By including this in the Lord’s Prayer Jesus does two things, first he reminds us that we are completely dependent upon God for life. Remember how the Lord’s Prayer starts, Our Father – God is the creator of all life. God is the one who breathes into us the breath of life and then God continues to make life in this world possible by giving us air to breath and water to drink and bread to eat. So we are dependent upon God, but including this in the context of the Lord’s Prayer also reminds us that God longs to provide for us. God doesn’t give us bread grudgingly or reluctantly, God does it joyfully and generously. God is the Father who loves us so much that he can’t wait to provide for us here and now which means we can confidently and boldly ask God for bread. Jesus teaches us this in his sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:9-10. So Jesus reminds in the Lord’s Prayer that all life comes from God and that God’s desire is to provide for all life by giving us what we need.
As we reflect on this part of the Lord’s Prayer, I want us to reflect on three specific questions:
• How does God give us bread?
• Why are we to ask for daily bread?
• What exactly does Jesus mean when he says bread?
Jesus tells us that we need to ask God for bread, but then how does God provide us this bread? For that matter, how does God provide us with any material thing in this world? The answer is through the hard work and giving hands of others. Let’s just think about a loaf of bread – how does God provide this bread for us. First there are farmers who plant the seed, pray for rain, tend their crops in order to harvest the grain. Next there are all the people involved in transporting that grain to mills where another group of people process the grain into flour. More people then transport that flour to bakeries where yet another group of people turn the flour into bread and then one final time it is transported to stores and restaurants where we are able to purchase it and then finally eat it. So think about all the hands involved in placing this bread in our hands: farmers, truck drivers, millers, bakers, more truck drivers, store clerks, waitresses. Dozens of hands have worked somewhere in this process of God providing us bread.
So God uses the hands and hard work of others to give us bread which means that God will also use us to help provide bread for others. When we pray, give us this day our daily bread, we aren’t just asking God to feed us, we are also saying that we will work to help feed others. So how is God calling us to help provide bread for those who are hungry around the world? According to the website www.bread.org close to 1 billion people go hungry every day. Every day 16,000 children die of hunger related causes; that is one child every five seconds or 12 children every minute. We have been in worship for about 40 minutes which means that 480 children have died of hunger related causes while we have been here. Now the truth is that there is no shortage of food in the world; there is simply a problem with food distribution. Some places have too much while other places have too little. For example, some nations have battled the reality of widespread starvation for generations while we in the US struggle with the epidemic of obesity. Some countries have too much and others have too little.
Now the problems of why some nations continue to suffer with chronic starvation are complex and we won’t be able to solve them by simply shipping them grain or even bread, the question we have to ask ourselves is if we are we willing to do what we can to help those who are hungry both here and around the world? Are we willing to give our hands to God so he can use them to provide bread? Our own local food bank serves over 350 families every month. There are over 800 people in our own community who are hungry each day and when they pray, give us this day our daily bread, we need to become the answer to their prayers. What are we willing to do this week to help feed those who are hungry both here and around the world? Last week we heard that every time a hungry person is fed we see the God’s kingdom come to earth and if we pray – thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth – then we need to be part of that work and help to bring in God’s kingdom. So what can we do and what can we do as a church to help feed those who are hungry? I want to invite you to check out the next steps and see if there are ways God can use you to give bread to those in need.
So when we pray, give us this day our daily bread, we are first acknowledging that God is the one who gives us what we need in life, but we are also saying that we understand God works through many people to provide what we need which means God will at times work through us to provide for others. So give us this day our daily bread requires us to not only receive from God hands but be willing to be the hands of God for others.
The next thing we want to look at is this word daily. We don’t ask God for weekly, monthly or yearly bread but for daily bread because we need to learn what it means to be dependent upon God. Why we need to ask God for what we need day by day is explained well in Proverbs 30:8-9. So the problem is that if we accumulate too much we begin to think that we don’t need God to provide for us. When our cupboards and pantries are stocked full of food we don’t stop and think about how we need God to provide us with bread each and every day, but the truth is that we do. Not only do we need God for food each day, but we are dependent upon God for everything we need each day. Each day we need God to keep the earth spinning in its orbit and the sun and moon to follow in their paths. Each day we need plants to produce the oxygen and process our carbon dioxide. The truth is that each day we need God and are dependent upon God for survival and asking God for daily bread reminds us of this.
Using this idea of daily bread as a reminder that we are completely dependent on God goes back to the story of Moses and the Israelites. The people of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for generations and during that time they had forgotten what it was like to depend upon God for all they needed in life. While they had to work hard as slaves in Egypt, it was their Egyptian masters who gave them what they needed to survive. When God finally set his people free from Egypt and began to lead them into the Promised Land, the people didn’t know how to depend upon God, so God taught them through the gift of daily bread.
When the people of Israel woke up each morning they would go out and find manna on the ground. They would collect this manna which they then made into bread and it was this bread that physically sustained them for 40 years, but they couldn’t gather more than what they needed for each day. If they tried to gather more than what they needed and kept it in a jar until the next morning, the manna would spoil during the night. By providing manna one day at a time God was teaching his people how to trust him and depend upon him for all that they needed in life.
We need to learn this same lesson. When we accumulate more than what we need for today it becomes easy for us to say in our hearts that we don’t really need God to provide for us. It’s too easy to just not think about God when we have all that we need, which is why God calls us to ask God for daily bread. This is a reminder that we do need God every day. Give us this day our daily bread reminds us not once but twice (this day and daily) that we are dependent on God every day.
So we ask God to give us what we need because He is the One who created us and sustains and longs to provide for us and we ask God to give us what we need day by day so that we will learn to trust God and not live life trusting in our own strength and ability and then finally what we ask for is bread. Again, notice that bread is the only physical thing Jesus tells us to ask for in this prayer and while bread here does mean bread, the actual food we need to survive in this world, it doesn’t just mean physical bread. Jesus himself said that we will not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, so daily bread isn’t just physical food, it also includes spiritual food and the spiritual food we need is Jesus himself.
In John 6:35 Jesus says, I am the bread of life, so the daily bread we need isn’t just food it’s also Jesus and the presence and power of God that Jesus offers us. Just as manna was the symbol of God’s presence and power and provision for his people, so is Jesus. Jesus is the presence of God in our world and in our hearts and Jesus is the power of God in our lives and through his power Jesus helps provide for all that we need. So how do we partake of this spiritual bread?
Jesus said this bread was every word that comes from the mouth of God – so God’s written word in the scriptures is one way we can consume spiritual bread, but God’s word also comes through the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts and minds in times of prayer and silence and reflection. The spiritual bread that sustains us can also be worship and praise, it can be service and fellowship with others and it can be the inspiration and encouragement we get from one another in the body of Christ. Jesus offers us spiritual bread in many ways; the question is whether or not we chose to eat this bread because if we aren’t, we aren’t growing in our faith.
Have you ever fasted from food for a day? Maybe you did it for health reasons like a blood test or upcoming surgery, or maybe you did it for spiritual reasons, either way, have you ever gone without food for 24 hours? How did you feel? Did you feel strong and energized and full of life? Were you focused and ready to move forward? Many times fasting takes a lot out of us physically and emotionally and after 24 hours of no food we can become grumpy, irritable, short tempered, tired, unfocused and ineffective. I spent a semester in college fasting one day a week and as much as I tried to have a positive attitude through that time, the truth was I was miserable on those days and you probably didn’t want to be around me. Now think about fasting for a week. Literally no food for a week – would you be feeling strong and vital? Would you be focused and ready to take on all the problems of your life and job and family and community and world?
My guess is that most of us would be exhausted and ineffective after going without food for a week and we would never do this, but many of us do this each and every week – spiritually. Too many of us come to worship on Sunday and we feast on the spiritual bread God provides. We worship and pray and consume God’s word together in fellowship and we leave energized and ready to live out our faith with passion and conviction, but then we forgo the daily spiritual bread God provides and slowly the passion and conviction and energy fades away. We need daily spiritual bread to sustain our faith. We need daily spiritual bread if we want to grow and develop our faith.
So as we close this morning, I want to invite you to try an experiment. This week take some time every day to consume the spiritual bread God provides and set your menu today. Decide the days you will feast on God’s word and the days you will center on prayer. Set aside time to serve God this week and even make time for quiet reflection to hear the whispers of God’s Holy Spirit. For the next 7 days try eating the spiritual bread God provides every day and feast on the living bread of a deeper relationship with Jesus and see how you feel this time next week. If you need some resources there are devotionals available as you leave, or you can go to any number of online devotional sites and have messages sent to your computer or smart phone. Put times of prayer on your calendar and maybe at least once during the week spend time in fellowship with God’s people to be nourished by the body of Christ.
When we pray, give us this day our daily bread, we aren’t just asking God to give us physical food to nourish our bodies, we are also asking for spiritual food that will nourish our souls and strength our faith. God provides this food, he can’t wait to provide this food – will we consume it?
Give us this day our daily bread reminds us that we are completely dependent upon God for all that we need in life, physically and spiritually, so let us ask God to give us what we need today and in each and every day to come and when we ask – let’s remember that God, as our Father will provide - so let’s be ready to eat.
Would you pray with me…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. AMEN
Next Steps: Give us this day our daily bread.
How have you seen God provide for your needs over the course of your life? Identify 2 or 3 examples of God’s direct provision for you and your family. Thank God for these!
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In Mark 6:35-37 Jesus told his disciples to feed those who were hungry and today God still calls us to be part of how He provides food for others. Who is God challenging you to feed physically? Spiritually? How will you respond?
Help provide bread for the 1 billion people who are hungry around the world by supporting our local food bank or ministries like WorldVision, Compassion, or Bread for the World
Reflect on Proverbs 30:8-9. When has having too much caused you to turn away from God? When has having too little caused you to take matters into your own hands and not trust God? How do you balance planning for the future and trusting God for today?
Jesus quoted Moses when he said, one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 8:3) In what ways can God nourish us spiritually? Many of us only feast on this bread once a week (on Sunday)? How can you feast on this bread every day this week? Set your menu today:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:
