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We're in Matthew chapter 6. We're
continuing in our study of the Lord's Prayer. The fourth petition
this evening, a couple more weeks, and then, God willing, we'll
return to our studies in the Old Testament. Specifically,
we'll be in the book of Ruth. After Ruth, we'll continue on
in canonical order. We'll move on into 1 Samuel after
Ruth. So tonight, the fourth petition.
with reference to the Lord's Prayer, specifically give us
this day our daily bread. But I'll begin reading in chapter
6 at verse 1, just to remind us of the context. Take heed
that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by
them. Otherwise, you have no reward
from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable
deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory
from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they
have their reward. But when you do a charitable
deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret, and your father
who sees in secret will himself reward you openly. And when you
pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to
pray, standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets,
that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they
have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into
your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your
father who is in the secret place. And your father who sees in secret
will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use
vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they
will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like
them, for your father knows the things you have need of before
you ask him. In this manner, therefore, pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed
be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses. Moreover, when you fast, do not
be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. for they disfigure
their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly,
I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear
to men to be fasting, but to your father who is in the secret
place. And your father who sees in secret
will reward you openly. Amen. So as we have seen in the
last several weeks in our study here, the first three petitions
are God-centered in nature. We pray first for the glory of
God's name, secondly for the coming of God's kingdom, and
thirdly for the execution of God's will. So just like the
Decalogue shows a priority that God comes first, So does the
Lord's Prayer. It's those petitions that are
concerned with His name, His kingdom, and His will that we
ought to go first and foremost to the throne of grace with. But then we do find there are
man-word petitions. We see, as we'll see tonight,
first, the petition for provision, secondly, the petition for forgiveness,
and thirdly, a petition for protection. So those are the six petitions
of the Lord's Prayer. God's name, kingdom will, our
provision, forgiveness, and protection from on high. Just to remind
ourselves, Calvin's statement concerning this prayer. He says,
Christ embraces, therefore, in six petitions what we are at
liberty to ask from God. Nothing is more advantageous
to us than such instruction. Though this is the most important
exercise of piety, yet in forming our prayers and regulating our
wishes, all our senses fail us. No man will pray a rite unless
his lips and heart shall be directed by the Heavenly Master." I think
that's a great way to approach this particular prayer. Again,
they are petitions. These are things we are supposed
to ask for with reference to God and our place underneath
Him. excuse me, we petition God that
his name be hallowed by us, by our families, by our churches. We are conscious of the reality
that we don't honor his name as we ought, so we are praying
for the grace that we may honor and glorify his name. We petition
God that his kingdom come, the kingdom of grace, that in the
preaching of the gospel the word of God would go forth and sinners
would be transformed transferred from the kingdom of darkness
into the kingdom of the Son of His love. As well, we petition
God for the coming of the kingdom in glory. We long for that day
when Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven, coming with the
holy angels in the glory of His Father. As well, we petition
God that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We
are asking that God grant us grace that we may obey what he
calls us to do. The revealed will, those things
that he has given us by precept, we ask God to help us to obey
those things. We ask God to help our children,
our families, our churches. We ask God that society as a
whole would do his will as it is, do it on earth as it is in
heaven. The same is true for these man-word
petitions. We are praying specifically for
bread. We are praying specifically for
forgiveness. And we are praying specifically
for protection. So let's look at this fourth
petition. Give us this day, our daily bread,
under three considerations. First, the meaning of the petition. Secondly, the theological importance
of the petition. And thirdly, some particulars
involved in the petition. Remember, we don't just recite.
The prayer, Jesus condemns that sort of an approach to prayer.
Remember, he tells us we're not to pray like the heathen. Notice
in verse 7, he says, and when you pray, do not use vain repetitions
as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their
many words. It would make no sense that just
a few verses later the Lord Jesus wants us to employ a prayer and
use it with vain repetition. He doesn't want us simply to
take this prayer as if it was some sort of a magic spell or
some sort of an incantation that we just recite over and over
again. in an attempt to manipulate God
so that he'll do what we want. The idea is that we look at these
petitions, we roll them around in our minds and our hearts,
and we seek to find out how they apply, and we use them as main
headings with reference to prayer. So those are the three things
that we're going to look at, but I want to read the Westminster
Larger Catechism, 193. It says, what do we pray for
in the fourth petition? in the fourth petition, which
is, give us this day our daily bread, acknowledging that in
Adam, and by our own sin, we have forfeited our right to all
the outward blessings of this life, and deserve to be wholly
deprived of them by God. It's an interesting observation
I don't think we're always mindful of. The reality is, is that when
we sin against the holy God, We don't deserve good things.
