Introduction: There are two great spiritual activities given by God to help the disciple in his daily life. They are the study of the Word of God and Prayer!
In fact, the study of the Word and Prayer, compose the two main vehicles by which man and God are able to communicate. God speaks to us through the study of His Word and we speak to God through prayer. Because of that, these two spiritual activities are to be the unceasing, constant, and consuming passion of every disciple of Christ.
2 Timothy 2:15
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
17 pray without ceasing
Ephesians 6:18
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints
Philippians 4:6
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Now, if prayer is something that we are to do without ceasing, always, and in everything, then we better know how to do it properly!
And that is exactly the purpose of our text in Luke 11:1-4.
1 And it came about that while He was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples." 2 And He said to them, "When you pray, say:
'Father, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
3 'Give us each day our daily bread.
4 'And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.' "
In our text we have what is often called “The Lord’s Prayer” but it could just as well be called “The Disciples Prayer.”
That is because Jesus here is teaching His Disciples How to pray (verse 1).
Now, what I find interesting about Jesus’ instructions on prayer is not just what He did teach but also what He did not teach, for example John MacArthur points out four specific things that Jesus didn’t address in His pattern Prayer (The Disciples’ Prayer Study Notes, Matthew 6:9-15, pp.10-11).
Jesus didn’t teach them about the posture of prayer - because just about any posture will do.
In the Bible, people prayed in all kinds of positions:
standing - Genesis 24:12-14; bowing down - Exodus 34:8
lifting hands - 1 Timothy 2:8; on face - Matthew 26:30
sitting - Judges 20:26; head between knees - 1 Kngs 18:42
kneeling - Mark 1:40; facing the temple - Daniel 6:10
Uplifted eyes - John 17:1; smiting the chest - Luke 18:13
Jesus didn’t teach them about the place of prayer - because we are to pray everywhere.
In the Bible, people prayed in all kinds of places:
in a battle - 2 Chron. 13:14-15; in a bed - Ps. 4:3-4; 63:6
in a cave - 1 Kings 19:9-10; in a closet - Matthew 6:6
in a home - Acts 9:39-40; in a fish - Jonah 2:1-10
by a river - Acts 16:13; On a house top - Acts 10:9
in a prison - Acts 16:23-26; on a mountain - Luke 16:12
by the sea - Acts 21:5-6; in the street - Matthew 6:5
in God’s house - 1 Kings 8:27-30; in hades - Luke 16:22-31
on a cross - Luke 23:33-34, 46; in the wilderness – Luke 5:16
Jesus didn’t teach them about the times of prayer - because we are to pray at all times.
In the Bible, people prayed at all different times:
early morning - Mark 1:35; midnight - Acts 16:25
morning - 1 Chron. 23:30; day and night - Luke 2:37; 18:7
three times a day - Dan. 6:10; evening - 1 Kings. 18:36
often - Luke 5:33; daily - Ps. 86:3; bedtime - Ps. 4:4
before meals - Matthew 14:19; after meals - Deut. 8:10
Jesus didn’t teach them about the right circumstances for prayer - because we are to pray in all kinds of circumstances.
In the Bible, people prayed in the midst of various circumstances.......too numerous to mention here.
The point is that posture, place, time and circumstances are not the most important issues when it comes to learning how to pray (which seem to be the things we tend to focus on). Rather, what is important in prayer is content, attitude, and focus. These are the things that Jesus emphasized in this “model prayer” that He gave to His disciples. What we learn from this model prayer is that prayer involves certain essential elements. Prayer involves…..
I. An Intimate Relationship with the Father - v.2a
II. A Reverent Response to the Character of God - v.2b
III. A Submissive Recognition of the Kingdom of God -
v.2c
IV. A Humble Reliance on the Provision of God - v.3
“Give us day by day our daily bread”
When we first see this petition, it might seem a little irrelevant to us today. After all, when was the last time we had to pray, “Lord, I plead with you, provide for me a meal today?” For most of us, our last petition could just as easily have been, “Lord, please prevent me from eating more than I should at this meal!”
