“OUR DAILY BREAD”

Matthew 6:11; Philippians 4:19

Introduction: A 9-year old boy whose mother died in November arrived at an orphanage in Italy shortly after Christmas. One of his first assignments in school was a composition on “My Favorite Toy.”  When asked what he wrote, the boy replied, “I did not know what to write. I’ve never had a toy!”

Then the teacher asked him, “Well, what did you get for Christmas?” The boy replied, “A piece of Bread.”

An orphanage is a long way from what we know as home. Some prosperous folks may never understand the meaning of the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Many Bible scholars say that this Scripture when in the original text would read like this.   “Give us bread for the coming day”  Even though this does not forbid the accumulation of wealth it calls for absolute dependence on God from day to day.

In these seven words,  “Give us this day, our daily bread” are some ETERNAL TRUTHS…

I.                   GOD IS CONCERNED ABOUT HUMAN NEEDS

A-Bread is the staff of life, the basic need of all. He did not teach us to pray---Give us this day our daily cake (banana pudding) etc.

            B-Christ showed his concern for human needs in several instances

·          He noticed his followers were hungry—HE FED THEM

·         The woman with the issue of blood touched him—HE REALIZED IT AND MADE HER WHOLE

·         He healed the blind, the lame, and the sick

·         He conversed with lepers, Samaritans, and the Devil possessed.

·         He even fixed breakfast for some fishermen one morning.

C-God cares that we have groceries to purchase, rent payments to make, school expenses to meet, and other bills to be paid.

Illustrate—Henry Ford encountered a young man trying to fix his Ford car alongside a road one day. He asked the young man if he could help…The young man replied…You don’t know enough to help me…Mr. Ford replied, “I made your car and I know all about its workings.” We are reminded by this that God knows all about the workings of this universe and He can help us through any ordeal.

II.                WE ARE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD FOR SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL NEEDS

A-In this prayer we pray, “Give us.” By this we indicate that we do not have what we need and must ask God to supply our needs.

B-God gives us the grain to plant. God causes it to germinate but we must harvest it. God gives the water that nurtures its growth; we must separate the chaff from the grain and grind the grain into flour.

C-God does the saving, but we must do the letting.

Illustrate-A little boy was running home on a dark, cold night. It always frightened him to run by the cemetery. As he heard the rustling of a nearby tree, he ran even faster as he prayed this prayer:

“Dear Lord, if You will just pick up my feet, I’ll lay them down.”

There are things that we can do, but we MUST depend on God totally to supply our Physical and Spiritual needs.

III.             WE FIND HAPPINESS WHEN WE LEARN TO LIVE ONE DAY AT A TIME

A-We are to pray today for the bread of tomorrow. We must depend on God daily and refuse to worry about the future.

Poem---I do not ask to see the distant scene; One step enough for me.

B-“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalms 119:105 God is not a search-light…but He is a foot light. He gives us enough light to take the next few steps, and we follow.

Conclusion---Through Christ we have grace to do what is good, and through him we must expect the reward; and as we have all things by him, let us do all things for him, and to his glory.We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance: and we ask only for bread; not for what we do not need. We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: WE DO NOT ASK FOR…

·         THE BREAD OF OTHERS, NOR THE BREAD OF DECEIT, Prov.20:17-“Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.” |

·         THE BREAD OF IDLENESS, Prov. 31:27-“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”

·         We ask for THE BREAD HONESTLY GOTTEN. We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us constantly to depend upon Divine Providence. We beg of God to give it us; not sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it.