We don't deserve food and shelter and clothing and happiness and
joy and blessing. We deserve God's wrath and curse
both in this life and that which is to come. So the divine says
that we acknowledge that we have forfeited our right to all the
outward blessings of this life, deserve to be wholly deprived
of them by God, and to have them cursed to us in the use of them,
and that neither they of themselves are able to sustain us, nor we
to merit, or by our own industry to procure them. but prone to
desire, get, and use them unlawfully. We pray for ourselves and others
that both they and we, waiting upon the providence of God from
day to day in the use of lawful means, may of His free gift,
and as to His fatherly wisdom shall seem best, enjoy a competent
portion of them, and have the same continued and blessed unto
us in our holy and comfortable use of them. and contentment
in them, and be kept from all things that are contrary to our
temporal support and comfort." Again, I think if you go through
the larger catechism on the Lord's Prayer and on the Ten Commandments,
there's some really excellent stuff in terms of their commentary
on these passages of Scripture. First of all, the meaning of
the petition. What it does not mean. Pastor
Martin, first of all, what it doesn't mean. Secondly, what
it does mean. I think that's an accurate way
to approach text. What it does not mean. First,
it does not mean we are to forgo labor. We must work hard because
we pray this prayer, give us this day our daily bread. The idea is not that we lay on
our couch and we hold out our hands, or we sit at our dinner
table with a napkin wrapped around our neck, holding a fork in the
one hand and a knife in the other, saying, give us this day our
daily bread, with the thought that a chicken on a plate is
going to fall right down before us. It is not a means whereby
we forego hard work. D.A. Carson says, the idea of
God giving the food in no way diminishes responsibility to
work, but presupposes not only that Jesus' disciples live one
day at a time, but that all good things, even our ability to work
and earn our food, come from God's hand. It is a lesson easily
forgotten when wealth multiplies and absolute self-sufficiency
is portrayed as a virtue. I suspect that this fourth petition
is probably one that may be neglected among Christians in North America. I mean, if we were living in
an impoverished nation where we really didn't know where our
next meal was going to come from, it probably would promote in
us a more earnest approach to utilize this fourth petition
at the throne of grace. But when we have pantries full,
and refrigerators full, and freezers in our garage, and Walmart down
the road, and Superstore down the road, and Pricemark down
the road, and Costco in the next town over, we're not always mindful
of this reality that we live in daily dependence upon the
living and the true God. But it does not mean that we
are to forgo labor. We must work hard. Secondly,
it does not mean we are not to plan and prepare. Again, we don't
just sit there with fork and knife in hand, praying this petition,
asking God to drop food onto our table. It does not mean that
we are not to plan and prepare. Proverbs 30, 24 and 25. There are four things which are
little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. What is
one of those four things? Little tiny creature. And what
is the ant known for? Preparation, hard work. This is what Proverbs say. The
ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in
the summer. This is a good thing. We are
to prepare. We are to labor diligently. We
are to use the means that God has called us to employ. So this
petition does not diminish responsibility. We'll look at more in a moment
at what the petition does mean, but for now it does not mean
we are to forego labor. It does not mean we are not to
plan and prepare. Thirdly, it does not mean that
if we shoot an animal or grow a garden, we eat a day's worth
and let the rest spoil. You know, we can be fools in
that regard as well. Well, we have to pray each and
every day, give us this day our daily bread. If God sends a moose
into our path and we're able to take it out, we don't just
take one steak from the moose, eat for that day, and then let
the rest of the meat spoil because the next day is a brand new day
and I have to evidence my dependence upon God. Listen, God has given
you a moose. He has blessed you for several
days coming. You can still pray the next day,
give us this day our daily bread. And when you sink your choppers
into that moose, you can rejoice that God has answered that prayer
for you. So we need to understand that
the petition does not remove from us all sensibility and things
that should be natural in our understanding. And then fourthly,
it does not mean a request for sacramental bread or spiritual
bread. The bread in view is physical. Now certainly we can pray, God
give us this day our daily bread in terms of the word of God.
We do not forget Deuteronomy. We do not forget Matthew. Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God. So when we pray, give us this
day our daily bread and temporal things, we also can pray, God
give us our daily bread in terms of spiritual nourishment, help
us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
The primary emphasis in this fourth petition is that God will
feed us, that God will sustain us, that God will help us to
continue in our daily lives. So those are some things that
the petition does not mean. Secondly, under the meaning of
the petition, what it does mean. It is, first of all, a petition
for temporal sustenance. Not just bread, but we also need
shelter, We need clothing. We will need medical treatment
if something befalls us in God's providence. Ryle says we ask
for bread as the simplest of our wants, and in that we include
all that our bodies require. So yes, our daily bread, but
as well our jobs, or our health, or our strength, or those things
that are necessary to keep us alive. We pray for water. We pray for, you know, physical
things that keep us connected to the life cycle. And then secondly,
it is a petition for daily needs, and then as Carson says, not
for daily greed. It is a petition designed for
our daily needs, not for our daily greed. So we are praying,
give us this day our daily bread. Not give us this day everybody's
daily bread. Give us this day a billion dollars,
because we want the best that money can buy. No, as we've seen
in our studies in 1 Timothy chapter 6. When we have food and when
we have shelter, with these we shall be content. It doesn't
specify what type of food and what type of shelter. If you're
eating enough to maintain proper brain function and body function,
and you've got shelter to keep the rain and the elements off
of you, The Lord God is blessing you. It may not be the Taj Mahal,
it may not be steak and shrimp or whatever it is that you desire,
but if God is giving you sustenance to sustain you for the day, then
He is answering this petition and is giving us, out of His
bounty, those things necessary to sustain us. Remember the Proverbs
chapter 30 verses 7 and 8. Two things I request of you.
Deprive me not before I die. Remove falsehood and lies far
from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted
to me. Lest I be full and deny you and
say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steel and
profane the name of my God. So the petition is not a means
to employ to get riches and wealth. This is not the health, wealth,
and prosperity ticket to get everything that you could ever
imagine. Rather, it is an acknowledgment
of our daily need and presenting those things before our God that
he would supply those things consistent with his plan, his
providence, and his kindness. So now notice, secondly, the
theological importance of the petition. This does three things. First, it is an expression of
our dependence upon God. Remember that ultimately that's
what prayer is. You know, you've heard the books
or you've seen the things, prayer changes things. Prayer doesn't
change God. Prayer changes us. It conforms
us more and more to hopefully fall in lockstep with his will. God has an eternal purpose. He
has an eternal decree. He does not change it based on
what you say on a given Tuesday or a given Friday. God doesn't
say, oh, wow, that's a really good idea. I think I will give
you your daily bread in this particular instance. Prayer ultimately
is an act of worship, and it is an expression of our dependence
upon the living and the true God. I think sometimes we approach
prayer as a means to get stuff from God, and that's not the
issue. Prayer is an act of worship and
it is an expression of our dependence upon God. And this particular
petition does this in several ways. First, it is a reminder
of the fall of man. As the Catechism says in the
fourth petition, Acknowledging that in Adam and by our own sin
we have forfeited our right to all the outward blessings of
this life. It's not a right at this point
that God gives us chicken. It's not a right at this point
that God gives us MSP. It's not a right at this point
that God gives us cars with air conditioning. It is not a right. It is a blessing, it is an act
of mercy, it is an act of kindness from God, and this petition reminds
us of our fallen condition under God. Remember in Genesis chapter
3, with reference to the fall, and then God curses the man. He tells him it's going to be
difficult for him to get or to reap benefit from the field.
It is going to come by hard work, by sweat, by toil, and by strife
and so when we pray this petition we are mindful of the reality
that we have forfeited the right to have God feed us with every
tree in the garden except for that one particular one that
he has specified. You know when God made Adam and
he put him in that garden he said you may freely eat from
every tree except from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. The day you eat, dying you shall die. And of course
Adam eats and dying he shall die. And in Adam we all die. So we don't have a right to just
go about now freely eating anything and everything that God says.
