1st Thessalonians 5 Prayer Connect

Overview: We talk about "our daily bread" and we even recite it in the Lord's Prayer. But what exactly is "our daily bread" and how can we truly apply this scripture to our daily lives?

 

Lead Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13

 

Lesson Focus: Matthew 6:11 "Give us this day our daily bread."

 

Scriptures for Insight: Exodus 16:3-5, Exodus 16:15, Exodus 16:16-28, Matthew 6:8, Matthew 4:1-4, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 6:19-21, Matthew 6:25-27, Matthew 6:34

 

Lesson:

We read this scripture and we recite it as a prayer, but have we ever taken the time to consider what “our daily bread” is?

“Our daily bread” serves a natural and a spiritual purpose.

 

Our daily bread can be seen in the natural sense as bread, food, those daily necessities that we need to survive. Bread has a deep connection to God’s provision for us. If we look back to Exodus, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, they started to complain about what they would eat and thought that God would allow them to starve. In Exodus 16:3 the Israelites said to Moses and Aaron, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

 

God heard the Israelites and in Exodus 16:4-5, God said to Moses “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” 

 

Just as God had told to Moses, the next morning a flake like substance covered the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” for they did not know what it was (Exodus 16:15). It was the bread from heaven that God had promised them. God gave the Israelites manna during their 40 years in the wilderness. They did not starve and the manna did not run out.

 

God provided for them daily. So, in the natural sense yes, our daily bread can be referenced to our daily food but if we look deeper at what manna really was besides being an edible thing it was a supernatural provision that the Lord gave unto the Israelites to show them that He would take care of them and that He would provide all that they needed. 

Manna was something that God himself created as even the Israelites could not identify with what it was as it was something that they had never seen before. God referred to it as bread from heaven and the Israelites named it manna. Therefore, the daily bread can also refer to a spiritual component.

It represents God's ability to give us what we need and it calls for us to trust Him to give us what we need on a daily basis. We should not only trust God when the bills are due or once we reach our wits ends and can't figure it out. But we should look to God daily to provide us everything that we need. This provision (manna), came with instruction: 

        16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need.                               Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’”

        17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little.

          18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too                             much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just

           as much as they needed.

        19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”

           20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it                      was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

           21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot,       

             it melted away. 

           22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the                               leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 

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           23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of                                      sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil                                    what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

           24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots       

             in it. 

           25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find                

              any of it on the ground today. 

           26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
   

           27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found                        none. 

           28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my                             instructions? (Exodus 16:16-28)

Manna came with the instruction to only gather a certain amount on certain days and on the seventh day the Israelites were not to gather any manna, but just like many times during their wilderness experience, the Israelites did not initially obey the instruction because in their natural minds they “wanted to make sure” that they had enough. They wanted to make sure that they did not run out of food. The Israelites failed to realize that manna was straight from God’s hands so it was not something that they in essence could manifest. It was not something to try to stash for hard times. God was trying to not only teach them how to obey Him and follow His instruction, but He was also teaching them how to trust Him each day to provide what they needed.

In the same way, when we pray for our daily bread, it is us asking God or at least we should be seeking God to handle all our cares each day. If we examine Matthew 6 carefully, prior to Jesus speaking of the Lord's Prayer, he repetitively tells his disciples during his sermon on the mount to not do things for the glory of man because God will give them their reward. Jesus consistently reminds them "what [they] do in secret will be rewarded by [their] father in heaven”.

Jesus then goes on to state in Matthew 6:8 "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." In other words, we do not have to necessarily use big words or long monologues to tell God what we need. We do not have to scream and shout our prayers to make them appear more powerful (However, we are to pray as He leads us and with a sincere heart). What God is saying is “I already know.” so even when we simply ask for “our daily bread”, God is already aware of all the things that we need on a daily basis. We can also look at our daily bread in a spiritual context because prior to Jesus giving the sermon on the mount he is tested in the wilderness:

       1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil 

       2 After he had fasted 40 days and forty nights, he was hungry. 

       3 The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'
   

         4 Jesus answered, 'It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes

         from the mouth of God.' (Matthew 4:1-4)

Clearly, although Jesus is starving and while he may be hungry, he reminds the devil that man shall not live on just bread but by the words of God. Therefore, it is not just food that keeps us, but it is the word of God that we must store within us as it can carry us through the rough times in our lives. We must hold on to God's word and believe that He will meet all our needs. If it comes out of God's mouth, then we must trust what He has spoken. Hebrews 13:5 states, "Let your manner of living be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. For He hath said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee'." Whether protection, food, shelter, deliverance, faith, healing, or restoration, God can and will prove according to His word.

