Luke 11:1-4 - "Give Us Day by Day Our Daily Bread..."

We can’t talk enough about the importance of prayer, the priorityof prayer, the power of prayer, the purpose of prayer, the place of prayer andthe pattern of prayer. Volumes of books have been written on the subject ofprayer. For sure, preaching or teaching about prayer is one of my favorite topics.This is what we have been looking at here in Luke 11:1-13. The greatest teacherthat ever lived is teaching His disciples about prayer by giving them a patternto guide them in their praying. Especially, on how to pray and what to pray for. Jesus first teaches them, and us, to begin our prayers byremembering and meditating on the Father’s purity. In the Old Testament theholiness and purity of God is revealed by His name. In the second of the TenCommandments we are warned not to “take the name of the LORD our God in vain”.Which means we are never to use His name in an empty way. James teaches us thatour hearts must be pure as we enter God’s presence: “Draw near to God and Hewill draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts,you double-minded” (James 4:8).  After we occupy our hearts and minds with our Father’spurity, we then can focus on our Father’s purposes. “Your kingdom come, Yourwill be done…”. It has always been God's purpose to establish a glorious,righteous kingdom here on earth. Our prayers to our Father are used by God toaccomplish this great purpose! Jesus made it very clear that He Himself wassent to only do the will of His Father (John 5:30). In John 6:38, Jesus said, “ForI have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him whosent Me.”  Just before Jesus ascended back into heaven after His resurrection,He told His disciples in John 20:21, “As the Father has sent Me, I also sendyou.”  We are included in thissending! We are here to do the Father’s will on earth and fulfill the purposes ofHis kingdom rule on earth just as it is in heaven. Today we are looking at the first personal petition in thispattern of prayer that concerns our Father’s provision for our daily needs! Oncewe are secure in our relationship with God and His will, then we can bring ourrequests to Him (Luke 11:3-4). We can ask Him to provide our needs (not ourgreeds!) for today, to forgive us for what we have done yesterday, and to leadus in the future. All of our needs may be included in these three requests:material and physical provision, moral and spiritual perfection, and divineprotection and direction. “Give us day by day our daily bread"(Luke 11:3). Three important truths are tucked in this part of the prayer aboutthe resources of God. First, our Father’s favor. "Give." Ourblessings come from God, not by merit but by mercy. God must "give,"for we do not earn. The very nature of God is to give. Remember John 3:16, “ForGod so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….”. Our FatherGod delights to give good gifts to His children. “Every good gift and everyperfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whomthere is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).  Second, our faith is involved because we are to ask, "dayby day." Our request is not for a week’s, a month’s, or a year's supply,but a daily supply. This requires faith each day. Jesus also taught this truthin His “Mount of Beatitude’s” message in Matthew 6:30-34:  Third, our request involves food. “Bread”. Rememberthe manna in the wilderness that fell daily for the people of Israel in thewilderness? But we are not only to pray and trust the Lord for our dailyphysical needs but also for our daily spiritual food! We desperately need ourFather’s Holy Spirit to feed our soul and our spirit with the “Bread of Life”,the Word of God, Jesus Christ, to be able to be strong for each day’s journeyand all the challenges that come with it!  Are you trusting the Lord today for your physical and spiritualneeds? God bless!