Every benefit that comes from on high is an act of God's mercy. So it is an expression of our
dependence upon God Specifically, a reminder of the fall of man.
Secondly, an acknowledgment that even our ability to work is a
gift from God. You know, work gets a bum rap
by man. Work is good. Work is a blessing. Work is a benefit. The Fourth
Commandment enjoins upon man hard work for six days. Yes, it promises a day of rest. There is a gift given by God
in the Sabbath command, to be sure, but that statement or that
command also enjoins upon it hard physical labor for six days. And the scripture acknowledges
that work itself is a blessing or a gift from God. Deuteronomy
chapter 8 and verse 18. and you shall remember the Lord
your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that
he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers
as it is this day." So you're gifted at a particular task,
not because you're gifted at a particular task, but because
God has gifted you for that particular task. It's not that you've got
an ingenuity. Remember those men that constructed
the tabernacle in the Old Testament. It says that the spirit of wisdom
came upon them. Boys marveled at this. These
artisans, these craftsmen, these men who knew how to construct
things, these men who knew how to build things, this was as
much a gift of the spirit of God coming upon them as the spirit
of God coming upon Moses or errand to speak forth the word of truth.
If you have ability, if you can do carpentry, if you are skilled
in a particular trade, you have a mind that is capable of functioning
beyond the basics on a daily basis, That is a gift from God. He has given you power to get
wealth, and it is a blessing. James 1.17, every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father
of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Psalm 104 indicates this as well. It doesn't necessarily say that
labor or work or your job is a gift from God, but I think
in the context it really does suggest as much. Psalm 104 in
many respects is a rehearsal of God's creation. God's good
creation in this world. And in Psalm 104, verse 19, it
says, He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows it's going
down. You make darkness, and it is
night, in which all the beasts of the forest creep about. The
young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from
God. Isn't that beautiful? When that
young lion is out there ripping apart a wildebeest, that's God's
way of feeding that young lion. It is a beautiful and blessed
thing. Now notice what he goes on to
rehearse in verse 22. When the sun rises, they gather
together and lie down in their dens. So it's an obvious reality
that it is God the Lord who is providing for the lions their
prey. And then in verse 23, man goes
out to his work and to his labor until the evening. I think the
implication is pretty obvious. The way that God provides for
the lion is the way that God provides for the man. The man
gets up and he goes to his work and he labors until the evening
when he comes home and he rejoices in the good things that God has
given unto him. This causes the psalmist to cry,
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made
them all. The earth is full of your possessions. So when we come to this petition,
it is an expression of our dependence upon God. It reminds us of the
fall. It is an acknowledgment that
even our ability to work is a gift from God. Thirdly, it is an expression
of our faith in the living God. Give us this day our daily bread
is an expression of our faith in the living God. We are telling
our children when we pray this petition that we trust God that
he's going to provide. We are telling others when we
pray this petition that we trust God that he is going to provide
for our needs. Even more importantly, we are
expressing to God that we believe that he is going to provide for
our needs. And again, It may not be for
our wants, it may not be for our extravagance, it may not
be for those luxury items, but if the Lord God keeps the rain
off your head and keeps food in your belly, then He is to
be praised, and this expresses our faith in Him. Calvin says
it this way, it is indeed the true proof of our faith when
we ask nothing but from God and not only acknowledge him to be
the only fountain of blessings but feel that his fatherly kindness
extends to the smallest matters so that he does not disdain to
take care even of our flesh. We are giving Him everything.
We are entrusting to Him the big things. We are entrusting
to Him the little things. We are giving Him absolute charge
in this area of sustenance and provision and blessing such that
we may live each and every day. And then as well, fourthly, it
is a realization that God is the first cause behind these
blessings. So when we go to Costco, or when
we go to Superstore, or when we go to our backyard and pull
a carrot out of the ground, we know ultimately that God is the
first cause. When we pray, give us this day
our daily bread. If we lived out in Timbuktu and
we got up in the morning, we prayed that prayer, we went out
with our 38.6 and we downed a moose, we would say, praise God, he
has given us our daily bread. Well, not living in Timbuktu,
where we don't go out on the road and shoot a moose, when
we drive over to Superstore and buy a gallon of milk, we acknowledge
that he has provided. He is the first cause. Whether
it be the moose walking across the meadow or the swamp where
you can shoot him, or it be the milk in Costco's freezer that
is providing your sustenance. It is an acknowledgment or a
realization that God is the first cause behind these blessings. Manton says it this way. However they come to us, God
must be owned in the possession, whether they come to us by donation,
purchase, labor, or by inheritance. Yet they are originally by God,
who by these means bestows them upon us. So if somebody hands
you a loaf of bread, Yes, they're nice, and you ought to thank
them. Don't say, well, you know, you're
just a means where God gave me this. Thank them. Somebody hands
you a chicken, thank them. But realize it's God who's the
first cause that is responsible for putting this food in your
body. Hosea 2.8, God says, for she
did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and
multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
All of these benefits that the land yielded, instead of giving
glory and honor and praise to God as the first cause, they
take these things and present them as sacrifice to Baal. What a wretched expression of
a lack of dependence upon our living and true God. So those
are four subsets of an expression of our dependence upon God. As
well, this petition is an acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. It is an
acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. Psalm 24, verse 1, is a fundamental
rule for us in terms of possessions. There's a basic economic principle
everybody should know. It's called Tanstaffel. which
means there ain't no such thing as a free lunch unless, of course,
you live in Canada or America, but as a basic general economic
principle, ten staffles, good thing to keep in your head, especially
young people. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. There is no such thing. You have
to work in order to get. But in terms of a biblical, a
basic biblical economic principle, notice in Psalm 24 verse 1, a
Psalm of David, the earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness,
the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it
upon the seas and established it upon the waters." This is
basic. This is fundamental. This is axiomatic. This is something that God's
people must keep in their minds. Any possessions that you have,
any benefits that you have been given, any wealth or riches that
has been bestowed on you is a gift given by the God who owns everything
and doles some of it out to you to be a steward over those properties
or over those things that he has given. And so in this petition,
give us this day our daily bread, we acknowledge God's sovereignty. He made the world and everything
in it. He sustains the world and allots
gifts to his creatures. Again in Psalm 104 verses 14
and 15 and 27 and 28. You can turn back there. Psalm 104 verses
14 and 15. He causes the grass to grow for
the cattle and vegetation for the service of man, that he may
bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the
heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens
man's heart. Isn't that beautiful? God supplies
our needs. It is God who causes growth. It is God who sustains man by
the fruit of the earth, that he may bring forth food from
the earth and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to
make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart
and in Psalm 104 27 and 28 these all wait for you that you may
give them their food in due season what you give them they gather
in when you open your hand They are filled with good. So this
petition is an acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. Psalm 136
and verse 25, same idea at work. Psalm 136 and verse 25, who gives
food to all flesh for his mercy endures forever. So when you
eat, whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you can acknowledge
the reality that God in his sovereignty and in his grace has given you
these good things. Manton again says, in eminent
deliverances of the church, we will acknowledge mercy. Yea,
but we should do it in every bit of meat we eat. It's a tough
bit of meat we eat for the same reason is rendered all along. So in the eminent deliverances
of the church, certainly we cry out and acknowledge God's sovereignty
in that dispensation of mercy. But as Manton suggests, we should
do it in every bit of meat that we eat for the same reason is
rendered all along. in Psalm 136, who gives food
to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever. Remember, that's the
refrain of that psalm, and it's the refrain that goes along with
the fact that God destroyed Pharaoh and his armies for His mercy.
