Matthew 6:11: Give us this day our daily bread.
1. God wants us to pray for natural provision
It is not wrong to ask God for things. God likes to provide for his children. God revealed himself first of all in the Old Testament as Jehovah Jireh, the provider.
Ge:22:14: And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Daily bread – most people say that this relates to the manna in Exodus 16. God provided daily bread for the children of Israel for forty years.
Exodus 16:4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
Daily provision is a test of God.
Exodus16:5: And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
Day and daily are here in Exodus and in Matthew. God wanted the children of Israel to rely on him to provide every day. He also wants us to depend on him to provide daily. If we do not look to God for provision, we will look to some other source. And if you look to someone or the government as your source you will be disappointed. We are to look to God, and God only for our source of provision.
The reason he does not provide for us monthly or yearly, but daily, is because he wants a daily relationship with us. He wants to hear from us daily.
Exodus 16:15: And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
Manna means what is it. God called it bread. They called it manna. It was a seed that had to be prepared into bread. God provides the seed.
Ex:16:16-18 16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
God provided for each family exactly what they needed. So if you have a family of five you pray for provisions for a family of five. If you are just two, you do not need as much. You pray for all of the needs of the family, not only for the bread or food. You pray for their physical or medical needs. You pray for the educational needs of your children daily. Pray for the spiritual needs of your children. If you are a business owner, you not only pray for your own need, but that enough provision comes in to provide for all your employees.
Proverbs:30:8-9 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Here the author of this prays for his daily bread. He does not pray for riches or poverty but for his needs to be met. There are two extremes being taught in Christianity today. One is a poverty vow, and the other is great wealth. Each tend to take people away from God. The Lord’s prayer is for daily bread. God wants to provide.
Ph’p:4:19: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
God promises to supply all your needs, not just some of them. And God will provide no matter how large the group. There are two examples of loaves feeding multitudes, one in the Old Testament and another by Jesus in the New Testament.
2Ki:4:42-44 42 And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. 43: And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. 44: So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.
M’t:14:14-21 14: And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.15: And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.16: But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.17: And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.18: He said, Bring them hither to me.19: And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.20: And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21: And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
George Müller (1805-1898) was a Christian missionary evangelist and a coordinator of orphanages in Bristol, England. Through his faith and prayers (and without asking for money) he had the privilege of caring for over 120,000 orphan children. He also traveled over 200,000 miles (by ship) to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 42 countries and to challenge believers about world missions and trusting God. In his journals, Müller recorded miracle-after-miracle of God’s provision and answered prayer:
He said, “One morning, all the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty. There was no food in the larder and no money to buy food. The children were standing, waiting for their morning meal, when Müller said, “Children, you know we must be in time for school.” Then lifting up his hands he prayed, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.”
There was a knock at the door. The baker stood there, and said, “Mr. Müller, I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast, and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.”
Mr. Müller thanked the baker, and no sooner had he left, when there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.
Prayer is not a substitute for work or diligence. If you pray for bread, do you know how to say Amen? Work for it.
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread.
2 Thessalonians 3:10…if any would not work, neither should he eat.”
Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold. Therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing.”
Proverbs 28:19 He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread, but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.”
Too lazy to plow? Then you won’t have anything to eat. God doesn’t bless laziness and or indolence.
Don’t sit back and say, “I’m going to show my faith by doing nothing.” To the contrary! You will show your faith by doing something, for faith without works is dead.
2. God wants us to pray for spiritual provisions.
In the Lord’s prayer it does not say to pray for daily food, but bread. Bread is used also as spiritual provision. Jesus is heaven’s bread for earth’s hunger. He became the Bread of Life so you and I could have our deepest hunger met.
Mark7:25-29 25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. 28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. 29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
Here Jesus is using the term bread to indicate the spiritual. He indicated that taking of the children’s bread would free people from bondage of the devil.
John:6:31-3: 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven, and gives life unto the world. 34Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst.
Matthew 4:4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
This is a quote from Deuteronomy 8
Deuteronomy:8:3: And he humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live.
Let us pray daily, not only for natural food, but ask the Lord for a word from him daily. Then get into the Bible. That is God’s word for you. He will then illuminate what you read. God does not only want to provide food for us but bread from his word daily. He wants to speak to us daily. The Lord’s prayer is telling us to ask for this daily.
God does not want us to worry about our needs, but to ask him for the provision. Just after the Lord’s prayer he tells us this.
Matthew 6:25-34: 25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Deuteronomy 8 tells us that the reason why God provided daily manna for Israel was that it was a test. When they gathered too much it rotted the next day. God was showing them that He wanted them to trust him to provide daily. Another thing they did was they did not gather enough on the sixth day for the seventh, and there was none provided the seventh day. They failed the test twice.
Deuteronomy:8:16: Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
Matthew 6:19-21 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let’s look at two other examples of God’s provisions in the Old Testament in the lives of Elijah and Elisha.
Elijah’s provision wasn’t where he was; it was where God told him to go! In other words, if Elijah had stayed where he was, he could have prayed and fasted, saying, “God, why haven’t You supplied my needs” But he wouldn’t have seen God’s provision if he hadn’t gone where God instructed.
One of the reasons we aren’t seeing a greater provision from God financially, emotionally, or in our circumstances is because we aren’t doing what God told us to do. We’ve got a word from God that we haven’t acted on. We’re somewhere other than where He told us to be.
1Ki:17:1-16 1: And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2: And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,3: Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4: And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 5: So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.6: And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.7: And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 8: And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9: Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.10: So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11: And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12: And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13: And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14: For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15: And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16: And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
In II Kings we read of a widow, destitute. The creditors were about to take her two sons as bondmen. Brokenhearted, she came to Elisha with her pitiful story.
2Ki:4:1-7 1: Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. :2: And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. 3: Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4: And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5: So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. 6: And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7: Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
Elisha gave the woman definite instructions. The Lord will give us definite instructions, but only the very obedient will take them. And if we are obedient he will provide for us.
Miracles Happen When You Pray by Quin Sherrer
Jackie Womack knows what it is like to have God multiply her food supply. How he does it, she doesn’t know. But she remembers a particular week some ten years ago when he answered her prayer with a miracle.
Jackie was home caring for five small children while her salesman husband was away trying to make some money for the family.
Their food supply was scarce. All she had was one loaf of bread, one gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, a box of cereal, and a little bit of hamburger meat.
Every time she cooked a meal, miraculously there seemed to be just enough left for the next meal. And so it went the rest of the week.
But one night the supply dried up. She served dinner, and then her cupboard was bare. She and the children prayed together, thanking God for his coming provision. She was careful not to let the children know the food had finally run out.
After she got the children into bed, Jackie sat down to read her Bible. She paused from her reading and prayed, “Lord, it says here in Psalms that your children will never beg for bread. I am going to believe that you will somehow provide food for our table. I believe we will never have to beg for food. Thank you….”
Before she even finished praying, the phone rang. The friend on the other end said, “As I was praying tonight, I became concerned for your family. I felt I should call and tell you that tomorrow I am giving you $150 for your needs. I couldn’t go to bed until I told you what God impressed on my heart.”
God fed a family of eight in the ark, and He fed a family of millions in the wilderness. The Lord is with His children. The Holy Spirit is seeking daily to flow the supply needed into your life. Take time to accept that flow of the Spirit, to give your mind over to the Holy Spirit so He can bridge the gap between soul and mind. That which has been placed in your soul by the Holy Spirit Himself—that greatness of Heaven, that wonderful love inside of you—flows into the mind from the soul. It’s miracle supply, miracle supply, and it’s yours!
Goode Christian: learning how to be a good Christian in today's world. 