Date of message: 19 January 2003
Subject: The Family Prayer - "Give Us
This Day Our Daily Bread"
Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
We have reached the middle portion of the Family Prayer. The portion that
we are considering today, I would like to consider, is the most endearing
of all because it touches on one of the most intimate messages that our
Lord Jesus Christ came to bring us from heaven; that the Lord God YHVH
wants to be our Father.
"Give us this day our daily bread," is a prayer that had been
uttered by millions from all corners of the Earth on a daily basis. The
Lord loves to hear this prayer for reasons best known to us who are His
children. Lets examine the prayer in detail, looking at the significance
of each word that goes into stringing that prayer.
"Give"
We acknowledge the Lord as a supply oriented Father and that it gives
Him great delight in giving to us when we run to Him to ask of Him. In
Matthew 7: 7 - 8 we read,
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock,
and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who
knocks it will be opened.
He did not give any preconditions before He grants us our requests. In
fact, Jesus went further and reminded His listeners of the love of an
earthly father for his child that would compels him to give to his children
whatever they ask of him. If we as earthly fathers know how to give good
gifts to our children, how much more our heavenly Father will give whatever
is good to those who ask of Him (Matthew 7: 11).
Jesus Himself gave us an excellent example of this unselfish giving from
His earthly ministry. In John chapter 4, we read of a tired and hungry
Jesus coming to a well in Samaria at noon and being thirsty as well, asked
for a drink from a woman who was living in adultery. He ministered to
her needs and He became refreshed in the end. While He was resting at
the well, His disciples had gone ahead into the town to buy lunch for
Him. However, when they came to where He was, they noticed that Jesus
was no longer hungry and so they posed the question to Him, "No one
brought Him anything to eat, did he?" Jesus replied, "My food
is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work."
(John 4: 33 - 34). Jesus gets His nourishment whenever we draw on Him.
"Us" "Our"
Each of us has to learn to ask of the Lord for ourselves. We can ask on
behalf of others (prayer by proxy) but the person who really wants to
receive the blessing from the Father must learn to ask for himself. Notice
Jesus did not teach us to pray "give them their daily bread",
No, He taught us to pray, "give us our daily bread."
"This Day"
The Lord wants us to trust Him to supply our needs on a daily basis. His
answers to our prayers are always one day at a time and He is always on
time. He answers our prayers at the time when we need the answers most;
the answers never come the next day after everything is over, nor are
the answers given the day before we ask of Him. If the answers came too
early, we may not recognize that what was supplied was in answer to a
future request. If the answers were given the day after we asked, then
we would have to fend for ourselves and that might defeat some. This is
contrary to Who God is, a loving, supply oriented Father who loves us
all above everything He created.
I am glad that Jesus did not teach us to pray, "give us this week
(or month, or year) our bread". The Father loves to hear His children
running to Him every day and talking with Him. I get very excited whenever
my two children (one teenager and the other an adolescent) come to me
and make conversation with me. Even though the conversation may be short
at times, but it thrills me nevertheless. If we, earthly parents so long
for our children to have fellowship with us every day, how much more our
Father in heaven desire our time with Him? Hallelujah, He longs for us
to talk with Him every day.
"Daily"
The Lord gives us exactly what we need for the day. For forty years in
the wilderness, the children of Israel had to go out of their tents early
in the morning to collect manna for the day. Some of them thought they
could save some energy and gathered slightly more so that they did not
have to collect again the next morning. However, the surplus collected
turned rancid immediately. There was no lack in the camp; everyone had
his fill of the manna and there was manna on the ground as long as the
need was there.
"Bread"
Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fish and fed five thousand men
(plus women and children). Jesus wants us to pray for bread because we
need staple diet every day. He did not ask us to pray for meat although
meat is useful. Too much of meat every day may cause some to fall sick
but I have not heard of anyone falling sick from too much bread. There
are three types of food that were categorized as good by Jesus - fish,
eggs and bread; Jesus should know as He created them for our consumption.
There is also a spiritual lesson for us to learn when we pray, "give
us this day our daily bread". As the children of Israel were fed
supernaturally on a daily basis, we also need to be fed spiritually on
a daily basis. Our Lord is a gracious God; He will give us our daily input
according to our needs. He does not force feed us but He makes available
His word toward us and His word for us is always in season, never too
early or too late.
Jesus loves us and wants the very best for us. When we ask Him to give
us our daily bread, we need to be prepared for His floodgates to be opened
and innumerable blessings start to pour forth in our direction. Have you
made the decision to accept the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart and
to start enjoying His blessings for your life? Spend a couple of moments
and pray this prayer and invite Jesus into your hearts and your life will
be turned around.
Our Father in heaven, thank you that You loved us so much that even when
we were still sinners, You sent Your Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
into this world to die for all our sins and that when we believe in Jesus,
we can have eternal life.
Lord Jesus, thank you that You came, You loved us and You obeyed the Father
by volunteering to die for all on the cross. Thank you that You had conquered
death and You rose again on the third day. And now, because of Your death
and resurrection, we who believe in You as our Lord and Savior will no
longer have to die but we receive Your gift for us - eternal life. Come
into my heart, I pray, and make my heart Your home.
Thank you that because of what You have accomplished for us on the cross,
I am now a child of God the Father. I am eternally forgiven of all my
sins, greatly blessed as Your child, highly favored as a joint-heir with
Jesus, deeply loved because of my position in Jesus and completely protected
because of You, Lord Jesus and in Your precious Name I pray.
Amen.
If you have prayed that prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family
of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important
that you are not alone facing your personal trials but that you can obtain
good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local
Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will
be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for
fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all
your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 - 26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
This and other archived messages can also be found
on the following URL http://www.oocities.org/fibredrive/index.htm