endures forever. God sustained Israel. God brought
them out of Egypt. All these things, these powerful
and eminent deliverances from the church, and they acknowledge
His mercy endures forever. And here in verse 25, He gives
food to all flesh. Same reason is given for His
mercy endures forever. Ecclesiastes 2.24, nothing is
better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that
his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw was
from the hand of God. Ecclesiastes 3.13, and also that
every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his
labor. It is the gift of God. And then 1 Timothy 4.3, in a
condemnation of apostates and heretics, he says, Paul says,
forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods, which
foods God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who
believe and know the truth." So it is an acknowledgment of
God's sovereignty. As well, it is a hope-filled
confidence in his paternal care. Give us this day our daily bread. It is an acknowledgment of His
sovereignty and expression of our dependence upon God, but
as well it's a hope-filled confidence in His paternal care. How do
we begin the prayer? Our Father who art in heaven. So we are coming to our Father
and we are asking our Father to provide daily sustenance for
us in our lives. Psalm 84, verse 11, for the Lord
God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will he withhold
from those who walk uprightly. Hebrews 13, 5 and 6, let your
conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have. For he himself has said, I will
never leave you nor forsake you. Now that text is a text that
we employ in the spiritual realm, and it certainly has application
in the spiritual realm. When God saves us from our sins,
he will never leave us and he will never forsake us. But in
the context, he's dealing with temporal provision. He's dealing
with those things that we need for daily sustenance. There is
a caution against covetousness. Do not covet. That's a bad thing. Four, it says, do not covet,
but be content with such things as you have. What's the reason
given? For he himself has said, I will
never leave you. nor forsake you." So do not covet,
be content, and the reason is God has promised not to leave
you nor forsake you. Doesn't Jesus do the same thing
in Matthew chapter 6? If we continued on in this trajectory,
we continued reading in this chapter, what does Jesus do with
reference to his disciples? I want you to fret, I want you
to worry, I want you to be filled with carnal anxiety, I want you
to be, you know, stressed out to the max, over what you're
going to eat and what you're going to wear. No! He does just
the opposite. He says, trust in your Heavenly
Father. Look at the lilies of the field.
They don't toil, they don't spin, but they are dressed beautifully.
God clothes them in a beautiful way. Look at the birds of the
air. They don't get up at nine, punch
a time clock, go to bird work and come home at ten or five
o'clock and eat bird dinner and kiss bird wives and go back to
bed and get up, they don't do that. But God provides for that. And the whole idea is don't fret,
don't be anxious, don't be stressed out, but rather have a hope-filled
trust in God's paternal care. So those are some things with
reference to the theology of the petition. And then finally,
some particulars. How do we employ this? Obviously,
for ourselves, give us this day our daily bread. It's good for
us to pray. God, I pray that you'll give
me food today, that you'll keep me from a major accident or calamity
or, you know, I don't want to be fired. I want to be able to
keep my job and do those things which are pleasing in your sight,
food, clothing, shelter, physical health, wisdom to plan properly
so that we are not fools. I mean, the Proverbs And Ecclesiastes
are filled with that impetus or that reality that we need
to be wise with the resources that God gives us. With reference
to brethren, if a brother comes or a brother says, I'm having
a tough time, I'm having a difficult situation in my life, Lord, give
him this day his daily bread. provide health and strength to
these brethren that we pray for on a regular basis. I mean, for
any of us who have gotten ill for more than a day, I hope that
we'll kind of enter into what people who struggle with ongoing
illnesses feel and are affected by. I mean, it's certainly easy
for us to forget about people when we don't know anything in
terms of what they're going through. But when we understand something
of what they're going through, we ought to pray. We ought not
to just go, oh, there's the people that we pray for on a regular
basis. We ought to really take it to
heart and consider their particular plight and their need and pray
this petition. God, give them this day their
daily bread. Give them physical strength.
Give them health. Give them the ability to be able
to persevere in the midst of these trials and difficulties.
And then as well for those in need, I think by extension we
ought to pray, give us this day our daily bread for brothers
and sisters in Iraq that are being dispossessed from their
homes, throughout the Middle East, wherever Islam seems to
wield a heavy hand, we ought to be praying for brothers and
sisters. that are losing their homes, losing their businesses,
seeing their churches burned down, seeing their houses burned
down, seeing friends killed and murdered and destroyed. Certainly,
as we pray this petition, give us this day our daily bread,
we ought not to neglect the plight and the reality of so many others
that do not have daily bread. Lord God, instead of me having
a chicken, perhaps I'll be content today with some oatmeal. If you
take some of that and give it to brethren elsewhere, we ought
to take to heart the cause of those outside of our particular
orbit. Hebrews 13, again, that very
important petition. Let brotherly love continue,
Hebrews 13.1. do we do that? Well, it's fleshed
out in the following verses. How do we let brotherly love
continue? First, do not forget to entertain
strangers, verse two. Four, by so doing, some have
unwittingly entertained angels, okay? That's one way to let brotherly
love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers.
