Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

Amen. It's good to be together. I greet you in the lovely name of the Lord Jesus. Welcome to each and every one. As we come to the Word again, we're in Luke chapter 11. And so let's go straight there, Luke chapter 11, and we'll read verses 1 through 4. Luke 11 verses 1 through 4. Luke 11. 1. Now, it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, that one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And so he said to them, When you pray, say, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. So you'll notice, having listened to the hymn, that there are slight differences in the words, in the traditional song, Our Father, which is based on Matthew. And so the hymn is based word for word on Matthew. Luke is a little bit different, leaves a couple of things out. And so we're not going to speak about the aspects that are in Matthew, that are not in Luke, because we're studying the gospel of Luke. And so we're in verse 3 this morning. And it's a very short verse. Give us day by day our daily bread. Or as Matthew says, give us today our daily bread. The reason why he translates it day by day, is because there's a complexity in the Greek, but the meaning is still the same. Give us every day. Give us today our daily bread. Now that seems to be a pretty simple idea. And what is it, you know, how much can we say about that? Well I think that there is in fact a lot of important stuff in this particular verse. And I trust that familiarity won't breed contempt. This is the problem when we come to verses like this. We say, well I know the verse. Even if you've never memorized the verse as such, I'm pretty sure you know the verse off by heart. And so we say, well you know, give us today our daily bread. And yet what we do need, is we need a revelation of the Spirit to make this real to us. We need God's help this morning. I need God's help in preaching it, because it is such a simple, easy concept. And yet at the same time, it can be lost in its simplicity. It's easy for us to say, well I know that, and tune out, and begin to think about Super Bowl Sunday next week, or whatever else it is that you want to think about. But we need God's help this morning, so that we can focus on just the simplicity, and yet the depths that are in this verse. And so I'm going to begin at the end of the verse, and work my way back again. You know I sometimes do that, because otherwise I have to explain the issue of bread, and then come back, and then go back again. So I'm going to start at the end, and I'm going to begin at the, move back to the beginning. And so when he speaks about the bread, and in fact there's really just two things in this verse. There's just two concepts, two words really, that are important. The one is today, and the other one is bread. And obviously when he is speaking about bread, he is meaning literal bread. And it's interesting that he has now dropped down from these elevated concepts of holy be your name, your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven, dropping from that down to common stuff, like bread. And yet I think in that there is an important lesson for us, and that is that God does not separate the deep things, and the common things. These things are one with God. As we've said many times, our worship is not something which we do just here on a Sunday. It's something that we do in our everyday life. And our faith permeates every area of our life, including the food that we eat. And I know that we separate those things out, we compartmentalize, and we say, well, you know, that's food. It has nothing to do with the things of God. And yet God has much to say about bread, and right from the beginning, from the Exodus right through to the book of Revelation, you find this concept of bread, and particularly of living bread. And so he is concerned about our day-to-day issues. And when he is speaking about bread here, he's not just meaning bread. Bread represents our everyday needs, whatever those needs may be, whether it's something to drink, or whether it's something to wear, or whether it's a job, or whether it's somewhere to stay. All of these things are covered by this concept of bread. And I think that we could take some liberty with a verse and say, well, give us today our daily needs. That's not the correct translation, but it would encapsulate the idea that is in this word, our daily needs. So this goes beyond just food. This goes to everything that we need. Now the first problem we need to understand is that we have a problem with the definition of this word, and it's a very complicated English word, the word need. Because we seem to not understand the difference between what I need and what I want. And so our prayers often revolve around our wants, not around our needs. And children learn this from small. I need the latest toy. I need the latest game. I've got to have it. If I don't have it, I'm going to die. And parents buy into that nonsense and say, well, you know, I'd better give little Joe whatever he wants, because he really needs this. And it's important for us as parents to learn the difference between what our kids need and what they want. They want ice cream and candy all day long, but they don't need ice cream and candy. They need vegetables and other healthy food. And as parents, we don't often understand the difference between what our kids need and what they want. And when it comes to our own lives, it is so easy to get confused and say, well, I really must have whatever it is. I need an iPhone 11. What's the latest one? 12? I can't keep up. No, you don't need an iPhone 11 or 12 or whatever the latest one is. If you ask Jason, you need a flip phone. You need maybe a 5 or a 6. You don't need an 11. You want an 11. Now, I'm grateful that God is gracious to us, and that He sometimes, in fact, often gives us things that we don't need, things that we want, just because He is good and loving and gracious. But we're not entitled to make an issue of those things. We can't throw a tantrum, and yes, adults throw tantrums, when God doesn't give me an iPhone 11, when in fact He's given me a perfectly serviceable iPhone 6. And I don't like iPhones, never mind. It's just an illustration. And so we get ourselves all hot and bothered, because we don't have whatever we think we need, when in fact it's things that we want. It's interesting that He doesn't say, give us today our daily cake, but give us today our daily bread. And He gives us those things that are essential for life. He is faithful as far as those things are concerned. He is good and gracious as far as other things are concerned. But to make it a matter of prayer, and in fact sometimes a matter of a tantrum prayer, where God, you have to, you must, God, if you don't do this. No, He doesn't have to do what we want, but He has promised to meet our every need. So give us today our daily bread. And obviously this extends beyond just physical bread. There's no way that we can speak about, and while He's primed, the primary meaning of this verse is physical bread. You cannot begin to speak about physical bread without speaking about spiritual bread. And that's the sad thing, is that we will pray, Lord, give me my physical bread, but we very seldom pray, Lord, give me my spiritual bread. But you remember that Jesus said, in Luke chapter 4, verse 4, we've dealt with that verse. It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And so even if He does meet our need for physical bread, and gives us physical bread every day, and we don't get spiritual bread, we will still die. And of course we're not going to die physically, because we're going to be sustained by physical bread, but we could die spiritually, because we are not being sustained by spiritual bread, by heavenly bread. And so I think that in our shopping lists, when we pray, because many of our prayers are shopping lists, Lord, give me, give me, give me, give me, so we have the gimme's, give me this, give me that, give me the other thing. Right down at the lowest level of priority, and maybe not even on the list, is, Lord, give me spiritual food, feed me with the bread of heaven. We need that more than physical food, because if we don't get physical food, we will die physically, but if we get spiritual food, we will live eternally. And so it's more important that we get spiritual food than we get physical food. And the problem is that obviously we get these things mixed up, because when it comes to physical food, it's a major priority in our lives. We set times for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, we set times to have these meals, we plan these things, we go to the store, we figure out what we're going to eat, and it's a very important part of our day, and yet, how much time do we spend planning our spiritual food, thinking about, what am I going to eat next, spiritually, meditating on the Word of God, and saying, Lord, you need to feed me. There are times that we all go through times of famine, times when it seems that God is not really speaking to us very much, when we read the Scripture and it seems to be dead, and yet, at those times, it's easy just to pass by and say, oh, well, you know, that's the way it is. No, there needs to be a cry, Lord, feed me, give me my food, open your Word to me, that I might be fed, that I might be sustained by your Word. There needs to be a hunger and a thirst for the things of God. Remember that right in the Beatitudes, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And so, may God create within us a thirst and a hunger, and saying, Lord, I need heavenly bread, I need spiritual bread, I need you to feed me with the bread of heaven. And when it comes to the bread of heaven, it's not just a snack. You see, here's the problem. I know some people live off snacks all day long, when it comes to physical food, but it's not a healthy diet. If you want to be healthy, then you need to eat substantial meals. And when it comes to spiritual things, we need substantial food. We need the meat of the Word. We need that which is able to meet our deepest needs. I'm grateful for the ministry of the thing called Our Daily Bread, the little booklet that we have. It's available in electronic form as well, and of course, it's a great and important ministry. But I'm concerned that that becomes all that we eat. And folks, Our Daily Bread, as valuable as it is, and I'm speaking about the little book, is a snack. It's not a meal. It's just a little bit. We need more than that. We need deeper things of God. And many Christians come by just on that, and they say, well, you know, I read The Daily Bread every morning. One verse, and a couple of lines of exposition on that verse, and maybe a prayer at the bottom, a two-sentence prayer. That's it. I'm done. I'm satisfied. We've spoken so many times of how easily we're satisfied with mediocre spiritual stuff, and how we never seem to be satisfied with material things. May God create within us a desire and say, Lord, I need the bread of heaven. And so the bread is these two things. And we need those two things on a daily basis. Give us today Our Daily Bread, or day by day in Luke's version. Give me today My Daily Bread. And again, here's such a simple concept, and yet somehow we just don't get these simple things. What is today? Today is today. Tomorrow is not today. Next week is not today. And in this is a very important lesson. I think as we stand at the beginning of 2021, and we're already at the end of the first month, most people are praying, whether they're Christians or not, are praying for a good 2021. Lord, we want 2021 to be better than 2020. And yes, we all want that. But Jesus doesn't say, Lord, give us this year Our Daily Bread, or Our Yearly Bread. He doesn't pray for a week's bread. He doesn't pray for a month's bread. He said, pray for a day's bread. And we say, well, you know, that's not so deep. There's nothing spiritual about that. Well, there isn't that. It's not that deep. And yet it's a truth which I think we many times miss. I think I may have shared with you before that there was a time when I was going through very, very difficult times, both in the ministry and in my business. And I was despairing. My partners had left me with enormous debt in the business. Technically, we were bankrupt. I didn't know how we were going to see through the next month, pay the bills at the end of the month. And as I was wrestling with these things, and I remember it very clearly as I was driving around a roundabout in the city, this verse became real to me. And that's what we need, is we need the Spirit to make these things real and to translate them from just words on the page to realities in our hearts. And in fact, it was something that changed my whole life. Because I suddenly realized that Jesus didn't pray for a good month. He didn't pray for a good year. He prayed for today. Today, Lord, give me what I need today. Not tomorrow, not for the months, but today. And that applies to every area of our lives. You see, the problem is that we all want to live in the future. And yet we don't have the future. We just have today. And I believe that one of the things that we've been learning as a church in this last year is that as a church, we have to live day by day. How many times have we said, well, by that month, we'll be able to go back inside. By that month, we'll be able to go inside. And finally, the penny dropped and I learned the lesson. So I have no anticipations of when we'll be able to go back inside. Because we need to live today. Now, obviously, this does not mean that we live irresponsibly and, you know, eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. That's a worldly concept. We do need to plan. We do need to save financially for hard times. We do need to make provision for retirement. We need to make provision for those kinds of things. But there's a difference about making provision and living carefully with the future in mind and being obsessed with worrying about tomorrow. And I think one of the things that have really challenged Christians in this last year and continue to do so is the potential of getting the virus. Am I next? Is it going to get me? As we see others around us getting sick and others dying. And we worry about tomorrow. And in the process, we forget to enjoy the health that God has given us today. The provision that he's given us today. And so we need to understand that we need to live in this dependence on him. I'm going to come back to this idea of him providing for me today. And he will take care of tomorrow. Tomorrow is his problem. And we go back to the book of Exodus. And you remember that in Exodus, God provided the people of Israel with bread. Called manna. The manna was more than bread because it had all the nutrients that they needed for life. But there was a very important thing about the manna. And that was that you had to go out every morning for six days and pick up fresh manna. If you picked up for two days, tomorrow, and you say, well, you know, I'm going to take the day off tomorrow. So I'm just going to pick up today. I'm going to take it easy tomorrow. Because you had to get up early before the sun rose to get it. Now, I'm going to sleep in tomorrow. So I'm going to take for two days. Well, you know what happened. When you got to the manna the next day, it had bred worms and it was stinking. It was only good for one day. Except, of course, the sixth day, which lasted into the seventh day because of the Sabbath. And so the principle was established that they had to go out every day and get a fresh supply for today. And that, of course, applies to us physically, physical bread. We need a new supply every day. But it particularly applies spiritually. And the problem is that spiritually we want to pick up a week's worth on Sunday morning. So we come here and we think that the preacher is going to tank us up and we're going to get enough supply to see us through the week. But by tomorrow morning, the word that I'm preaching now, and even if God is making it real to you and alive to you by the Spirit, by tomorrow morning, it's gone. It's not there anymore. You cannot live tomorrow on this morning's service. Tomorrow you need a fresh supply. You need to come and say, Lord, today I need you to sustain me. I need you to speak to me through your word and through your spirit. We cannot go two days on the same word. We can't go two minutes on the same word. We need Him to feed us moment by moment, day by day. And so, one of the precious things about the manna in Exodus 16, and I'm not going to go through the whole story in detail, but Exodus 16, 18, so when they measured it by omers, don't worry about how much that is, he who gathered much had nothing left over. And he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one's need. Now that's the wonderful thing about the word of God. It is sufficient for your need. And so, it's no good trying to say, well, I'm going to collect a lot, so I'm going to have some spare. No, it's just going to be enough. And His word is miraculously able to sustain us. But it extends to physical bread also. And there are so many illustrations in the Scriptures. You remember that the woman that had the little bit of meal, of flour and of oil, and yet every day there was more. She didn't get a 50-gallon drum full to begin with. There was no more than the little bit that she had, but it never ran out. And God's provision for us when it comes to our daily bread is the same. Unfortunately, some of us are very prosperous, and I say unfortunately. And so, we don't worry about those things. But when you start living day by day because of financial circumstances, as some folk have had to learn that have been laid off and furloughed during the pandemic, you learn to live day by day. And you find out there's enough today. I don't know where there's going to be enough for the next week or the next month, but then come tomorrow, there's enough again. And the next day, there's enough again. And so, there's an element of faith. And so, I have to trust Him for today. And I say, well, Lord, I don't know where it's going to come from tomorrow, but