In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus urges us:

        19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy,                                  and where thieves break in and steal.

        20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not                                     destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

        21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

God wants us to focus on Him because He realizes that when we constantly worry about our needs we tend to obsess. When we put all our hope on material things it in essence takes our focus off of Him. Jesus reminds us that we cannot serve both God and material things as one will at some point take the back seat to the other and He knows that because we are human more than likely it will be us taking our eyes off of Him to focus on what we need. It will be us turning to money and material things as our savior.

In the same teaching, Jesus also instructs us not to worry about what we are to eat or drink:

         25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body,

           what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

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         26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your                           heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

         27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:25-27)

Jesus states "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34). When we trust God to provide "our daily bread", He already knows what we need, when we need it and how much we need. God does not want us in constant worry about what the next day holds. I am sure someone right now is reading this passage going “Man please. I'm not there yet and God knows it.” 

If we are to be truthful, there is not one person that can truly say they don’t worry about the next day in some way, shape or form. If truth be told if you set your alarm clock, that is you worrying about waking up on time the next day. You set your bills on autopay to avoid being late. We save money for our trips to make sure we can afford them. Some of us plan what we will wear the next day and iron our clothes to make sure we’re not late. We tell our friends and loved ones to remind us of things that are far off because our memory is not like it used to be. We save money for college, weddings, homes, and cars and we cut down on lunch today to make sure we have gas tomorrow. So, in essence we all worry about tomorrow although God tells us not to. Not even the most anointed preacher can say that they live every single day for today and not worry about tomorrow.

If you book a flight in advance, that is worrying about tomorrow. In our eyes, we call it common sense. I mean, are we going to go to the airport on the same day that we have to fly out without having a flight booked and not worry at all? In all honesty, it's not a judgement call and if there truly is someone out there that really and whole-heartedly lives each day only worrying about that day with no thoughts of yesterday or tomorrow then congratulations. If we all took one day and truly just lived for that day and put everything for that one day entirely in God’s hands, what would it look like? Some people may be relieved and less stressed while others may be in constant panic mode and afraid of what might occur.

 

 

Thoughts for Reflection and Discussion

 

Feel free to answer the following questions as a self-awareness exercise to delve deeper into things that may both positively and negatively impact your ability to trust God in supplying your daily needs. Or use them as a group discussion tool encouraging individuals to share their stories and experiences as a form of support for those who may be struggling or have struggled with the same issues or concerns. You'll be surprised by the many truths and even some of the “not so truths" that we may not want to face. 

Remember when using this as a group discussion tool it is not about judgement as we all have our battles to overcome. Although we may not agree with each other we can all learn from one another.

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Discussion Questions
1. What is “the daily bread” to you?

2. Do you trust God to provide for you on a daily basis and if not, what stands in your way of being able to truly trust Him?

3. What setbacks have you experienced concerning your daily needs that have caused you to find it hard to trust God to provide?

4. Can you think of a time when God has provided for you without your asking?

5. Can you think of a time when God came through for you although it took a while to see your prayers answered?

6. How often do you find yourself complaining to God about a need not being met?

7. What are some of the “tomorrow” troubles that keep you up at night?

8. How do you shake feelings of fear and anxiety as it concerns money/finances, relationships, career and health?

9. How often do you pray the Lord's Prayer?

10. How often do you pray versus depending on others to pray for you?

11. What mistakes have you made that have caused you not to have everything that you may need?

12. Do you fear living in lack?

13. Can you differentiate between your wants and needs?