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First Missionary Baptist Church Handsboro

Wednesday Evening Bible Study

What is this thing called Prayer – Praying prayers that God Answer?

Matthew 6:11

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                                                                                                                         Jeremie Turner, Sr. - Pastor & Teacher

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“Give us this day our daily bread.”

6:10 talks about the rule of God - 6:10
6:11 talks about the resources of God
6:12 talks about the repentance to God

 

After putting God’s interests first, are we permitted to present our own needs. This petition acknowledges our dependence on God for daily food, both spiritual and physical. The Lord’s Prayer is not so much a formula to be repeated as it is a revelation of the attitude with which we approach God as Father: an attitude of awe, submission, dependence, and complete confidence in His “Father-love.”

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In this verse, by asking God to “give,” it reminds us that He is the source of our blessings. Whatever resource He uses, we cannot take it for granted.

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  • What if Elijah would have complained about the ravens?

  • Certainly, Israel did in Numbers 11:1-8                                                                                                                         

It also means that we cannot underestimate the means He uses to provide.

  • John 6:1-13                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

God has a track-record of giving to His children.

  • From the very beginning He has provided for man

    • Genesis 1:29-30

  • He did it again for Noah

    • Genesis 9:3

  • Jacob looked back and remembered how God provided for him

    • Genesis 48:15

  • David shared with us how God, his Shepherd, provided for him

    • Psalm 23:5

    • Psalm 34:10

    • Psalm 37:25

    • Psalm 103:5

  • Matthew 7:9-11

  • John 3:27

  • John 6:31

  • John 16:23

                                                                                                                                                                                  

Jesus teaches us about how much value we are to God. It stands to be understood, then, that He will take care of us on this day.

  • Mat 6:30

    • God is concerned with our today.

  • Philippians 4:19

  • In the wilderness He, through the person of Jesus Christ, supplied water:

    • Exodus 17:1-7

    • Psalm 78:15-20

    • Psalm 105:41

  • In the wilderness, supplying manna:

    • Exodus 16:14-20

    • Psalm 78:23-25

  • In the wilderness, supplying quail:

    • Numbers 11:31-33

    • Psalm 105:40

  • He fed Elijah by ravens:

    • 1 Kings 17:2-7

  • He also fed Elijah by an angel:

    • 1 Kings 19:5-8

  • He fed the widow of Zarephath:

    • 1 Kings 17:12-16

  • 1 Timothy 6:8

 

 

This verse is our petition for our earthly needs, as laid out by Christ. It involves three things: 

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First, favor - “Give us”

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  • The emphasis is on mercy not merit. Our Lord’s ability to meet our needs is unlimited, unmatched, and is unmerited (Philippians 4:19).                                                                                                                                                    ​

    • This concept of asking God to “give” is based on mercy, not merit.

    • This word reminds us of the grace of God. Anything that we have is given because of His grace and mercy.

    • We do not deserve anything from God, but because of His grace, He blesses us and supplies our needs. And because it is a result of His grace, we must be careful to think that we deserve what we have been given more than others, or to think that that because others don’t have it that we are better off than they are ethically or spiritually.

      • James 1:17

    • God does not owe us anything, no matter how much we think we deserve it. Jesus is teaching us that we are to not appeal on the basis of our merits

      • Luke 18:10-14

      • Lamentations 3:22-23

  • As such, we cannot earn it, He gives it to us because He can and because of His unconditional love for us.

  • He is the source of our blessings and needs and He is the only one that can meet them [He employs people, just as He employed a raven for Elijah, and employed Elijah for the widow, but He ultimately meets them].                                      

We must be selfless seekers - “us, our”                                                                                                               

  • Any person who goes to bed should be of concern to the believer.

  • Jesus tells us to pray, “give us,” not “give me.”

  • This selflessness in our prayers is needed very much today. The problem of the world is not that there is not enough to go around, for in many situations there is enough to spare. The problem is the distribution of what is available by those who selfishly hoard what God has already provided.

  • Furthermore, this prayer is a stretching, broadening petition.                                                                                        

    • We not only depend on God for His practical provision, but we also commit ourselves to be part of God’s answer for others in need.

    • It is a prayer which we can help God to answer by giving to others who are less fortunate than we are and share our daily bread with those in need.                                                                                                                           

  • Over and over again, the Bible stresses the fact that we are to be concerned about the needs of others.            

    • John warns us against shutting up our bowels of mercy, cf. 1 John 3:17

    • The early church was a church that shared with one another, cf. Acts 2:46

    • The Old Testament gives us a method for sharing - Deuteronomy 15:7-8; Leviticus 19:9-10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Second, faith - “This day…daily.”                                                                                                                                     

  • This is looking to God everyday by faith. It is not for a year’s supply, but for a day’s supply. That requires faith.

  • If we worry, we can’t trust; if we trust, we can’t worry. The anxious heart has not learned to trust God completely.

  • Can you trust God with the trivial?

    • In praying for our “bread,” Christ is teaching us that even supposedly trivial matters are important to God. He wants us to bring our everyday needs to Him, even if they seem unimportant.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Third, food - “Bread”                                                                                                                                                    

This indicates our needs as opposed to our wants. Bread is common, not a luxury. “Bread” also says that we do not pray only for our material needs, but also our spiritual needs.                                                                                                               

  • Too many times, we pray for what we do not even need.

  • Christ is telling us to pray for our needs, not our greed (luxuries)                                                                                     

Daily bread was the amount of bread necessary to survive for a day.                                                                                    

  • Jesus wanted His disciples to live in a state of constant dependence on God and His provision (Proverbs 30:8-9).

  • The concept of daily provision of bread fits perfectly with the Old Testament example of the daily provision of manna to the Israelites while they were wandering in the wilderness (Ex. 16:14-15).                                                                        

It only stands to reason that God will take care of the Christian just as He did for the Israelites in the wilderness. He takes care of, through:                                                                                                                                                                   

  • Pandemics

  • Government Shutdown

  • Inflation                                                                                                                                                                  

“Daily bread” expresses both…                                                                                                                                       

  • Dependence on Him

    • Whether we are rich or poor, God wants us to depend upon Him “daily”

  • Confidence in Him

    • Romans 1:17

    • Hebrews 11:6                                                                                                                                                           

The schedule of His provision is “this day” or “daily."                                                                                                                              

  • In first-century life, workers received their pay daily.

    • A few days of illness could spell tragedy.

  • He teaches us to pray for the regular, day-by-day supplies of our needs.

  • He is fostering a daily dependence upon Himself.

  • By such, we are to rely on the Lord, one day at a time, looking to Him for our needs.

  • We can have confidence that He can meet our needs on today, and on tomorrow be ready to meet them again.

  • God gave Israel manna while they were in the wilderness, but there was only one condition – they must gather only enough for their immediate needs. If they tried to gather too much, and store it up, it went bad. They had to be satisfied with enough for the day.

  • This petition tells us to live one day at a time, trusting God one day at a time.

  • We must depend on God daily, for this is that which pleases God.

  • By teaching us to pray this prayer, Christ is teaching us that God wants to hear from us every day, not once in a while or when we need Him.

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