1. GIVE - Praying this petition means we are praying a confession of dependence.
1.1. GIVE - It ssays God provides the most basic needs of my life.
1.1.1. "Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17a). R.C. Sproul. The Prayer of the Lord (Kindle Locations 587-588). Kindle Edition.
1.1.2. Doesn't mean we don't work - like so many things in this Lords prayer we recognize that the power and opportunity and energy and therefore answer is in God's answer, and he works through us as means
1.1.2.1. 1 Tim 5:8
1.2. makes sense if his kingdom
1.3. We are not self-sufficient
1.4. We are feriously a self-sufficient people, or at least we like to believe we are.
1.4.1. Lately - we get this is nto true spiritually.
1.4.2. But do we get this physically?
1.4.3. it. First, notice that Jesus didn't teach us to pray that God would sell us our daily bread or render it to us in exchange for our service; instead, in this petition, we manifestly ask God to give us something. R.C. Sproul. The Prayer of the Lord (Kindle Locations 584-586). Kindle Edition.
1.4.3.1. we would like it htough
1.5. Original temptation - we don't need God and this prayer brings us back to the relaity that the most basic thing in life we need him for.
1.5.1. And understand, in an agarean culture this is so obvious. Wehn your crops and sustenance will die cause you can't grow wheat cause there's no rain, you get this! A little hard for us
1.6. 10 things we need that is so basic
1.6.1. work
1.6.1.1. so many things can go wrong!
1.6.1.2. Ex. Programming... oh yeah.. here!
1.6.2. health
1.6.3. loved ones around us
1.7. connected to the first set of glory for God as needs brings us to know God for all his hallowing
1.7.1. Pride stops the current of gratitude. A proud man will never be thankful; he looks upon all he has either to be of his own procuring or deserving. Let us see all we have is God's gift, and how unworthy we are to receive the least favour; and this will make us much in doxology and gratitude; we shall be silver trumpets sounding forth God's praise.
1.7.1.1. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4441-4444). . Kindle Edition.
1.8. God must give it to us
1.8.1. Psalm 24:1 (ESV) — 1 The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
1.9. Teaches us that we can pray for the basic things of life
1.10. ref: What do you have that you did not receive? and if you received it, why do you boast if you had not received it?
1.11. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Suppose you are totally paralyzed and can do nothing for yourself but talk. And suppose a strong and reliable friend promised to live with you and do whatever you needed done. How could you glorify your friend if a stranger came to see you? Would you glorify his generosity and strength by trying to get out of bed and carry him? No! You would say, “Friend, please come lift me up, and would you put a pillow behind me so I can look at my guest? And would you please put my glasses on for me?” And so your visitor would learn from your requests that you are helpless and that your friend is strong and kind. You glorify your friend by needing him and asking him for help and counting on him. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” So we really are paralyzed. Without Christ, we are capable of no good. As Paul says in Romans 7:18, “Nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” But according to John 15:5, God intends for us to do something good — namely, bear fruit. So as our strong and reliable friend — “I have called you friends” (John 15:15) — he promises to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. How then do we glorify him? Jesus gives the answer in John 15:7: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” We pray! We ask God to do for us through Christ what we can’t do for ourselves — bear fruit. Verse 8 gives the result: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.” So how is God glorified by prayer? Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that he will provide the help we need.
2. DAILY BREAD - Praying this petition means we are praying a plea for contentment
2.1. THink of it, what if the greatest thing God ever gave you physcially in this life was bread?
2.2. Two things I ask of you, O LORD; Do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty or riches, But give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you And say, "Who is the LORD?" Or I may become poor and steal, And so dishonor the name of my God. (Prov 30:7-9)
2.2.1. Many pray Agur's first prayer, Give me not poverty,' but few pray his last prayer, Give me not riches.' Prov 30: 8. They are not content with daily bread,' but have the dry dropsy of covetousness; they are still craving for more. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4570-4571). . Kindle Edition.
2.3. There are few Christians that handle wealth well, just as there are few Christians that handle poverty well.
2.4. Some understand the words “daily bread” in a more elevated sense: as “super-essential.” In particular, the Greek Church Fathers wrote that “super-essential bread” is the Bread that comes down from heaven – in other words, Christ Himself, Whom Christians receive in the Mystery of Holy Communion. Such an understanding is also justifiable, because besides material bread, one also needs spiritual bread.