tomorrow, supernaturally, somehow God provides, and there's enough again tomorrow. And I think an important thing about this, just by the way, is the need for gratitude. I think most of us, probably all of us, pray a blessing over the food. And Inna will tell you I have a rhyme, as we all have a little rhyme that we say before the food. I don't always have the energy to think up more words. But what I do pray is that every time, and this is something I exercise myself in, every time I ask for God's blessing on the food, is that there would be a real, genuine gratitude in my heart. That I just don't just eat and just bless the food and carry on, but that I eat with gratitude. God has provided for me. And that three times a day, as we sit down to eat, we eat three times a day. There would be a meal of gratitude. And this needs to be real, because if it's not, we're walking in the flesh. And I mentioned the time when God made this real to me. And I learned to live day by day. And God brought us out of that time. But before I got into that difficulty, there was a certain pride in my heart. That I had skills. That I had applied myself at my trade. That I had worked hard to build a business. And I'd forgotten that it wasn't me, but it was God's grace. It was God's grace that gave me skills. It's God's grace that gave me energy. It was God's grace that gave me opportunities. That whatever I had was because of His goodness and His goodness alone. I'd forgotten that. And I had to come to a place where I recognized, no, it's the same skills. It's my same hard work. I was working 20 hours a day sometimes. You know, we'll tell you, right through the night many times. And I still couldn't make it work. And it's in that situation that I began to learn that unless the Lord builds the house, they that labor, labor in vain. You can do everything you like unless God's blessing is in it. It's not going to happen. And everything that we have, and folks, this needs to be a reality in our lives. Not just when we sit down and eat our food, but when we drive our motor cars, when we put our clothes on. And I don't like to use myself as an illustration, but it's all I've got. But when I put this suit on this morning, I remembered that I bought this suit 25 years ago for a wedding I had to do. And for 25 years, I've worn this suit at least once a month. And God has sustained my suit. It was a cheap suit, but it's God's provision. And it still works today. And as I put my suit on, I said, thank you, Lord, for your grace 25 years ago that I was able to buy a suit that has lasted 25 years. Everything that we touch, everything that we have is His grace and His provision. And there needs to be a gratitude of saying, thank you, Lord. Thank you for life. Thank you for breath. Thank you for a beautiful day. Thank you for the food. Thank you for my car. Thank you for my house. Thank you for everything that you have provided, because everything is by His grace and His provision. And so Matthew 6, Jesus says, and I'm just going to go through these verses very quickly. There's a whole section. I would encourage you to read the whole of Matthew 6 when you go home. But verse 31, Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. And there's a very important secret in that last phrase, last sentence. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. I don't have to tell you that living in this world has a lot of trouble attached to it. It's not easy living this life. Every day there's new problems. And here's the problem, and here's why some Christians who are many of us, and all of us in fact from time to time, go through these dark patches. Because we bring tomorrow's troubles into today. And the problem is that God is giving us grace to deal with today's problems. My grace is sufficient. Notice that word. My grace is sufficient. But now he says, today's trouble is sufficient. So God's grace is enough for the needs and the problems I have today. In other words, we get to handle and to deal with the problems of today because of his grace. And he gives us enough grace to deal with the amount of trouble we have. If we have a lot of trouble and many problems, and we know that some days are worse days, worse than others, we're able to look back and we can say, God brought me through. He sustained me. There was enough grace for that day. Remember the manner. If you needed more, you got more. If you needed less, you had less. But here's the problem. Now just stick with me for a moment. So he's giving me, he's giving me 50 grace, because I have 50 problems today. He's not going to give me more. He's going to give me sufficient. Sufficient. But what I do is I bring tomorrow's problems into today. So instead of 50 problems, I now have 120 problems. But how much grace have I got? I've only got 50 grace, but I've got 120 problems. And no wonder we drown and we can't survive. We say, I can't deal with this. This is too much. Well, it's too much because you added to your troubles today by bringing next week, next month, next year's problems into today. He didn't give you grace. He'll give you grace to deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow. But today he's giving you grace to deal with today's problems. And when he says, give us today our daily bread, I believe there needs to be a call of saying, Lord, give me the grace I need today. Let's come boldly to the throne of grace that we may find mercy and obtain grace to help in a time of need. God will give us grace. And he'll give us all the grace we need for today's problems. But he's not going to give us grace for tomorrow's problems because tomorrow hasn't come yet. Tomorrow he will give us grace for that day. There's enough problems today. There's enough stuff to deal with today. Let's live today. Let's deal with today's stuff today. When Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow, it's not an empty statement. One of the things I've learned in life is when somebody tells me, don't worry about it. I know I need to worry. Brother, now I've got this. Don't worry. That's when I worry. But when God says, don't worry, I know he's got it. I know he is in control. I know that he will provide and he will work it out. And so God is faithful. Psalm 37, 25, well-known verse. I've been young and now I'm old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken. Nor seen his descendants begging bread. And folk, I can almost say what the psalmist is saying in the sense of being old. But God has never failed me one day. We've gone through the water. We've gone through the flood. We've gone through the fire. But he is faithful. He has never left us. He has never forsaken us. He's provided for our every need, whether it's financial or whether it's physical or whether it's spiritual or whether it's emotional. God has seen us through and he's brought us to this day. Hitherto has the Lord brought us, Ebenezer. God is faithful. I can trust him. I can depend on him. And so there's no need to worry about tomorrow because he is going to take care of tomorrow. But what it does require of us, and I'm almost through, is that we walk, that we live lives of absolute dependence on him. Slightly out of context, but still true. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. Our sufficiency is of God. He is all we need. We don't have the answers. I don't have the answers. Right now, politically, people are in turmoil because what is the new dispensation? What's the new administration going to do? Oh, we're going to lose this. We're going to lose that. This is going to go wrong. That's going to go wrong. Folks, those are not our problems. Those are God's problems. He is sufficient to see us through. He is sufficient to sustain us day by day. But I need to walk, as never before, in total dependence on him. Father, I don't know how I'm going to get through today. But I'm leaning on you. I'm resting in you. We don't know how we're going to deal with whatever is coming against us. But what we know is he's faithful, and there needs to be a lifestyle of absolute dependence on him. Why should I say, Father, give us today our daily bread? I mean, you've just got to work hard and do the right stuff, and you'll have enough food to eat. No, because there's a spiritual principle that even though I may be able to control some things, I can't control everything. And that what the Father wants of us is a childlike faith and dependence on him, not dependence on ourselves. Because we think that we can keep things together. We think we can do stuff for ourselves. But the time comes that we discover that we can't. But because our faith has been in the wrong thing, has been in ourselves, our world falls apart. We trust the government. We trust the banks. We trust our employer. We trust all sorts of things. And we live independently on those things instead of living on total dependence on the Lord and understanding that through him comes everything. That whatever tool he uses, whether it's my job or my employer or the government or the whatever, at the end of the day, every good and every perfect gift comes from above. From the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. He is the same and he is good and he gives good gifts to those who ask him. But we need to live a life not of self-sufficiency. That's the world's way. I did it my way. No, we need to live a life of absolute dependence and come to a place where we recognize, Lord, I can't live this life as a Christian. I cannot live the Christian life unless you sustain me. I can't live in the present political climate unless you sustain me. I can't see my way through this pandemic unless you sustain me. I can't deal with the problems of today. I can't deal with the problems in my family. I can't deal with the problems in the church. I can't deal with problems in society unless you sustain me. And I believe that that really is at the heart of this little verse. Father, give me today what I need today. He is faithful. He has never forsaken us. He will see us through. But I believe that what we need to learn and I believe that the times in which we are living, this is one of the things I believe that God is saying to the church. We've spoken about the prophets. They have all sorts of fancy ideas about, no, God is dealing with his children. And I believe that one of the things he's teaching us is to trust him, to live in dependence on him moment by moment, day by day. Father, we pray that you would teach us how to live in this way. Lord, we want to see their plans mapped out in front of us. Lord, we want to know where the next meal is coming from. Lord, we want to know what's going to happen at the end of the month and the next year. But Lord, help us to have our eyes fixed on Jesus. Lord, I'm reminded of the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Lord, that word poor is speaking of a beggar who's looking at the hand of the man who can maybe give him a penny. Lord, help us to understand that we are beggars. And Lord, we're looking to your hand. You alone have the words of eternal life. You alone are able to sustain us physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, politically even. Lord, we pray that you would help us to have our eyes fixed on you. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. Teach us to pray, Lord. Teach us to live a life of dependence on you. But Lord, also teach us to live a life of gratitude of saying, Lord, that we've come through the fire, we've come through the water, but you've seen us through. And you will see us through until we land safely at heaven's door. And so, Lord, I pray that these things may be real, Lord, that it may be as it became real to me those many years ago. Lord, I pray that it may become real to each one of us this morning, each one who's listening and watching the video. Lord, that we may translate these simple ideas in scripture into truth and reality and experience in our day-to-day living. And so, Lord, as we part from one another, we pray that you'd go with us, keep us, protect us, and bring us together again safely on Thursday, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.