Being Content in Our Daily Dependence
July 28, 2024

Being Content in Our Daily Dependence

Preacher:
Passage: Matthew 6:11

Reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer
This afternoon we’re going to continue working through the contents of a prayer that Jesus taught to his followers – a prayer which is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer. One of the benefits of reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer together is that we’re reminded of the meaningfulness of prayer. Jesus reminds us that prayer is a precious line of communication between us and our heavenly Father. Another benefit of considering the Lord’s Prayer is that it helps provide a Method of prayer. It can help us to structure our thoughts. It can give us words, even when we’re struggling to put words together on our own. And in addition to these things, the Lord’s Prayer also helps to shape our motivations in prayer. It helps us to be content focusing on what’s true and good and desirable, so that our prayers are offered up as worship to God, rather than being expressions of self-worship, or other forms of idolatry.

And tonight we’re going to continue to let the words of Jesus teach us how to pray. Please turn with me to Matthew, Chapter 6. I’ll read verses 9 through 11, but our focus tonight will just be on verse 11. But before I read the text for us tonight, please pray with me:

[Pray/Read Text]
A Heart of Prayer
Up to this point, in verses 9 and 10, Jesus hasn’t just been teaching us what to pray. He hasn’t just been giving us a bullet list of specific things we need to include every time we pray, as though these words are a magic formula of sorts. Instead, Jesus has been teaching us how to pray. Jesus is teaching us a heart of prayer. He’s teaching us to pray in a way that enjoys and acknowledges God as our heavenly Father. He’s teaching us to pray as a people who revere his name, his kingdom, and his will. Jesus intends for our affections and actions to be shaped by the reality of God’s glory.

And verse 11 further encourages us to live with this reality in view. In light of God’s Fatherly care and Kingly power, we can and should rely on His provision in daily prayer. And I’d like to point out three things we should understand from this petition, “Give us this day our daily bread.” First, God is Our Provider; Second, We are Needy Every Day; and Third, We Have Reason to Be Content. These will be my three points as we work through the text tonight.
God Is Our Provider
So first, God Is Our Provider. Jesus wants you to see God, not just as the Provider, vaguely and generally. He wants you and I come to God as Our Provider. He wants us to bring our needs and burdens to God confidently. God certainly has the ability to provide. In creating the expanse of the universe, out of nothing, in the space of six days, God has demonstrated that He has the power to give.

Yet in addition to this, God has revealed that it’s in his character to give. When God created the first man, he gave him things – a body, self-awareness, knowledge, righteousness – the capacity for language. God gave the first man, Adam, a companion, an abundance of food, and a place to live. And even after Adam and Eve rebelled and gave themselves over to sin, God gave them clothing to cover their shame and he gave them a promise of a coming redeemer. And beyond these things, we could think of countless other ways God has provided for humanity: giving us music, beautiful sunsets, and laughter – revealing Divine Truth in the Holy Scriptures – sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer the penalty for our wrongdoings, and to clothe us in his righteousness. A thousand times over, God has proven to us that He is a God who gives. And He welcomes us to come to him in prayer with our requests.

Of course, we need to recognize that there is absolutely a selfish, irreverent way to demand things from God in prayer. God isn’t obligated to give us anything. And we do a great evil if we treat God as a slave or a vending machine. If that’s how we’re treating God, then we’ve missed the whole point.

Because the reason God is presented here as one who gives – it’s not to tell us how deserving we are, or how fantastic we are. Verse 11 is not actually focused on us. Instead, God reveals himself here as Provider, to remind us of his vast, divine fullness – his worth – his glory. Because it’s the rich man who gives money to the poor man. It’s the strong man who gives help to the weak man. It’s the wise man who gives counsel to the foolish man. When we ask God to give, it’s an admission of our frailty and inability, and an affirmation that we really believe that God is powerful – that he’s kind to those who call to him – and that God is, in fact, God, and worthy of our worship and trust.
We Are Needy Every Day
So this prayer that Jesus taught to his disciples is a humble prayer. And this posture of humble prayer isn’t just for those days when we’re overwhelmed and aware of our shortcomings. Instead, Jesus teaches us here that We Are Needy Every Day, which is my second point.

In this model prayer, when Jesus teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” it reminds us of something that we all too easily tend to forget.  He reminds us that we have limitations. We aren’t really all that independent and self-reliant, even though we’d like to think we are. Because in order to function, our bodies need air, food, water, sleep – we need some sort of clothing and shelter to protect us from extreme temperatures and weather events. Even for our basic survival, we’re inherently needy. And we can’t control the future. We can’t guarantee that our heart will still be beating one minute from now. At any given moment, we could be confronted with the realness of our mortality. We are needy.

And it’s important to understand this, because if you aren’t honest about your neediness, you won’t be able to pray verse 11 with any sort of sincerity. If you aren’t looking to God, relying on him, then it means that you must be depending on something or someone else, in his place. There’s a danger, here, of idolatry. Are you comforting yourself with flimsy comforts? Are you entrusting yourself to a false savior?