2.5. Daily
2.5.1. Bread is notorious for getting stale quickly. We moderns think we have cracked that problem through additives that prolong shelf life, but at the expense of taste and quality some of us would argue. Hording bread before the days of deep freezers, was a pointless exercise.
2.5.2. Matthew 6:25–34 (ESV) — 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
2.5.3. Our Saviour will have us pray, Give us bread this day,' to teach us to live every day as if it were our last. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4529-4530). . Kindle Edition.
2.5.4. "What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matt. 7:9-11).
2.5.5. ILL: We trust him for daily provision
2.6. Bread
2.6.1. With the Hebrews, bread was a generic term, signifying the necessities and conveniences of this life (Gen. 3:19; 28:20), such as food, raiment, and housing. Inherent in the use of the specific term bread rather than the more general term food is an emphasis teaching us to ask not for dainties or for riches, but for that which is wholesome and needful. Bread here includes health and appetite, apart from which food does us no good. It also takes into account our nourishment: for this comes not from the food alone, nor does it lie within the power of man’s will. Hence God’s blessing on it is to be sought. Pink, Arthur W. (2012-06-18). The Lord's Prayer (Arthur Pink Collection Book 39) (Kindle Locations 380-385). Prisbrary Publishing. Kindle Edition.
2.7. "Give us this day our daily bread" is code language for, "Lord, help me to be content with whatever You are pleased to give me.
2.8. in essence, ti's a prayer that de-gods all other gods in our hearts
2.9. Notice again when we pray, “Give us each day our daily bread,” we're cultivating contentment with God's provision. The Shorter Catechism puts it this way — “In the fourth petition we pray that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life.”
2.10. Confronts what we think is good and delcares what is needed
2.10.1. if we don't understand this life is frustrating and prayer and petitioning is frustrating
2.10.1.1. Why? Cause we are giving promises
2.10.1.1.1. Whateve ryo uask in my name i will do, so we say "In the name of ejsus" like it's amagical incantation --- say it powerfully right... in the name of JESUS .. bu tdoesn' twork
2.10.1.1.2. James 1
2.10.1.1.3. Isa 65 - Before they call I will answer
2.10.1.2. Understand what it means to be giving "good" things
2.10.1.3. REF: Will the father give you a snake if you ask for bread, or a rock?
2.10.1.3.1. So God gives us what we need!
2.10.1.3.2. But listen, here's where the first 3 are so important, we often confuse what is a snake and what is a bread
2.10.1.3.3. *** HOW MUCH MORE --- that means no parent wants to do good to their parents ever as much as Our father in heaven.
2.10.2. Will we trust God for bread? What we truly need?
2.10.2.1. ILL: Keller's example of microwave oven and insects
2.10.2.2. Good parents don’t respond to unwise proposals, but they always still discern what’s underneath. They discern the desire of the heart, the condition of the heart, the need. I Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
2.10.2.3. Ex. in my house .. sword.. sharp.. always want to play with that. I need to put it away.
2.10.3. Parents take all requests.. but govern it
2.10.4. QUOTE!!! Richard Sibbes, the old Puritan, says if you go to God, he will always give you the value of what you ask but not always in kind. You might go for $1,000 worth of gold, and he might give you $1,000 worth of diamonds. Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
2.10.5. NOTE THE STRUCTURE
2.10.5.1. We can see God as power and pray wrong prayers
2.10.5.2. We can see the kigndom and wan tthe wrong things 9like Disicpels and be frustrated when we dont get it
2.10.5.3. Only when we understand God as Father, good Father, will we pray and submit to bread as he gives it
2.11. When we pray for things pertaining to this life, we must desire temporal things for spiritual ends - T. Watson
2.11.1. ends; we must desire these things to be as helps in our journey to heaven. If we pray for health, it must be that we may improve this talent of health for God's glory, and may be fitter for his service; if we pray for a competency of estate, it must be for a holy end, that we may be kept from the temptations which poverty usually exposes to, and that we may be in a better capacity to sow the golden seeds of charity, and relieve such as are in want. Temporal things must be prayed for for spiritual ends. Hannah prayed for a child, but it was for this end, that her child might be devoted to God. O Lord, if thou wilt remember me, and wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life.' 1 Sam 1: 11. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4460-4465). . Kindle Edition.
2.11.2. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' Matt 4: 4. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4483-4484). . Kindle Edition.
3. This is not
3.1. This is not a spiritualized petition
3.1.1. This is not a petition for the bread of life
3.1.2. This is not a petition for the eucharist
3.1.2.1. Jerome
3.1.3. We know this because everything here seems quite literal, especially the last triplet of petitions but also because receiving literal bread makes sense when you understand God to be your literal father.
3.1.4. The dilema of priorities
3.1.4.1. Most, in fact all, that teach on teh Lords prayer will say it gives us a framework of priorities. In this prayer Jesus lays out what is most importnat for us to pray for, and he lists it out in priority.
3.1.4.2. So most will recognize that the frist 3 prayers are God ward and the, only the, are we us-ward. And this is not hard to see. We are to pray for God's glory, God's kingdom, Gods will. These are to have priorities and we're all struck by that I think because they don't often be rthe bulk of our prayers. So after that we move to the our needs
3.1.4.3. But here we are stuck with a dilmena. If the lords prayer gives priority, then why is the need for daily bread put before
3.1.4.3.1. our forgiveness - isn' this the chief need we have? To be forgeven and reconciled
3.1.4.3.2. Or why before the forgivenes sof othes?
3.1.4.3.3. Or why before tempation?
3.1.4.4. Do yo usee, before the prayers for the spiritual battle, Jesus has placed in this strange petition - a need for daily bread.
3.1.4.5. Why? Why is this here and what is it about? Is it simply about fodd? Is it just about needs?
3.1.4.6. Or does hits prayer reveal more than that?
3.1.5. This petition tells us the body matters, physical things matter - every other petition can be is in some ways about the spiritual
3.1.5.1. To some, the spiritual descendants of the third century ascetic and mystic Mani (his theology has been called Manichaeism), who believed that sin inherently adheres to the physical and that spirituality involves separating from it as much as possible, find a petition asking for food problematic.
3.1.5.2. esus took human flesh ѕ He was not an apparition or ghostly figure as Docetists like Cerinthus taught, something which may well lie behind the emphasis on Jesus physical nature in Johns writings.
3.1.5.3. But, more especially, the Bible expects us to believe that the goal of Gods redemptive work is the creation of "a new heavens and a new earth."
3.1.5.4. Jesus may well have been alluding to this in His resurrection body whereby He ate breakfast, bread and fish, with the disciples (John 21:13; c.f. Luke 24:30).
3.1.5.5. 1 Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
3.1.5.6. Our adoption as sons of God anticipates, Paul argues, "the redemption of our bodies" (Rom 8:23).
3.1.5.7. Though Paul argues elsewhere that what is raised in the resurrection body is "spiritual," it is nevertheless, a spiritual body (1 Cor 15:44).
3.1.5.8. Jerome says - this is super food cause didn't believe such a petition should be part of this great prayer.
4. ill
4.1. Great quotes
4.1.1. Prosperity has its honey, and also its sting; like the full of the moon, it makes many lunatic. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4622-4623). . Kindle Edition.
4.1.2. Charles Spurgeon said? He said, “There's no trial like prosperity. There's no trial life affluence.”
4.1.3. Notice again when we pray, “Give us each day our daily bread,” we're cultivating contentment with God's provision. The Shorter Catechism puts it this way — “In the fourth petition we pray that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life.”
4.2. References
4.2.1. 1 Timothy 6:8 (ESV) — 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
4.2.2. Acts 5:41 (ESV) — 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
4.2.3. Proverbs 30:8 (ESV) — 8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,
4.3. IDEAS
4.3.1. Unfortunately, we often spell our prayer life something like S-C-A-T, R.C. Sproul. The Prayer of the Lord (Kindle Location 573). Kindle Edition.
4.3.2. The child who most acknowledges, “I am a child” is the one who is growing fastest out of childishness. The more childlike you are, the less childish you are spiritually speaking and the more my parental heart goes out to that kid and the more humble the child is. The more the child doesn’t demand things and say, “This is the way it has to be! This is the way it has to be!” The more the child comes and says, “This is the desire of my heart. Nevertheless, not my will, Abba Father. Thy will be done,” the more that happens, the more I want to give, the more it’s safe to give to the child. Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
5. US / OUR - Praying this petitiotn means we are praying a declaration of connectedness
5.1. Give US... US, not ME.
5.2. Why pray give us and not give me?
5.2.1. Because there is to be an awareness in prayer that the blessings God gives us, even the most basic blessings, is not an isolation for us.