A second way to let brotherly love continue is found in verse
3. Remember the prisoners as if
chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves
are in the body also. So certainly we ought to increase
the scope in terms of our prayer life to include us, to include
our families, to include our particular local church, But
certainly there is something about including others in that
orbit of prayer so that we may also, on their behalf, say, give
them this day our daily bread. And something very interesting
about this Lord's Prayer, it's framed for the church's prayer
life, our Father who art in heaven. It is our collective voice that
is being raised up to God to express the petitions concerning
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not first and foremost,
my father in heaven, give me my daily bread, forgive me my
debts, forgive or do not lead me into temptation. There's a
plurality involved. There's a corporateness to it.
There's a conscientious reality that we are connected to a larger
whole. And so when we pray these things,
we ought to look abroad or look outside of ourselves. And in
summary or in conclusion, there is an amazing connection between
the petitions. We see it, again, with reference
to God and man, but there is a a trajectory, God's name, God's
kingdom, God's will, and then God's concern for our daily bread. not what we're ultimately petitioning.
Give us this day our daily bread. God, be concerned for us such
that you will sustain us, that you will bless us, that you will
help us. Lloyd-Jones says, it's not this
one of the most wonderful things in the whole of scripture, that
the God who is the creator and sustainer of the universe, the
God who is forming his eternal kingdom and who will usher it
in at the end, the God to whom the nations are but as the small
dust of the balance, that such a God should be prepared to consider
your little needs in mind even down to the minutest details
in this matter of daily bread. It's really amazing. Give us
this day our daily bread, the God who is over nations, the
God who is over galaxies, the God who is absolutely sovereign
over all things, you and I come and we say, Lord, can you please
provide for us a loaf of bread so that we don't starve to death
today? And God, in his kindness and
in his mercy, more often than not, gives us those things. As well, there is a need for
thankfulness. Give us this day our daily bread. When that happens, we ought to
say, thank you, God. We ought to be full of gratitude. We ought to express that to Him. Deuteronomy 8.10, when you have
eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God
for the good land which He has given you. Typically, we pray
and then we eat. There's nothing wrong with eating
and then praying. Or you could pray, eat, pray,
if you'd like to do that. But to eat, pray isn't necessarily
evil. Deuteronomy says that. When you
have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your
God for the good land which he has given you. And then as well,
the need for contentment, the need for contentment. I already
mentioned 1 Timothy 6, 8, and having food and clothing with
these, we shall be content. Manton said that God knows what
proportion is best for us. He is a God of judgment and knows
what is most convenient for us, for He is a wise God. It is the shepherd must choose
the pasture, not the sheep. So if he is pleased to give you
a lot or a little, he has given you what you do not deserve.
So therefore, express gratitude to him for his kind provision.
Well, let us close in prayer. Our Father, we thank You for
this model prayer. We thank You for these petitions
which guide us, which direct us, which cause us to reflect
and go to the throne of grace in an informed manner. We do
pray that Your name would be glorified. We pray that Your
kingdom would come and that Your will would be done. We pray for
daily provision for us in this room, for our entire church.
Again, we pray for those with physical trials and struggles
and difficulties. We just commit them to you and
to the word of your grace and pray that you would sustain them
daily and watch over them and protect them. We ask God that
you would look with favor upon those in other countries dispossessed
from their homes or businesses or churches because of cruel
and vicious men. We pray that You would watch
over our brothers and sisters and that You would come to their
aid, that You would provide for them, that You would defeat their
enemies, that You would cause them to know Your victory and
to know Your power and Your strength in these trying times. We do
pray, Father, that You would just look with favor upon Your
Church, upon your persecuted church, those who are suffering.
We ask that you would come to their rescue. And we pray that
you would help us to not forget these things, but to take them
into our own prayer lives and to consider these things, because
these are the things that you have said are important at the
throne of grace. Go with us now, we pray, in Jesus'
name. Amen.
