Matthew 6:11
The Lord’s Prayer is marvellously brief and wonderfully full. It
is a model prayer for the family of God; it is a pattern of prayer for all
disciples of Christ. Babes in Christ, matured men in Christ, ministers of
Christ can learn a lot in this prayer. It is the Lord’s Prayer, the
Disciple’s Prayer, the Family Prayer. It
is simple and basic for the child of God; it is high and sublime for every
servant of God.
We have already noted the order of
the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. The first three petitions have to do with
God and with the glory of God. The second three petitions have to do with the
needs and necessities of God’s family. God is given the first and supreme place
- His right place. It is only when God is given His proper place that all other
things fall into their proper places.
The second part of the prayer, the part which deals with our needs
and our necessities shows Christ’s care and compassion for us. It deals with
the three essential needs of man, and the three spheres of time within which
man moves. First, we ask for bread, which is necessary for the
maintenance of life. That brings the needs of the present to the throne
of God. Second, the petition asks for forgiveness, thereby bringing the past
before the throne of grace. Third, we ask for prevention, protection,
preservation in times of temptation, committing our future into
the Hands of God.
1. DEPENDENCE ON GOD
FOR DAILY BREAD
Matthew 6:11; Psalms 123:2;
103:13; 68:5; Exodus 16:4,14-21; 2 Corinthians 8:15; Exodus 16:22-28; Isaiah
58:13,14; Psalm 104:27,28; Matthew 6:26; 1 Kings 17:2-6; Deuteronomy 8:3,16,18.
God the Father is the Creator, the Giver and
the Sustainer of all life. When we ask for bread to sustain our earthly lives,
we show our dependence on our God, Creator and Father. “Give us this day
our daily bread.” When we pray to the heavenly Father to give us bread,
we confess and acknowledge our entire dependence on Him. We trust God and
depend on Him for the supply of our daily necessities. As Israel required daily
manna in the wilderness, so we require daily bread in this world. We cannot
have the bread that nourishes the body if God, our Sustainer and Nourisher of
life, does not give it to us. Our body cannot receive nourishment, strength and
health from the food we eat if God does not give the bread to us, that is, to
our body (Genesis 41:19-21; Psalm 106:15; Isaiah 17:4-7). Both the poor and the
rich need to offer this prayer to God. Having enough food at home is one thing,
having appetite to eat the food is another thing. “Every man also to whom
God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and
to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the GIFT OF GOD”
(Ecclesiastes 5:19). Many people in our world have food to eat but do not have
appetite to eat it. “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun,
AND IT IS COMMON AMONG MEN: A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and
honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet
GOD GIVETH HIM NOT POWER TO EAT THEREOF, but a stranger eateth it: this is
vanity, and it is an evil disease” (Ecclesiastes 6:1,2). This is the
reason why we all need to depend on God and pray: “Give us this day our
daily bread.”
2. DEMAND OF THE GODLY
FOR DAILY BREAD
Matthew 6:11; Genesis 28:20;
48:15,16; Proverbs 30:8; Psalm 28:9; Luke 11:5-11; Ecclesiastes 5:18-20;
Isaiah 58:7-12; Philippians 4:6,19; Isaiah 41:17-20.
We must not pretend to be so spiritual that we cannot ask God to “give
us this day our daily bread”, to provide our daily necessities.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, has taught us and has taught all His disciples everywhere
to pray this prayer. We are to ask God to take charge of us and provide for us
in all that concerns our needs and necessities in this world. God has promised
and provided for all our needs. Mortal man has need of daily bread and temporal
blessings. Daily bread and daily sustenance are by far the first and principal
things we need. He is the truly spiritual man who is not independent of God and
who is not ashamed to pray to God for his maintenance and sustenance every day.
The true child of God wholeheartedly leans on God and will not lean on the arm
of the flesh for his supply and sufficiency. The heavenly Father will supply
all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
3. DELIVERANCE FROM
GREED AND DEADLY BURDEN
Matthew 6:11; Proverbs 30:7-9; Ecclesiastes 2:24-26; 5:9-17;
Habakkuk 2:9-14; Proverbs 15:27; Jeremiah
17:11; Luke 12:15-21; 1 Timothy 6:6-11; Mark 8:36,37; Proverbs15:16; Colossians
3:1-6.
“Give us this day our daily bread.” This petition in
the Lord’s Prayer is very instructive. The prayer condemns selfishness: it is
not ‘give me this day our daily bread’, but “give us
this day our daily bread.” This request also condemns
covetousness: it is not ‘give us this day their daily bread’ but
“give us this day our daily bread.” The petition
condemns greed: it is not ‘give us this day the bread of many years’
but “give us this day our daily bread”. The prayer also
condemns voluntary submission to oppression: it is not ‘give them this
day our daily bread’ but “give us this day our daily bread.”
Selfishness, covetousness, greed and fear of man are vices that deprive men of
God’s blessings. Greed, avarice and love of money are burdens that drown men in
destruction and perdition. The covetous whose main interest in life is to heap
up treasures on earth will err from the faith and pierce himself through with
many sorrows.
Our prayer must be free from selfish desires, covetousness, worry
and anxiety concerning the future. The God of today is the God of tomorrow. He
will always be there to bless us. Earthly fathers die but our heavenly Father
is alive for evermore. We can always pray, “Our Father which art in
heaven, ... Give us this day our daily bread.”