5.2.2. Does'nt mean that God doesn' tlove us personally, but it means that God's intentional for us has always been community
5.2.2.1. He saves for himself a people!
5.2.2.2. building up a temple of epopel!
5.2.3. REF: We see this so clearly --- EPH 4 - let him who steal, work, to give
5.2.4. It reproves narrow spirited men who move within their own sphere only; who look only at themselves, and mind not the case of others; who leave others out of their prayers; if they have daily bread, they care not though others starve; if they are clothed, they care not though others go naked. Christ taught us to pray for others, to say, Give us;' but selfish persons are shut up within themselves, as the snail in the shell, and never speak a word in prayer for others. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4503-4506). . Kindle Edition.
5.3. the more a Christian is ennobled with grace, the more he besieges heaven with his prayers for others. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4510-4511). . Kindle Edition.
5.4. If we are members of the mystic body, we cannot but have a sympathy with others in their wants; and this sympathy would lead us to pray for them. David had a public spirit in prayer. Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good.' Psa 125: 4. Though he begins the Psalm with prayer for himself, Have mercy upon me, O God,' yet he ends the Psalm with prayer for others. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion.' Psa 51: 1, 18. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4511-4514). . Kindle Edition.
5.5. Two things should make rich men thankful. (1) God gives them more than they deserve. (2) He gives them more than they pray for. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4534-4535). . Kindle Edition.
5.6. Galatians 6:10 (ESV) — 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
5.7. How is it possible to think of God as purely an personal god?
5.7.1. The pagans did this. There was no vision of God's transcendnat. They all became priests for their Gods
5.7.1.1. Ex. Nebu and his father
5.7.1.2. Ex. Took the thingks of the temple - not for value, but for blessing.
5.7.1.3. Gods subservient buut not YWH
5.7.2. So when we pray this petition we are reminded that we are not at the center God is, and circling around him like planets round the sun are milliions of lives that need the warmth of his rays as much as we do, so we pray OUR, OUR
5.7.3. ILL: Abandoned refugee. Increasingly our values should refelct God's care
6. Main Idea
6.1. Intro Illustration
6.2. Connection
7. CONCLUSION - What would this look like if we prayed this and God answered?
7.1. Reminds us of God's goodness and fatherhood
7.1.1. See the privilege of believers. They have both a spiritual and a civil right to what they possess. They who can say, our Father,' can say our bread.' Wicked men that have a legal right to what they possess, but not a covenant right; they have it by providence, not by promise; with God's leave, not with his love. Wicked men are in God's eye no better than usurpers; all they have, their money and land, is like cloth taken up at the draper's, which is not paid for; but the sweet privilege of believers is, that they can say, our bread.' Christ being theirs, all is theirs. Oh, how sweet is every bit of bread dipped in Christ's blood! How well does that meat relish, which is a pledge and earnest of more! The meal in the barrel is an earnest of our angels' food in paradise. It is the privilege of saints to have a right to earth and heaven. Watson, Thomas (2011-11-10). The Lord's Prayer (With Active Table of Contents) (Kindle Locations 4553-4559). . Kindle Edition.
7.2. Generosity
7.2.1. because we would view everythign simply as bread
7.2.2. The next time you come to the Eucharist, bring with you, in mind and heart, someone you know, or know of, or have seen on television, who desperately needs God's bread, literally or metaphorically, today. Bring them with you; let them kneel, in your mind's eye, with you at the altar rail; and let them share the bread and wine with you. And, as you return, strengthened by God's food, ask yourself what this new friend would mean when she or he prays `Give me this day my daily bread'. Then ask how you might be part of God's answer to that prayer. N. T. Wright. The Lord and His Prayer (Kindle Locations 357-361). Kindle Edition.
7.2.3. Stacy - mom that needs help
7.3. Persistence
7.3.1. This petition teaches us that we shoudl pray for everything because in praying fo rthe most basic need, it begs the quesiton, what then should we not pray for?
7.4. letting certain tings go
8. Connection
8.1. The first 3 petiions have a lot to do with adoration, praise, submission. But now we come to the part that is about "give me". This is the part where we petition directly for the change of circumstances
8.1.1. This is the kind of praying we most often think of, are interested in.
8.1.2. ILL: Fullerton College - football player (Tim) pray for his ankle. People appreciate this.