
SPEAKER_00: They assume that when next Thursday comes, that there will be something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: Dad and mom will have food on the table.
SPEAKER_00: They don't have to worry because they trust their father.
SPEAKER_00: Now, sometimes they might ask, what are we gonna have for dinner?
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes they're not too thrilled with the answer.
SPEAKER_00: Say sometimes, most of the time, but they don't doubt they're gonna be fed.
SPEAKER_00: But I also know that's not always the case.
SPEAKER_00: I also know that we live in a broken world where fathers are absent everywhere, and single moms are left to worry about how they are going to provide for their children.
SPEAKER_00: When fathers are absent, it can cause a household to worry.
SPEAKER_00: But remember, God is not an absent father, he's not a father who has abandoned his position or his post.
SPEAKER_00: He is present and he is willing to provide for the needs of his children.
SPEAKER_00: There is no need to worry if your heavenly father will be there tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: If you wake up, he will be there.
SPEAKER_00: And even if you don't wake up, he will be there.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be troubled about things you can't control.
SPEAKER_00: God is an everlasting God.
SPEAKER_00: He is a God of yesterday, and a God of today, and a God of tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: You not so.
SPEAKER_00: You're a person of the moment.
SPEAKER_00: But God is a God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Martin Luther once said, pray and let God worry.
SPEAKER_00: I know sometimes that might sound blasphemous.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't worry, but the sentiment behind that is no need for you to worry.
SPEAKER_00: There's a need for you to pray.
SPEAKER_00: When we pray, give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: We are reminding ourselves that God has directed us to today, not tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: And we need not worry about tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: This prayer keeps us from being anxious.
SPEAKER_00: Next, it also keeps us content.
SPEAKER_00: When we pray for daily bread, again, we're praying for necessities.
SPEAKER_00: We're not praying for wants or desires.
SPEAKER_00: We're praying for things that we need to live and survive on.
SPEAKER_00: We're not commanded to pray, give us each day a bountiful feast.
SPEAKER_00: It is give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: Now, it's not wrong to pray for abundance and prosperity.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, this prayer is a model prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't include everything we're allowed to pray for, but it does include everything we should pray for.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we're free to pray for other things, but we must pray for these things.
SPEAKER_00: We must pray for our needs.
SPEAKER_00: Furthermore, this is what God has promised to supply.
SPEAKER_00: As Philippians 4.19 says, He will supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory.
SPEAKER_00: Not all of your wants according to his riches and glory, not all of your desires according to your riches and glory, his riches and glory, but all of your needs.
SPEAKER_00: Now he is free to grant you your desires.
SPEAKER_00: He is free to bless you with abundance and prosperity, and he often does, but his promise is necessities.
SPEAKER_00: His promise is to supply for our needs.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what we're commanded to pray for.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 13, 5 says, Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
SPEAKER_00: Notice how the author of Hebrews here in this verse connects contentment with God never leaving us or forsaking us.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we can trust that we have everything that we need, everything that will satisfy us, because we have God near to us.
SPEAKER_00: Because God has promised that He will never leave us.
SPEAKER_00: If God is there, we are taken care of.
SPEAKER_00: And if God is there, then we are satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: There's a story in the book of Numbers, Numbers 11, where the Israelites complained about the manna that God had provided for them in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_00: And they wanted more.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted more than what God had already provided them.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted the meat and the delicacies that they had in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: So they became gruntled and ungrateful for what God had provided for them in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_00: They began to complain.
SPEAKER_00: So what happens is God punishes them by making the meat that they wanted, that they desire to become detestable to them.
SPEAKER_00: They eventually became sick of even looking at the meat that they craved for.
SPEAKER_00: The lesson is not don't desire good things.
SPEAKER_00: The lesson is don't complain about the good things you have.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's the thing we're not always the best judge of what's good.
SPEAKER_00: We're not always the best judge of what's good for us.
SPEAKER_00: God is.
SPEAKER_00: What we think of as good and desirable might not be.
SPEAKER_00: We might be desiring meat that comes with a heavy price.
SPEAKER_00: What the Israelites failed to see was that the meat and the delicacies that they had in Egypt came with a price.
SPEAKER_00: It came with bondage.
SPEAKER_00: They might have had better food in Egypt, but the price for that food was their freedom.
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes God might keep some things that are above and beyond our means, some things that we desire.
SPEAKER_00: He knows us better than we do.
SPEAKER_00: And he knows that some of those so-called better things that we desire can someday become cruel masters to us and Lord over us.
SPEAKER_00: So he wants us to be content with what we have.
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to be happy, to receive our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the prayer directs us to.
SPEAKER_00: It keeps us satisfied in knowing I'm provided for today.
SPEAKER_00: God has taken care of me today.
SPEAKER_00: I may not have, I might not have everything that I want and everything that I desire, but praise God, I have everything that I need.
SPEAKER_00: Next.
SPEAKER_00: It directs our hearts to others.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that the prayer is not give me each day my daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: It is give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: It's not me and my.
SPEAKER_00: Meet the needs of others in the household.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I'm not only asking for my needs, but I'm also asking for the needs of my brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_00: I know they can use this, or I see they can use that.
SPEAKER_00: Would you remember them also?
SPEAKER_00: Would you see their need and would you meet their need as well?
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes we can spend our whole prayer time only praying for our own needs and our own desires, never once thinking about the needs of someone else.
SPEAKER_00: Never once praying for someone other than ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: But this is what the prayer directs us to.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is teaching us that it's not just our own needs that we need to be concerned about.
SPEAKER_00: We also need to be concerned about the needs of others.
SPEAKER_00: And we need to pray for their needs as well.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians 1, verse 3 says, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, for you all making my prayer with joy.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is saying, It brings him joy to pray for his fellow saints.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever he remembered them, it brought him great joy.
SPEAKER_00: What a loving and godly disposition to have, to have a brother or sister in the Lord brought to your mind.
SPEAKER_00: And then that very thought of them bringing you joy.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a question for you.
SPEAKER_00: Are your brothers and sisters in the Lord in your hearts and minds when you pray?
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters in the Lord, look, it's good to pray for our unsaved family and our unsaved loved ones.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul does tell Timothy prayer to pray prayers of supplication for all people.
SPEAKER_00: But in the Lord's Prayer, we find a tighter circle.
SPEAKER_00: In the Lord's prayer, we are praying for the children of God.
SPEAKER_00: Again, this is why the opening address grounds the prayer.
SPEAKER_00: By teaching us to address God as Father, Jesus is showing us that this is a prayer that is reserved for the children of God.
SPEAKER_00: And we are to pray for other children of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that leads to my last point.
SPEAKER_00: This prayer also directs our hearts to God's promises.
SPEAKER_00: As I said, when we pray, give us our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: The us and the are that we have in mind is our fellow Christians.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord's prayer is a Christian prayer because it belongs to the children of God.
SPEAKER_00: It is how the children are to speak to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And just as an earthly father has an obligation to provide for his children, God, our Heavenly Father, has put his name on providing for us.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't have to, he wasn't forced to, but by revealing himself, by the very fact of revealing himself as a father, he has out of his own free, sovereign will promised and put his name on providing for us.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we can claim, lay claim to all of our needs.
SPEAKER_00: The prayer is give us our bread, as if this bread is rightfully ours, as if we have a claim to this bread.
SPEAKER_00: We can confidently ask, confidently ask, because our Father has promised to provide for us this daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: And God, as we know, is a God who cannot lie.
SPEAKER_00: And if He has said that He will supply all of our needs, Philippians 4.19, and that everything that we need will be added to us, Matthew 6.33, then we, as his children, as children of God, can say, those things, those things there that we read about, those things that you have promised are ours.
SPEAKER_00: That is my mine, Heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_00: Would you give that to me today?
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 103, 13 says, As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
SPEAKER_00: Every good father does everything that they can to provide for their children.
SPEAKER_00: And their heart breaks.
SPEAKER_00: They do what they can, but sometimes it's not enough.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God, our heavenly father, has a bigger heart than any earthly father.
SPEAKER_00: His compassion is more, his love is stronger, his care is deeper, yet his power is greater.
SPEAKER_00: He has the means to provide for every one of his children's needs.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a question of his ableness, nor is it a question of his willingness.
SPEAKER_00: It is a question of our trust in the one who provides.
SPEAKER_00: It's a question of our faith in a good and perfect Father.
SPEAKER_00: And as Romans 10.17 says, faith comes by hearing the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: God's word is where we are going to find God's promises.
SPEAKER_00: When we pray, give us each day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: We are directing our hearts to the word of God where we are promised many things from the Father.
SPEAKER_00: We are directing our hearts to the giver of all.
SPEAKER_00: And we come with full confidence and full assurance that He will not withhold any good thing from His children.
SPEAKER_00: As we close, I want to wrap this up by saying we cannot overlook the picture of Christ in our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: Look what it says in John 6.35.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
SPEAKER_00: The reason why we can have confidence that God will provide for our temporal need is because he has provided for our eternal need.
SPEAKER_00: We can trust that he will provide for the body because he has provided for the soul.
SPEAKER_00: God has provided for our greatest need in giving us his Son, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Without food for the stomach, we would perish today.
SPEAKER_00: But without forgiveness for our sins, we will perish for eternity.
SPEAKER_00: Christ is the bread that we need for the soul.
SPEAKER_00: What must you do to live?
SPEAKER_00: You must partake of Jesus, the bread of life.
SPEAKER_00: Without that bread, there is no hope.
SPEAKER_00: You must receive it, you must believe it, and it is God the Father who is the giver of this bread.
SPEAKER_00: It is the God of all creation, the creator of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_00: It is the Father God who sent his son into the world, that whoever believes on him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Not because the Father doesn't know we need it, but because we need to be reminded that we need him.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is one of the ordinary means that God uses to accomplish his providence.
SPEAKER_00: He uses our prayers as we come to him every day.
SPEAKER_00: He will use that prayer to provide.
SPEAKER_00: As the Westminster Catechism says, God ordains not only the ends, but he also ordains the means.
SPEAKER_00: So we ask.
SPEAKER_00: We ask and we pray.
SPEAKER_00: And as we ask, we are reminding ourselves that it is God, our Father, who provides for us.
SPEAKER_00: It is God our Father who sustains us every day.
SPEAKER_00: Again, because we can get so distracted on that, we can live our lives as there is no God.
SPEAKER_00: Christians or people who call themselves Christians every day live like atheists.
SPEAKER_00: Live like there is no God.
SPEAKER_00: Live like they don't believe in God or trust in God.
SPEAKER_00: But this, if you are a Christian, this is not the way you are commanded to live.
SPEAKER_00: So the prayer directs your heart to Him who provides, to Him who sustains.
SPEAKER_00: It directs us to trust in Him, to not be anxious, to not worry about tomorrow, to remember that all we have is today.
SPEAKER_00: And because, Lord, you have given me today, and you have filled this day with your goodness, I can trust you for tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: I might not know what tomorrow might bring.
SPEAKER_00: I might not even know if I will live tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: But if I don't, I will wake up in glory and you will be there.
SPEAKER_00: We can learn in this prayer to be content for what we have today, to not be disgruntled, to not complain, but to thank you, Lord, that you have given everything that we need today.
SPEAKER_00: And also our hearts can be directed for the needs of others, for our brothers and sisters in the faith, as we see needs, we pray for needs.
SPEAKER_00: And also directed to the promises of God.
SPEAKER_00: Every promise is yes and amen in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Father, because you have given me your Son, because you have given me Jesus Christ, I will trust your faithfulness in everything else.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.