This isn’t just a danger for you and I, as individuals. But it’s a danger for us, as a church in Mount Pleasant! As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Lord’s Prayer is a group prayer. Jesus expects and intends that His followers will meet together, and pray together, and worship together. But when we gather, Jesus wants us to remember our neediness! It’s not a time to have boastful thoughts about our clothing, our money, our families, our jobs, or whatever. It’s not a time for putting up a wall or putting on a show to pretend that we’re self-sufficient. But when we come for prayer – when we come for worship, we come needy. All types of people, rich or poor, white collar or blue collar, old or young – whatever ethnicity or background – everyone is equal in this! We rely on God for everything – every breath, every second.

And when Jesus teaches us to pray, “give us this day our daily bread,” we aren’t just praying for ourselves. We’re praying for each other. You aren’t the only one who has needs! Jesus wants to make sure that your concern isn’t just to have a loaf of bread sitting on your table at home – for your stomach to be filled. But we are urged here to step into the neediness of our brothers and sisters, and to pray for them and to pray with them, and to share the bread He gives us to meet the needs of others.

And Jesus wants the neediness of our physical bodies this day and every day to bring us daily into prayer. When Jesus trains us here in the practice of daily prayer, this day, for our physical needs, he’s at the same time bringing to light the importance of a daily walk with God. Every time we feel hunger, it’s reminder of our need for God. Every day, when we have anxious thoughts and social blunders and aches and pains, we’re encouraged to bring our needs to our Father, and to find rest for our souls.
We Have Reason to Be Content
And if we know God as Our Provider, and His commitment to meeting our our needs, we can be content with what God provides. And this brings us to my third and final point: this prayer subtly reminds us We Have Reason to Be Content.

As we’ve seen here in verse 11, Jesus specifically encourages us to ask God to “give us this day our daily bread.” And this phrase, “daily bread” doesn’t rigidly mean “bread distributed on 24 hour intervals,” but instead refers to the bread that’s needed for our daily existence.

Now you might wonder – what about unneeded things? Does this mean that if I’m asking God for something non-essential, such as a promotion at work, or a restful family vacation – does God disapprove of those prayers? Does God expect me to be a minimalist – to live paycheck to paycheck, or from loaf of bread to loaf of bread?

Well, no, that’s not the point Jesus is trying to make here. The goal of this prayer isn’t to tell us how many possessions we should or shouldn’t have. But wrapped up in this prayer is an encouragement for us to be content with the basics – to be content with the Lord’s provision – his providence.

Many scholars agree that in verse 11 here, Jesus is alluding to the way that God provided for his people in the days of Moses. God raised up Moses, to lead the people of God out of their slavery in Egypt. And as these people sojourned in the wilderness – there were hundreds of thousands of them – God miraculously sent down food for them all. He gave them a special kind of bread that was enough to feed the whole camp, every day. He supplied what they needed.

But in Numbers 11, the people start getting tired of the menu. They want something different. They want something more. And so in their discontentment, they grumble against God. They deny the goodness of heaven’s gifts, and as a result God punishes the people in accordance with their unbelief. And there’s a helpful caution for us in this.

Many Christians – many of us, probably – we struggle to be content with what God has given. You might be discontent with your annual income, your body shape, your musical ability, or your physical fitness. You might be discontent with your family relationships, or your reading speed – whatever it is, you and I can very quickly buy into the lie that God’s provision isn’t enough. It’s not fun enough, not impressive enough – not comfortable enough. We can begin to think there’s something else out there that we must find or have in order to make us complete.

But when Jesus tells us to pray for daily bread, he’s urging us to continue entrusting ourselves to God’s provision – even when it’s not flashy! Even when it appears in a very humble form. He’s not saying that our prayers should be driven about by our appetites and cravings. That’s not the reason we pray for our daily bread. But we pray for our daily bread to confirm our confidence that God is aware of our needs, and that his provision is right. His grace is enough. We can be content.

And the provision we’re looking for as Christians isn’t just physical provision, for the nourishment of our bodies – though that’s absolutely in view here. I can’t help but also appreciate that God has continued to supply his people with bread from heaven, spiritually. Because God has given us His Son, Jesus Christ. And in John 6:35, Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Be Content in Christ
In Christ, we have a supply of bread that the world knows nothing about. This simple meal of spiritual bread is, in reality, a lavish feast of God’s grace. And God invites us to ask for this bread daily – to have a regular acquaintance with Jesus’s fullness and sufficiency. As we pray, “Give us this day, our daily bread,” we can be content, even if our supply of physical food is cut off and our bodies waste away. Because God has sent down daily bread for us that brings eternal life. Our Father knows our deepest needs. And in Christ, he has supplied us with everything we could ever need or hope for.

So as you see your neediness, don’t despair. And don’t be in denial, pretending that you can run the universe on your own, and everything will be okay. But honor God as the only Provider worthy of your trust. Affirm your confidence in his goodness and power by bringing your ongoing needs to him. And be content in knowing that God cares for you and will meet your needs with his daily grace. Please pray with me: