The Lord's Prayer

Okay.

Tom is gonna come up and preach for us in a second. In this season we're going through, looking at the lord's prayer in Mathew chapter 6. But before we delve, we're gonna turn to the word of god, and we're gonna read Matthew 6 verses 1 to 15. If you've got a Bible, please do turn to it, but if not, then it there it is up on screen. Matthew chapter 6.

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others. To be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, Do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by others. Truly, I tell you they have received their award in full.

But when you give to the needy, Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that you're giving may be in secrets. Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites For they love to stand, they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room.

Close the door and pray to your father who is unseen. Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans for they think they'll be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. For your father knows what you need before you ask him.

This then is how you should pray. Our father in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread, and if they give us our debts, as we also have given our debtors. A lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil 1. Where if you forgive other people when they sit against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, their sins, your father will not forgive your sins. Thank you, Steve.

For that, If you want to, keep that wonderful passage open in front of you, we're going to, have a look at it together. Again, this is a series that we've been working through in the lord's prayer. And, we've come to verse 11 now. We're working very slowly through it, and we're gonna be having a look at those wonderful words. Give us this day.

Our daily bread. Couple of quick notices before we get going. Firstly, what about that vision dinner video, a? I mean, That was tremendous, wasn't it? So get that date in your diary.

It's gonna be a good occasion. We're going to be amongst other things on that evening, commissioning those folks who are going to part of the plant, in Tollworth, but we're also gonna be resetting a vision for for ourselves as a church and encouraging 1 another again in this task of evangelism and discipleship. Which the lord has given us. And so I think what we might do this week is embed that video into the email. So you can watch it again.

Because I know I'm biased, but it's the gift that keeps on giving that video. There's layers to it, you know, which you can enjoy in your own time. Also just, a notice about the evening service tonight do come along, to the evening service to to hear the word of god preached to join with others. But we've also, got Dima Maumoyka, who's going to be coming this evening, and he is a pastor of a church in Belarus. And, knows Taras very well, but is still in Belarus, and he's coming over.

And he's gonna be, we're gonna do an interview with him, and he's gonna tell us about his experiences of life and ministry in Belarus, in all the turmoil and, the unsettled, situation that there there. So that'd be really worth hearing. We're gonna knock the live stream down tonight so that he can talk freely about it. So you'll need to be there. You need to be there if you wanna you wanna hear dima.

And, lastly, just to say, we've got a a family with us, and it's a joy to have them. We've got Christina and Peter, who are a Slovakiaian family with their chilled and, they're visiting us. They're on holiday at the moment, but Christina was actually converted, became a Christian in this church back in 2003 or 2004. So you were you were here right right when the church was first planted and became a Christian and have now come back 20 years later, and so it's lovely to have you. And, another little connection, Mike and B, if you know, Mike and B B, used to be Christina's landlady.

All those years ago. So if you wanna know what Christina was like, as a as a tenant, both before Christ and after, you know, then you can have a conversation with b afterwards, and she can tell you that story, I'm sure. But it's really lovely to to welcome you. It must be a special joy for you to be back here where you came to know the lord, those years ago. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for the reminder that are you are alive and you are at work and, all over this world from every nation, you are drawing people, to the lord Jesus Christ. And, we pray that as we come to your word now and we think together about this, wonderful petition, this request. And all that it teaches us about you and about ourselves, we pray that you would break the bread of your word for us this morning and that you would feed us, give us that which we really need in order to keep going and to keep living for you, and we ask in Jesus's name. Our men. Well, when, the lord Jesus Christ first spoke these words, in Matthew chapter 6, which I guess was in, know, AD 31, 32, that sort of time.

There were a number of, big issues, global that people were facing and that would have been troubling many people. If you were a politician at the time and you decided to go door to door and knock on people's doors, And if you were to ask people, what are the issues that are concerning you most at the moment? What what are the doorstep issues, the things that matter to you? I guess there would have been a number of things that people would have said. Perhaps they would have worried about the, the the spread of leprosy in the land.

And other diseases like that, they want to know what are you going to do to help contain the spread of leprosy? Others might say, no, the issue for me here is is Roman occupation. You know, how much further is it gonna go? How much more land are they gonna take? What are what are they gonna subject us to?

That's my that's my big issue. Others perhaps would have worried more about slavery, you know, very common practice at the time, but perhaps it was beginning to get very nasty. And others were saying, well, I want to know what are you going to do about slavery and Roman occupation and leprosy? Those were those were the big issues of the day. Just like today, when the politicians go from door to door, people will have their doorstep issues.

You know, why should I vote for you? What are you gonna do to help us with the with the climate and the environment what's your policy? That that's what I'm most concerned about. Or what are you gonna do for the cost of living? You know, me and my me and my wife, we try to get a get a house, but we can't get a mortgage together.

We can't get a deposit. We just can't afford it. What are you gonna what are you gonna do for families like mine? Are you gonna do about the the state of the water? You know, the water quality and all the sewage that's being dumped in our streams and rivers?

What are you gonna there are these big issues, aren't there global issues that people are concerned about? And of course, as Christians, we know that we serve a god who is so sovereign and so compassionate that we can bring even the biggest needs to him. In fact, we're encouraged to do that, and we've done it this morning. In 1 Timothy 2, we're told to pray for kings and rulers and all in authority. Now, those are people who, in 1 sense, are outside of our sphere of direct responsibility and yet god is so big we can pray for the king and know that it will make a difference in god's providence some way.

So we are to pray about these big global needs. But it is interesting, isn't it? When you come to this prayer in verse 11, And you ask the question, okay, which of these big global needs is Jesus gonna put first? What does he think that we should ask for? Hello, be your name, end Roman occupation.

Father. Father, your kingdom come, your will be done fix the climate crisis, please. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, will you stop the spread of leprosy and other infectious diseases in the world. Well, he doesn't locate the request anywhere near those things, does he?

He begins with a very simple, very ordinary, very daily, and very personal need. Give us today our daily bread. Just let that sink in for a minute. That is quite Quite remarkable, isn't it? You think about all the pressing needs facing the world of his day and ours Give us this day our daily bread.

Now why would that be, do you think? Why would he sort of skirt over some of those bigger issues and go for something like that? Why would that be? Do you think? Well, at least 1 reason is because the lord Jesus Christ wants his people to have a real prayer life.

1 that is actually connected to their actual lives. Because it is possible, isn't it? To have a prayer life that is very grand and theoretical, and covers all of the big issues of the day. But actually neglects a kind of daily, I need you. I need you.

I need you. And I wanna bless other people in my sphere of responsibility, and I wanna help them. Isn't it easy to do that? To pray about the big issues, but actually not to have a personal dependence upon the lord myself. And Jesus has already tackled that very thing.

If you look back to verse 5, that's why it's worth reading the context like this every week. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray. Standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their award in full. Do you see what they do?

They stand and in public, they have this very grand, very theoretical prayer life and all who listen to them think, those guys really care about the issues of the day. They really do. Look how they pray for them. But Jesus labels them hypocrites because they don't sincerely personally in their own hearts walk with the very god that they're paid to address. In public.

Jesus wants something a lot better for his people. And so, of course, it is not immoral to pray father feed the world, or save the king or help the king. Of course, those aren't bad things to pray, but if that isn't complimented by my own personal dependents upon the lord. It's not really real, is it? You see, how can it be?

That I can pray and trust the lord with the climate if I won't even trust him with my own daily bread. That's not real, is it? That doesn't make sense. And so that's really the big idea, I think, this morning. Our daily bread is about a personal real steady day by day reliance upon the lord.

And so what we're gonna do is basically work through this sentence and look at every word in it and what it teaches us. So we're gonna if you imagine a big Lego structure, we're gonna break it down. We're gonna look at the blocks, and then we'll build it we'll build it back together. Okay? So the first thing we're gonna have a look at is this word give verse 11 verse 9, our father in heaven, and in verse 11, give.

Give. And as far as I can tell, Like in English, that is a that is a totally normal word. There is really nothing special behind that word. It is the stock word for just giving, handing over, granting, give, give. It's a very ordinary word.

And yet, it is also a word that is charged with glory because it takes us into the very nature of who god is. Give says we have 1 who loves to give. We have a giver. It takes us into the heart of god who gives. Psalm hundred and 47.

You find this truth, all over the Bible. Verse 8 and 9. He covers the sky with clouds. He supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young Ravens when they call.

Do you see what our god is like? He is a giver, and I love the sweep of that storm. You notice how big it starts, covers the sky with clouds. That's big. Supplies the earth with rain.

That's big. Makes grass grow on the hills. That's a little bit smaller. Provides food for the cattle. That's a little bit smaller.

Provides for the young ravens when they call a little worm for a little raven when it calls. You see how it sweeps from the global universal provision and giving right down to the tiny raven in the wood God gives. Give us, says he gives, and he supplies to his world, and not just to his creation. To his enemies. Here's a quote by, Thomas Watson, who was a, a puritan writer.

And he says he says this. Can we get that 1 up? Talking about the lord, who will send in provisions to his enemies? Men spread nets for their enemies god spreads a table. The dew drops on the fissile, as well as the rose.

Is that wonderful? God gives to all of his creation, but out of his his general affection for all that he has made, He even supplies what his enemies need. Just think about that. All of us at 1 time before we knew Christ. The lord restocked our cupboards every morning, and with the energy that food provided, we disobeyed him.

We used his gifts to continue in our rebellion. How great is the general compassion of god towards all that he has made and even to even to his enemies, give us says you're a giver. You give. But then there is a special sentence in which the lord gives to those who are uniquely his, to his children. There's a wonderful word in the old testament.

It comes up first in Genesis chapter 22. You might know the story. You might know the scene. Abraham is on Mount Mariah, and in the ultimate faith. He is about to sacrifice his own son, Isaac, until he hears a voice from heaven saying, you hold that hand back And then the lord provides a ram in the place of Isaac, and then the lord says, on this mountain, it will be provided the lord will provide.

And in the original, that translates as Jehovah Jaira, which you might not have heard that word before, Jehovah Jira, the lord, our provider, the lord who provides. And that is a name that is not given to everyone or to enemies That is a name given to Abraham and to all the descendants of faith. The covenant god will be a will provider in a special sense for all of his all of his children, generation after generation. He takes that special burden of provision upon his children, Jehovah Jira. It's a wonderful word.

You can also think of it as just, someone who says leave it leave it with me. Or I'll see to it for you. You know, maybe if you can imagine being at work and, you run out of the office to catch your train and, there's something that you've forgotten at work, a paper that you've forgotten to file or an email you've forgotten to send, and you might quickly ring up 1 of your colleagues and say, Look, I'm really sorry. I forgot to send that email. Would you mind just loading up my computer and sending it off?

And if they're a kind colleague, what they'll say is, yeah, that's no problem. Leave it with me. Leave it with me. I'll see I'll see to it. You get the train.

I'll see to it. That's the kind of that's the kind of idea. Jehovahhova Jaira, leave it with me. I'll see to I'll see to it. I'll see to it.

I'll sort that out for you. And so do you see this word give? Points us to the very nature of god. Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, he is a giver. He's like the sun, that never ever gets bored of shining.

He never ever tires of giving. Never. It's in his nature. He gives to all his creation, he gives to his enemies, and then to his people. He provides what they need in a special way.

He provides them with Christ, and he provides them with the gift of the Holy Spirit and provides them with the hope of eternal life and the privilege of adoption to sonship He provide he is Jehovah majority. He gives. He gives all day long to his people. And don't you think that is just a great encouragement to pray. I'm sure you've had that experience where you've, you've rung up a call center or a company for some for some reason, and, somebody answers the phone.

And 1 of the first things they'll say to you is, how can I help, or what can I do for you? But sometimes you get the distinct impression, that helping you is not what got that person up in the morning. Yeah? It's not. Although they say it, as part of their patter, it's not really in their DNA to want to give to you.

But when you know that somebody delights to give, It's a delight to ask, isn't it? You know when you get those people and you ask them something, and you don't get the sense they're too busy or it makes them annoyed or they don't really wanna do it. They you get the sense that they're happy to hear your request. And they're delighted to do something for you. Well, when you meet a person like that, it's a delight to ask them, isn't it?

Because you can sense that giving is what they wanna do. And that is true of our father in heaven. When we pray verse 11, give We are appealing to his nature. It's like asking the cheater to run or the honey bee to collect pollen. It's what it it's what it wants to do.

That's as dear as what it loves to do. And so we say give we are appealing to his nature. He's a lover and he's a giver. He wants to give. We're gonna sing at the end of this service.

A song, which some of you might know, and the second verse goes like this. You are coming to a king. Large petitions with you bring. For his grace and power are such. That none can ever ask too much.

Brothers and sisters, if you know god as your father, and Christ as your king, large petitions with you bring. You can never ask too much. Because his grace and power are such that he never tires of giving, and he wants to give, and he loves to give because that's who he is. And so you can see this first word give. It's both a request, but it's also a doxology.

It's a way of praising god. When you say give, you praise him because it's what he wants to do. It's a lot in a word, isn't there? Give. Give.

That's the first thing. Secondly, give us or give our. So we'll look at us an hour together, us an hour. And what we're gonna see here is that if the word give tells us loads about the lord, which it does. The word or the phrase us and our tells us a whole heap about ourselves as well.

I'm sure you will have seen in various bookshops or online. The thousands of books that are published and written every year in order to help you discover who you are. You know, there there's a there's whole sections devoted to unlocking your inner self and bringing out the real you and, not allowing your true self to be suppressed. And 7 ways to be the real you at work. It's a multi million dollar industry trying to help you to understand who you are.

But the lord Jesus Christ in verse 11 and in just 7 words tells us more about ourselves. Than all of those books combined. Verse that verse 11, give us today our daily bread. There there is like the whole doctrine of man in that sentence. Give us.

We need you. That's who we are. We are creatures, and you are the creator, and we are the ones who need providing for. We don't provide for you. And we are dependent upon you.

And without you, we have nothing physical and nothing spiritual. We were made to say father give. That's what a person is. A human being is most truly human when they can say verse 11 with conviction. Father give.

That's how you know you're talking to a human who knows who they really are. When they say father give us. I need you. I need you. I don't think it's an overstatement to say.

That at the root of every identity crisis, both ancient and modern, is a failure to understand or a failure to believe that about ourselves, that we are made to be dependent. On the father and to say give and to trust his provision. And so verse 11, in a very confused world, restores our humanity to us. Give us makes us human. We need you, father.

We need you. We were made to know you. And before we move on to the next phrase, did you notice again the plural language here? Give us our. It's all over this prayer.

Our father in heaven, forgive us our debts. As we have forgiven our debtors, lead us not deliver us from. Why is this prayer so full of plural language? It's quite jarring even in an individualistic age, isn't it? To find such corporate language all over the place.

And I think again, 1 of the reasons is because if prayer is anything to us, then then let it be real. Let it be real. We don't wanna be those people who pray the big prayers for the big issues but actually then neglect those who we could do something about. Yeah. It's very easy that, isn't it?

To pray for the big issues whose job it is of someone else to fix and not to pray for the people in my world who I could actually do something about. But Jesus says give us. He doesn't say give me my daily bread, and he doesn't say give them out their daily bread. He says, give us, in other words, me and those I know. It's an interesting illustration of this in a parable that Jesus tells, which is probably his most famous 1, which is the parable of the good Samaritan, the parable of the good Samaritan, and you might know the story.

You've got a man who's on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho, and, he gets ambushed and beaten up by bandits. He's left penniless. He's left for dead. And then there are a number of people who walk past him. The first is a priest.

The second is a lawyer. And those people, you can you can be sure Those people, that priest and that lawyer, they were concerned with the big issues of the day. They were concerned with doorstep issues. Roman occupation would have mattered to them. You know, doing criminals would have mattered to them.

In fact, they were probably on their way to a meeting in order to talk about the global issues, how can we fix them? But when they find someone, on the street who they could give something like daily bread to, they walk straight past. Now what has happened there? Well, there are 2 people who are concerned with everyone accept the person they can actually help. And there's something very fake about that, isn't there?

Concern for everybody, except the 1 person they could actually do something about. Jesus says, when you pray, say give us, give us, not just you, not just us, so that you always remain aware, not just of the them or the me, but of the us. The people in my family, church, community, neighborhood, who I could actually do something about. Last week, Pete quoting Luther said that this is a dangerous prayer. And it is a dangerous prayer, isn't it?

Because when you think of it like that, you realize this isn't just a prayer. This is a summons to action. Hallowed be your name. Now send me out to Halloween. Your kingdom come help me to see it extend.

Give us this day for me and those I will meet. It's a summons. To action, to pray, to trust, and then to live. So that's give. Tell us loads about god.

That's us an hour. Tells us much about ourselves. Thirdly, let's look at this word today. Today or in older translations daily. And this is where the lord Jesus goes against all conventional wisdom.

Because what he doesn't provide is a 15 year bread strategy. Yeah? That's people love talking about that, don't they? What's your 5 year? You know, where'd you see yourself in 10 year?

What's your 10 year plan? Where are you gonna be in 5 years? Jesus says, when it comes to your daily bread, you don't even need a tomorrow plan. Because tomorrow you will find has enough worries of its own. What you need is just a daily plan.

A daily plan. And how liberating is that? Do you not think because isn't it true that on many occasions, the reason people can feel so anxious is because they're just looking too far ahead. They're looking too far ahead, and all that they see that is coming down the track is gonna be bad. How many years before I get that relationship?

Am I gonna be married in 10 will I have will we have a house in 5 years? I don't know. What's my 5 year plan? Where am I gonna be? I'm gonna start here while I've moved up the ladder, and it's all it's just looking too too far ahead.

It's all bad, and it's all light years away. But Jesus Christ says when it comes to your needs, your that the things you really need for today, you don't need to look any further than sunset. Just daily. Daily. Give us today.

Just give us today what I need. And this really matters. There's a there's an interesting illustration of this in the old testament It comes from the, the wilderness years when god's people have been led out of Egypt and they're now going to be depending on him or they should be depending on him in their wilderness years. And, let me show you this. This is from exodus 16.

And, oh, am I going backwards? Oh, I am. That's where I've been going wrong. I've been pushing the back arrow. That explains a lot.

That's confusing. Exodus 16 verse 4 to 5, and just notice the daily stuff again here. Then the Lord said to Moses, I will rain down bread from heaven for you, the people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way, I will test them, and I'll see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day, they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.

You see, they are to go out each day and gather enough for that day which is like saying, give us this day our daily bread. And so this is gonna be a test for them. The Lord says, are they gonna listen to me? Oh, miss, are they gonna listen? Are they gonna trust me every day or not?

And look what the Israelites do. Verse 20 27? Can we get that up? However, some of them paid no attention to Moses. They kept part of it until morning.

But it was full of maggots, and it began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. In verse 27, nevertheless, some of the people did go on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. And look, how sensible that must have seemed? At the time.

There's so much manner. Why don't we just take a little bit more and we'll put it in our cupboard for tomorrow. I mean, what's the worst that can there's loads of it. Why would we just get what we need for isn't it? Wouldn't it be better to stockpile a little bit just in case something goes wrong tomorrow?

And this whole thing about the Sabbath, look, You know, I know the lord means well, and we can worship him for the rest of the day. But first thing in the morning, let's just go out and see what there is and then at least we'll know we're covered for the weekend. Yeah? It's all so rational and it's all so sensible. It's a bit like stockpiling loo rolls in COVID days.

Do you remember that? You know, you go to Tesco and you think why just buy 6 when I could buy 650, because who knows what's going to happen? This thing may drive us into a nuclear winter, and then how are we going to keep ourselves clean? And it's also sensible isn't it? And so rational.

And, yeah, you see what's going on here. Do you see the arrogance of the human heart? It's not of course that there is anything wrong with making plans for the future, but man, this is a warning against what our hearts are like in the face of god's instruction, isn't it? If we won't regularly come to the lord every day and trust him with what we need and say, lord, give us to debt, give me today what I need, and you take care of tomorrow. And you take care of my 10 year plan, just help me to trust you today.

If we won't do that, then it says something about who we're trusting to provide for those needs, doesn't it? Everyone's got a provider. Everyone's got a daily provider. The question is who is it? Who do we look to?

Who do we depend on? Who do we trust him every day? And so do you see, god is so kind to include the word today in this prayer, isn't he? Isn't that good of him? To include that word?

Because he loves us enough to want us every day to depend on him and trust in him. So that's today. Fourthly, Let's look at the word bread. Verse 11, give us today our daily bread. Notice it's not daily caviar, and, it's not to be washed down with daily prosecco.

It's it's simple wholesome bread. Give us today and every day just my daily bread. In the book of common prayer, which is, an old, anglican prayer book, and it's got some wonderful liturgy in it. They have this sentence as part of the, the morning confession. Again, Brandon, if you'd be happy to put that up for me, that would be great because this seems to have gone again.

It says this. When we meet together, We ought to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise. To hear his most holy word and to ask those things which are requisite or required and necessary as well for the body as the soul. Do you see the emphasis there? Just daily bread when we gather together We say, lord, give us what is required, and give us what is necessary only for the body and for the soul.

That's all we need. Just what is required and just what is needed. Now why would that be do you think? Why would the prayer request be so simple and so just what we need. Well, there's a clue in another part of the Bible.

This is Proverbs 30, proverbs chapter 30, and hopefully we can see this on the screen as well. Verse 8 and 9. 2 things I ask of you, lord, Do not refuse me before I die. Keep falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches.

Now I think most of us would happily pray the first half of that sentence. Give me not poverty. But would we pray the second half? Give me not riches. Give me neither.

Give me neither, poverty, nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. And here's the reason. 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 or not Hallo, the name of my god. And so the point is not that we can never enjoy pricier things, but that we remain aware of the temptations. Of anything more or anything less than just what we need.

Give me too much. Give me a 15 year bread strategy. And I may turn around and say who is the lord? Who is the lord? Look what I've got.

My cupboards are full. My fridge is cold. My 10 year plan is set. Who is the lord? That I would depend on him.

Or I would have so little that I would have to take matters into my own hands and do things which in the end would bring dishonor. To the name of my god. Do you see the wisdom in the word bread? Just bread. Just what is requisite just what is necessary so that I can be faithful to you and not forget you.

And so this is what the disciple is praying. Father, please provide just what I need. If you see fit to give me more, or if for a season I even have less, that's I I leave that with you, lord. But just give me what I need. So that I can keep loving you and serving you and not become forgetful of you and not dishonor you, just what me and my family needs so that we can love you maximally.

That's what that's what that's what we want. And so whatever that looks like, lord, I leave it to you, but bread, please. Just bread, whatever it looked, just bread so that I can keep serving you. And so that's what we might call the physical side of this bread. But there's also a spiritual side to it, and that's important because what about those Christians all over the world who might literally have daily bread, and that's all.

Literally daily bread, and that's all. And maybe even for a season have less than that. Can we still say that god is in any way going to answer this prayer for them? And the truth is we absolutely can. Because daily bread in its in its richest most satisfying form is about another sort of bread, another source of provision.

Just look with me at what follows in the lord's prayer verses 12 and 13. And ask yourself, what kind of needs are these? Are they physical needs, or is it a different sort of need? Verse 12, and forgive daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil 1.

Now you wouldn't call those physical needs, would you? Those are conditions of the heart. Those are needs of the spirit. Those are fruits of the spirit. And in order to live as Christians, we need the bread of god's word in order to do those things.

Don't we? Don't we? Don't we need the sustenance of the word of god and the spirit of god. If we are going to forgive and be protected from evil, we need that bread. Thomas Watson, again, says this.

What is it to have food and want grace? What is it to have the back clothed than the soul naked? Lord not only feed me, but sanctify me. Give me rather a full heart of grace than a house full of gold. See, the Christian thinking clearly knows that they can survive for 2, 3, 4 days a week or 2 without physical bread.

But they cannot live 1 hour in this world unless the lord gives them the spiritual bread that they need. To be safe from evil and to forgive sinners and to be forgiven. As Jesus Christ says, man cannot live on bread alone. Man can't live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of god. The lord Jesus Christ in john 6 verse 51, said I am the living bread.