That’s not to say that there aren’t people even in our own community who struggle with placing food on the table for each meal. I am pretty confident however, that most of us have never had to literally pray this petition. What then is the purpose of such a request?
Well let’s go back to our first message in this series, where we gave several reasons why we should make prayer a priority in our lives. (1.) It is commanded in Scripture. (2.) It is a sin not to pray. (3.) It allows us to get in harmony with God’s purposes...etc. One of the main reasons we are to pray is that it gives God an opportunity to reveal His glory (John 14:13). One of the greatest ways for God to reveal His glory is through the meeting of our human needs. In essence then, we are to pray “give us day by day our daily bread” so that His greatness and goodness can be made known to us and to the world.
There is a beautiful consistency in this model prayer because every petition causes us to focus on the Father.
· On His Person or Character....hallowed be Your name
· On His Program or Kingship....Your Kingdom come
· On His Provision....Give us day by day our daily bread
· On His Pardon.....And forgive us our sins
· On His Protection.....and do not lead us into temptation
So, even when we are praying for our own needs, we are not asking for selfish reasons, but that God might be glorified in meeting those needs.
Now as we examine this phrase more closely, there are five things I want you to see, the Provision, the Provider, the Petition, the Petitioner and the Perspective.
A. The Provision - “Give us day by day our daily bread”
Now get your pens ready, I am going to say something very profound! “We must be alive if we are going to glorify God”! We must be able to maintain a reasonable physical existence, in order to praise Him with our lips and our lives and our thoughts. If we are going to maintain a reasonable physical existence, then we need daily bread.
The word bread (artos) is a general term used here to refer to all of man’s physical needs, to the basic necessities of life, hose things that are necessary for a person’s survival as a human being. Martin Luther saw all the physical necessities of life as bread. He said:
“Everything necessary for the preservation of this life is bread. This includes food, a healthy body, good weather, a house, a wife, children, good government and peace.”
Now notice we are invited to pray for daily bread. The word daily (epiousion) is a word that has many different nuances of meaning (it is used only here and in Matthew 6:11).
· It can mean - “for this day” i.e. “this day’s bread”
· It can mean - “for the following day” i.e. “tomorrow’s bread”
· It can mean “sufficient” or “necessary” i.e. “our necessary bread”.
Considering the context I think that the third meaning is the right meaning. Give us day by day our sufficient or necessary bread.
This understanding of daily is important because it keeps us from going to one of two extremes. One extreme is asking for more than our daily bread (which is a self- centered perspective). The other extreme is not asking for daily bread at all (which is a self-satisfied perspective).
¨ Extreme #1 - Asking for more than our daily bread
This petition helps us to remember that God has promised to provide the necessities of life not the luxuries of life. As Kent Hughes says:
“...we are invited to pray for bread, not desert.”
This of course goes against much of what you hear today in modern “Christian” circles by the so-called “Name it Claim it”, “Prosperity Gospel” preachers. David G. Meyers in his book “The Human Puzzle” writes (The Disciples’ Prayer Study Notes, pp. 54-55):
“Some petitionary prayers seem not only to lack faith in the inherent goodness of God but also to elevate humankind to a position of control over God. God, the scriptures remind us, is omniscient and omnipotent, the sovereign ruler of the universe. For Christians to pray as if God were a puppet whose strings they yank with their prayers seems not only potentially superstitious but blasphemous as well. When prayer is sold as a device for eliciting health, success, and other favors from a celestial vending machine, we may wonder what is really being merchandised. Is it faith or is it faith’s counterfeit, a glib caricature of true Christianity.”
Caricature is a good word to describe this movement.
What is being proclaimed today over the airwaves is nothing more than an abomination to God, and it is worldly to its core! James called this mentality “worldly” and those who were caught up in it “spiritual adulterers” (James 4:1-6)! “God gives grace to the humble!”
J.I. Packer notes (ibid, pp. 55), “The prayer of a Christian is not an attempt to force God’s hand, but a humble acknowledgment of helplessness and dependence”.
Jesus reflects that humble dependence here in the “Disciples Prayer.”
Our attitude ought to reflect the words of Proverbs 30:8b-9:
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
9 Lest I be full and deny Thee and say, "Who is the LORD?"
Or lest I be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.
That’s not to say that having wealth is wrong, because God has certainly blessed some very fine Christians with wealth. Why has He given them more? So they can use it for His glory! However, we are not to ask for wealth, rather we are to ask for our “sufficient or necessary bread” (Matthew 6:31-34).
¨ Extreme #2 - Not asking God for daily bread at all
This is by far the more subtle extreme! You might think that since you don’t have a physical need in your life you really don’t need to pray. This is especially true for us in this country because for the most part we live in a prosperous society. Think about it. I go to work, I receive my paycheck, I go to the bank, I go to the store, I purchase and prepare my food, I buy my clothes and I pay the rent on my house. It’s all so self-sufficient! It appears that God is unnecessary to the process. Why then should I pray “give us day by day our daily bread?”
The answer should be clear. We pray these words because at the essence of this petition there is an affirmation acknowledgment that all of my substance comes from God. When we pray “give us day by day our daily bread” we are saying.....
“Lord, I want to let you know that I realize that You are the source of my life, my food, my shelter, my clothing and all that I have.”
It is an affirmation of our humble reliance on His gracious provision. That leads us to the next thing I want you to see about this petition.
B. The Provider - .........Father
Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, everything we have comes from God! 1 Chronicles 29:14 says,
But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from Thee, and from Thy hand we have given Thee.
Not only that, but all of creation is dependent on God for their provision.
Psalm 145:15-16
15 The eyes of all look to Thee,
And Thou dost give them their food in due time.
16 Thou dost open Thy hand,
And dost satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Psalm 104:10-24 reminds us that:
· It is God who provides the rain to make things grow.
· It is God who cycles the seasons.
· It is God who produces the minerals in the soil to make the earth fertile.
· It is God who provides food for the animals and the animals for our food and clothing.
· It is God who provides the natural resources to propel our technology.
· It is God who provides the intelligence and the strength to work and earn money.
In fact, the money you use was made out of material that was created by God. Everything we have is a reflection of God’s creative power! When we pray “give us day by day our daily bread” we are acknowledging that God is the provider of it all.
C. The Petition - “Give us day by day our daily bread”
This petition points us to God’s grace and mercy because as unworthy as we are, we have been invited to ask for daily bread!
Luke 11:9-13
9 "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened. 11 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
Note the “good things” that they ask for, i.e. eggs and fish.
This petition then is not a selfish request but an expression of obedient faith in response to the promises of God’s provision. What we don’t want to miss here is the sweet reality that our Heavenly Father cares about the simple day to day needs of our life! He cares whether His children are warm and fed and housed. He is concerned with our personal well-being.
Matthew 10:29-31
29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 "Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Because He cares for us, we are invited to petition Him for our needs. Every time we pray “give us day by day our daily bread” we are affirming His grace and mercy and acknowledging His care and concern for us!
Now at this point we must ask the question, how does God give us our daily bread? He does this in two ways, through our own labors and through the care and generosity of others.
t God provides our daily bread through our own labors.
It is mainly through the instrumentality of work, that God gives us our daily bread. In Genesis 3:19 God told Adam, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” Scripture is clear that work is a good thing, something that we should seek and apply ourselves to.
1 Timothy 5:8
8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.
2 Thessalonians 3:10
10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat.
The Christian does not pray for God to give him his daily bread so that he doesn’t have to work. Neither does he work so that he doesn’t have to pray. Rather, we are to pray for the ability to work and the blessing of employment.
This means by the way, that we should be engaged in legitimate work and we must work at it in an appropriate way!
We must also acknowledge that there are those who cannot legitimately work for various health reasons, but in that case we know that God will meet their needs some other way.
Psalms 37:25
25 I have been young, and now I am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Or his descendants begging bread.
t God provides our daily bread through the care and generosity of others.
When we come across a brother or sister in genuine need of daily bread (remember this includes all necessities of physical life). We must realize that our extra may be their source of divine provision. Remember, it is God who has provided us with the ability to have more than our necessary bread!
Deuteronomy 8:18
18 "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
And what is the purpose of our wealth? To use it for His glory! Helping to provide daily bread for someone else in their time of need is a means of glorifying God!
Our whole welfare state has really created a mess when it comes to this issue. It has tended to reward laziness and it has in many ways created a dependent class of people.
The end result is that it has taken away our individual incentive to help the truly needy (high taxes take our extra income)! It has hardened us against those that have genuine needs (Let the government take care of them!).
God can and does use Government to provide daily bread (Roman 13:1-7) but that should not negate our own responsibility to help others!
1 John 3:16-23
16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
If you read the Old Testament, especially the law and prophets, you will find that God has always had a special place in His heart for the poor and needy especially, widows and the fatherless! In fact, Israel was often indicted for neglecting them.
Isaiah 1:21-23
21 How the faithful city has become a harlot,
She who was full of justice!
Righteousness once lodged in her,
But now murderers.
22 Your silver has become dross,
Your drink diluted with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves a bribe,
And chases after rewards.
They do not defend the orphan,
Nor does the widow's plea come before them.
This sentiment is reflected in the N.T. as well.
James 1:27
27 This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Of course we need to keep in mind that the purpose of helping someone is to help them so that they can experience the blessing of work and so that in the future they themselves can know the joy of helping someone else.
Ephesians 4:28
28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.
The bottom line is that God sometimes uses us, the Church to assist in supplying the daily bread of others.
Galatians 6:9-10
9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
D. The Petitioners - “Give us day by day our daily bread”
This petition is designed to be offered up by His children.
It is given to those who are His disciples. The promises belong to those who walk in His ways and to those who truly fear Him. God is not obligated to meet the needs of those who do not belong to Him.
Psalms 33:18-19
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
Psalms 34:9-10
9 O fear the LORD, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him, there is no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.
Proverbs 10:3
3 The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger,
But He will thrust aside the craving of the wicked.
Apart from belonging to Him there is no guarantee of supply! This helps explain why there is hunger and suffering in the world, because men and women are not seeking after Him. They are not following His principles and precepts. Why has Western Civilization been much more attune to the needs of its weakest members? The Gospel and the Word! I simple stroll review of history will remind us of the roll that Christianity has played in the development of schools, orphanages, hospitals, missions and social ministries.
One other point in regard to the petitioners, notice that it does not say “give me day by day my daily bread”! The Church is not made up of isolated individuals, but rather we are a Family. The use of the plural pronouns precludes us from selfishness in our prayers. This petition encompasses the whole concept of sharing. It is saying in effect, LORD do not give me my necessary bread until my brother gets his too!
E. The Perspective - “Give us day by day our daily bread”
The phrase day by day helps us to keep the right perspective. It stresses continuous dependence on the Father and contentment with what He sends our way. It reminds us that He does not give His provision to us all at once but in continuous portions sufficient for the day. Alexander McLaren put it this way:
“Note the beauty and blessedness of this method of supplying our needs. It gives each moment its own special character, it gives to each the glory of having a fresh gift from God. It binds it all together in one long line of brightness made up of an infinite number of points, each a separate act of divine love, each a glittering sign of His presence. It brings God very near to all life. It draws us closer to Him, by giving us at each moment opportunity and need for feeling our dependence on Him, by bringing us once again to His throne that our needs may be supplied. And as each moment, so each day, comes with its new duties and its new needs. Yesterday’s food nourishes us not today. Today’s strength must come form this day’s God and His new supplies. Each day we rise to realize and declare a renewed dependence on God.”
This is not to say that we shouldn’t plan for the future or seek to be comfortable in this life, but it does tell us that we should know when enough is enough, so that our focus can be on our LORD and His kingdom and not on things and stuff (1 Timothy 6:6-10; Hebrews 13:5-6; Matthew 6:25-34)!
There you have it my friends.....prayer is nothing more than a humble reliance on the provision of God. It is a daily affirmation of His care and goodness and it is an expression of trust and contentment with His supply!
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