Title: Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ
Author: Andre Holtslag

8
“Our Daily Bread”      Text – Matthew 6:11       OT Reading – 1 Kings 17

Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
As the Catechism very plainly spells out in LD 45-52, the Lord’s Prayer contains six requests.  
And as I mentioned in the sermon that looked at the first request, the first three requests of the prayer are all God-focused: “Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,” and “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and the next three requests are “us” focused: “Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts ...  And lead us not into temptation ...”  

And yet, as we also noted, we must be careful not to think that our needs must wait until we have dealt with the things that belong to God.  
You see, we were created to glorify God; 1 Cor 10:31, “Whatever you do … do it all to the glory of God.”  
And so, we need to hallow God’s name.  
But we also need to participate in the coming of His kingdom, and we need to do His will.  
So, our needs are intimately bound up in each one of these six requests.

But as we come now to these last three requests, the three that focus specifically on us, there are a couple of general points that are worth considering before we turn our attention to the detail of the fourth request, “Give us today our daily bread.”

1.	And the first is that all of our great needs are summed up in these three last requests.  
a.	As those who are body and soul, the basic necessities of the body and the basic necessities of the soul are covered in these three, simple, requests.  
i.	Now, of course there are many details to our lives that each need to be brought before the Lord in prayer.  
1.	But as you consider every one of those details, you will find that they fall into each of these three categories or headings or classifications; bread, forgiveness, and temptation.  
a.	Or, that if they don’t fall into one of these three headings, then they are things that we ought not be praying for.  
i.	Consider, for example, the World Cup.  
ii.	I am sure that most of us here would like the Spanish to win.  Ought we to pray for that?  
1.	Well, is it necessary for our physical well-being that this team or that team wins?  Does our physical existence depend on that result?  No.  
2.	Does it have anything to do, then, with our relationship with God or the spiritual struggles we may encounter today or tomorrow?  No.  
iii.	And so, we really have no business asking God to allow this team or that team to win the World Cup.     

2.	But secondly, and closely connected with this first point, I wonder if it has ever occurred to you that the order of these requests seems unusual.  After all, you would think that the biblical priority would be given to spiritual needs ahead of physical needs.  Shouldn’t something as mundane as daily bread rank lower than something as vital as forgiveness?  
a.	Well, many theologies and philosophies of man’s creation have suggested so over the millennia of the earth’s existence.  
i.	Body counts for nothing, they say.  Spirit or soul is what really matters.  

b.	But not the Word of God.  Make no mistake, congregation, the order of priority in the Lord’s Prayer is not random or backwards.  It is deliberate, wonderful, and so typical of our loving Saviour!  
i.	You see, in order for us to live in relationship with God as His children, in order for us to pray, in order for us to hallow His name, in order for us to participate in His work of Kingdom extension, and in order for us to do His will, we must be alive, and well.  
1.	Now, that is not to say that those who are unwell cannot do these things.  
2.	But good health maximises opportunities to serve the Lord in these things.  

ii.	And so, there is every reason why the first “us” request ought to be for daily bread, today, as our Lord reveals in this pattern for prayer.  Lord, keep us alive.

iii.	However, the moment we make this request, we become aware that we have spiritual needs that are just as vital.  
1.	And we see this as we recall what the Psalmist says about why we live in Psalm 30:9, “What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit?  Will the dust praise you?  Will it proclaim your faithfulness?”, and in Psalm 119:175, “Let me live that I may praise you.”  
2.	We need to live, yes.  But we need to live in fellowship with God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We need to live that we might praise His name.
a.	And God’s Word reveals to us that there is something that interrupts this fellowship; sin.  
i.	As we look back on the past 5 minutes or ½ hour or morning or day or week, we see a multitude of sins that pile up against us and add to our guilt.  
1.	We see sin that makes us unworthy of being alive, physically; unworthy of the grace of daily bread.  
2.	We see sin that does not reflect who we are, spiritually, as children of our Father in heaven.   

3.	And so, as living, physical, beings, we are immediately compelled to pray for our chief spiritual need, which is the forgiveness of sins.

4.	But we know also, that just as we have asked for the physical bread that is sufficient for the day that lies ahead of us, we need also the spiritual wisdom and strength to recognize the temptation that will come in the day that lies ahead of us.
a.	And so, we are immediately compelled to ask for that also.

c.	Thus, we might explain these three requests in this way: Firstly, Father, keep me alive, today.  But secondly, if you do, forgive my sins of the past.  And thirdly, keep me from the possible sins of the future.
i.	And all of this we see revealed in the order of these three requests.

Well, let’s turn our attention then to the detail of this fourth request, as we find it in Matthew 6:11 and explained in the Catechism’s answer to Q 125: “Give us today our daily bread.”

And as we consider this request, we want to note the basis of this request, and the content of this request.  The basis, and the content; our two points.

Firstly then, the basis of this request for our daily bread.

1.	And to understand the basis of this request we need to turn in our Bibles all the way back to Genesis 3:17ff.  
a.	There, God is revealing the consequences of the Fall to Adam, Eve, and the serpent.  He turns to Adam, and says, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."”
i.	And there are three things we must note here.  
1.	Firstly, note that the punishment fits the crime.  
a.	Adam’s sin was to do with food.  And so, five times in God’s word to Adam, eating is mentioned.  And the Hebrew word for food translates literally as bread.

2.	Secondly though, note that the curse is to do with effort required to get bread..  
a.	In Genesis 1:26, God created Adam to work in the Garden, and gave to Him all of the produce of the Garden as food.  
i.	But now, the ground that produces the food will not be maintenance free and naturally fertile.  
1.	No, now, it is “cursed ground.”  
ii.	And now, it will not be a matter of simple planting and harvesting and eating.  
1.	No, now it will require “painful toil” to produce anything.  
iii.	And now, it will not be weed, or “thorn and thistle” free.  Now, the fruit will not plop down into your hand.  
1.	No, now you will sweat for every morsel.  

3.	But note, thirdly, that even in these words of curse there is the promise of God’s provision.  
a.	For while there will be “painful toil” and “thorn and thistle” and “sweat,” what will it produce, according to the Lord?  Bread.  
i.	Even though sin has brought curse to the world, and sweat to work as a result, this merciful, patient, and generous God will yet provide man with the bread he needs to live.  

ii.	So this request of the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that despite the curse of sin, God has promised to provide His people with the bread they need to live.  
1.	And so, it is this promise that forms the basis of our request for daily bread.  

b.	But the other part of the basis for this request rests in the very nature of the request itself.  
i.	Boys and girls if I was to overhear you asking someone else for $2, that would tell me two things.  
1.	It would tell me that you don’t have $2, and that the person you are asking does have $2.  
ii.	Well, it is similar with this request for daily bread.  The very fact that Jesus instructs us to ask this of our Father reveals that only God can give us the daily bread that we need.  
1.	James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.”  
2.	Acts 14:17, God gives “Rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food.”  
iii.	The basis of this request for food rests in the fact that we know that only God can give it to us, and that He desires to give it to us.

c.	But this raises something of a question in our minds, though, doesn’t it congregation: Why, if God is completely sovereign, and if God knows all things, and if God has fore-ordained all things that will come to pass, does Jesus teach us here to ask Him for our daily bread?  
i.	Well, one commentator, provides us with what I think is a very helpful answer to this potentially troubling question.
1.	He said that many of us tend to think of God as giving every believer a lump sum of grace, “and that, having received it, we just go on living on it.”  The problem with this idea, if it were so, though, is that we would likely focus on the gift rather than the giver.  And God’s desire is that we regularly speak to Him.  Do you think earthly fathers would be happy if they gave vast sums to their children who then went off for long periods of time, until they used up the whole sum, and only then returned to their fathers to ask for another lump?  No, fathers like to have their children come regularly to speak with them.  And this is so, also, with God.  It is, said Dr Simpson, “Exactly as though a father put a great deposit for his son in the bank, and the son can only receive a supply each time by [filling out a withdrawal slip].  Each time he needs another installment he has to [fill out a withdrawal slip].  And that is how God deals with us.  He does not give it to us all at once.  He gives it to us in installments.  God is there in grace offering His guarantee, and all we have to do is sign our [slips] and present them.  That is prayer, it is presenting our [withdrawal slip], just going to God and asking Him to honour it.”  
2.	And what this reveals to us is that the God who created heaven and earth, the God who needs no-one else, the great “I am”; Yahweh; the self-existent one, the One who is from everlasting to everlasting, delights in, rejoices in, and loves to hear you come to Him, and speak to Him, and ask for your daily bread!  And that is why we pray!

d.	God promises daily bread, only God can provide daily bread, and God loves to be asked for daily bread; these three together provide the basis of this request for daily bread.  Hallelujah!

Well having discovered all of these wonderful truths already, let’s also consider the content of this request for daily bread.

1.	You will find as you look at the fourth request itself and the answer of the catechism that a leap is made in terms of that which is asked for.  The Greek word of Matthew 6:11 is accurately translated as ‘bread,’ yet the Catechism expands that to take in “all our physical needs.”  
a.	And so, the question is is this warranted?  Is this a request just for bread, or is it suggestive of all our physical needs?  
i.	Well, once again, biblically, we have every reason to take the word ‘bread’ as suggestive of all our physical needs.  
1.	Earlier we looked at Genesis 3 and the curse of sin.  There we saw that the Hebrew word for ‘food’ there is, literally, bread.  
a.	But clearly it was not only bread that came under the curse of sin, but every element of man’s food and drink and all the rest of his physical necessities.  
2.	Likewise, in Matthew 4, when Jesus was being tempted by the devil in relation to bread, and said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” clearly, there too, all physical necessities were in view.

ii.	And so, what this means, in relation to our prayers, is bread, the flour that makes the bread, the wheat that makes the flour, the farmer that sows the wheat, the soil that nourishes the wheat, the rain and sun that nourish the soil, the driver of the plough and the combine harvester.  The machine and machine operator that grind the wheat, the truck and driver that deliver the wheat to the mill and the flour to the bakery and the bread to the store.  The manager who sets the store prices, the agricultural market that determines the price of commodities, the government watchdog that keeps an eye on the markets.  The shelf stacker who keeps the store shelves tidy at Pak-n-Save, the checkout person who scans it.  And so the list goes on and on…

iii.	In this prayer, we have already asked God to let us hallow His name, be used in kingdom extension, and do His will.  With this fourth request, we recognize that to do these things we need health, strength, brains, energy and physical means, etc.  
1.	And so, we ask here also that God give us anything and everything that will help us to do what he calls us to do here on earth.  
a.	Father, give us customers in our shop or business, give us the books we need to learn, give us reliable transport to get where we need to go, give us the recall we need for this exam, give us the ability to do our work well, give us the energy to discipline our children, give us the wisdom to make sound investments, give us a home that aids our desire to be hospitable, give us power so that we may bake and get the clothes dry.  And again, the list goes on and on …

iv.	The fourth request clearly functions as a heading to guide us in the detail of our prayers for God to give us every physical necessity.

2.	And yet, in all of this, we must take note of the adjective in this fourth request; daily.  
a.	Our Lord Jesus urges us here to pray for physical necessities sufficient for each day, no more and no less.  
i.	Like the writer of Proverbs 30:8-9, our prayer ought to be, ‘Father, “give me neither poverty nor 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 dishonour the name of my God.”  

b.	Now, this does not mean that we may not make wise provision for the future.  
i.	Consider Joseph did in Egypt storing grain against the coming years of famine.  
ii.	Consider Proverbs 6:6-8, “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”  
iii.	Consider the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31, “When it snows, she has no fear for her household.”  Why?  Because she has made provision for when it snows.  

c.	What it does mean is that a love of money and a desire to simply gather possessions have no place in the believer’s life.  All efforts to increase wealth and possessions ought to have the extension of God’s kingdom in view, as we have already requested of our Father.  
3.	And lastly, in terms of the content of this request, note that we do not pray for my daily bread, but for our daily bread.  
a.	As with each of these petitions, this is the prayer of the believer who lives among the fellowship of believers.  
i.	So we pray for our (mine) daily bread and for our (ours) daily bread.  

b.	And just as prayer for our (mine) needs ought to be accompanied by our faithful and obedient activity, so this prayer reminds us of what we read in Ephesians 4:28, where Paul instructs believers to work so that we “may have something to share with those in need.”  
i.	We work, hard, to produce our (mine) daily bread, but also our (ours) daily bread.

c.	And just in case we grow weary of giving to those in need, consider the words of this poem penned by an author whose identity I could not track down, 
“Go give to the needy sweet charity's bread.  For giving is living," the angel said.  
"And must I be giving again and again?"  My peevish, petulant answer ran.  
"Oh, no," said the angel, piercing me through, "just give till the Master stops giving to you."  

We have seen then that the basis of this request for daily bread is God’s promise, God’s provision, and His delight in being asked.  We have seen that the content of this request is every physical need, sufficient for the day, and not just for ourselves, but for all of God’s children.

It is not surprising then that the last words of Lord’s Day 50 call on us to give up our trust in creatures and to put out trust in God alone.  
And we must do this, as I said earlier, because in Genesis 3, God promises us physical food.  
But even more importantly than this, in Genesis 3, God also promises us spiritual food.  
He told us that one day the seed of the woman would come to crush the seed of the serpent.  

And several thousand years later, Jesus came to earth to fulfill that promise.  
The first Adam gave in to the devil’s temptation and ate food.  
But the second Adam stood firm against the devil’s temptation and refused to eat food.  

Later and instead, revealing Himself to be more than just a man, knowing that the people needed to eat, he took five small loaves and created a meal of bread for 5000.  

And having catered for their physical needs, He the said to them, “I am the bread of life … I am the living bread that came down from heaven … Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven … he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”  

In Matthew 5:45, we are told that God “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  
As the creator of the universe, God gives physical bread to everyone, believer or unbeliever.  
But that bread is useful only for life here on earth.  
Jesus, as the bread of life, however, is useful also for heaven!  

So, as we pray, “Father, give us today our daily bread,” we believers also thank Him for His faithful provision of daily bread, and for Jesus; the bread of life!  Amen.