That came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world, the deepest answer to this prayer for daily bread is the provision of the person of the lord Jesus Christ. And so when we pray, give us this day our daily bread, we are asking most of all, father, give me Jesus today. Give me Jesus.

Help me to feast on him with all of his salvation blessings and all of his salvation goodness. Help me to give me Jesus today who is my living bread. And so that's the bread. There's a physical. There's a spiritual.

And it's so wonderful, isn't it? Seeing these things together? And lastly, in our last few minutes, we're going to look now just at the heart of the prayer. So we've seen the give, we've seen the us and the hour, we've seen the daily, we've seen the bread, and here is the heart. Have a look again at verse 9, and let's set all of this in its context.

This then is how you should 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 today our daily bread. I was looking up this week what the global population is, and they reckon there are about 8000000000 people in the world, 8000000000 people. 25 percent of them live on or below the poverty line. That means that they are working with 3 dollars 65 per day. And so that is literally just enough.

To buy some kind of daily sustenance, whether bread or rice. 25 percent of the world are on that sort of money. But that means that 75 percent of the world, 6000000000 have something like daily bread and and more. And the question is, what percentage of those people do you think are praying for that daily bread every day? Of that 6000000000, what percentage would you say are praying to the father for daily bread?

What percentage of us, even in this room? Are praying for our daily bread every day. I don't know what the answer is, but I think the cynic at this point would say Yeah. Do you know what? It makes no difference whether you pray this or not, does it?

Not really. Doesn't seem to make any odds. You can wake up tomorrow morning, and you can pray for your daily bread, and it'll be in the cupboard. If you wake up tomorrow morning and you don't pray for your daily bread, guess what? The food's gonna be in the cupboard.

And maybe 1 reason we struggle with this daily dependence is because we think But deep down, it doesn't seem to make a difference. It doesn't seem to make any odds, whether we pray it or not, things seem to be the same. And on 1 level, as we saw in the first point, there is something true in that god is committed to providing for all of his creation. That's part of who he is. But here's the thing, and this is where it fits into the context of the whole prayer.

The lord does not provide for all people in the same way. There is a sort of provision which delights the lord. And there is a sort of provision which he does out of common grace, but also grieves him. 1 biblical example of this, here's numbers 11 verse 18 to 20. Here's an example of provision which grieves the lord.

Tell the people, consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow when you will eat meat. The lord heard you when you wailed. If only we had meat to eat, we were better off in Egypt. Now the lord will give you meat. And you will eat it and you will not eat it for just 1 day or 2 days or 5 or 10 or 20, but for a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it because you have rejected the lord who is among you and have wailed before him saying, why did we ever leave Egypt?

Does god provide for them? He does, but you see how their lack of faith in the end turns his provision into judgment. It's heaped back on them in the end. And in the same way, if we reject the lord Jesus Christ as our savior, and we never acknowledge the hand that feeds us. Then 99 days out of a hundred, the food will stay in the cupboard.

But on the last day, it will serve to condemn us. Because here is god who has been so generous, even though we didn't ask, we never asked He gave us anyway. And in the end, it would come through our nostrils, and it will heap upon us, and it would make us sick. You see? There is a sort of provision, which grieves the lord.

But at the opposite end, when we do trust in Christ, And when we recognize god's good provision, well, again, the same food will probably be in the cupboard, but we will be hollowing god's name. Because we will be depending on him, recognizing that his hand is the 1 that feeds us. And by turning to him every day, we are saying give us and it's a it glorifies him. It hallows him when we say give us. And so do you see the heart of this prayer?

With this request and all others is in the end the Halloween and the honoring of god's name. So much in the words give us this day, our daily bread, and the heart of it is for the glory of god. And so as we close, let's bow our heads and, I'll lead us in a prayer. Heavenly father, we thank you that you are the great giver. Who provides for all that you have made, who even provides for your enemies, and yet in a special way has undertaken to provide for us your children.

We thank you for the daily needs that you provide for us, and lord how ungrateful we are, how slow to acknowledge your provision we are. We are sorry for that for the way we've dishonored you by not depending on you. And so we pray father that you would help us to every day lean upon you for the daily bread, the provisions that we need, both for the body, and for the soul so that in that way we can bring glory to your name. In Jesus' name, amen.