Take your copy of God's Word and turn with me to Matthew's Gospel. Matthew chapter 6. If you've been following along in the Catechism this year, we are near the end and we are in a season where we are talking about prayer. Various brothers have been leading us from the Word and tonight our Catechism question deals with one of the petitions of the Lord's Prayer, the model prayer. And very briefly, I just want to unpack this passage of scripture for our edification this evening. Matthew chapter six, verse nine and following. In this manner, therefore pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, tonight we pray that as we hear of the model that You have given to us to pray, namely, when we hear, give us this day our daily bread, would You unfold for us now in the Word Various truths that we find in this simple request. With the glory of Christ we pray. Amen. The catechism walks us through the Lord's prayer or the model prayer, and we have talked about several things just by way of review. Our Father in heaven, our brother Andy, unpacked this for us. He is our God who reigns in heaven. He is not contained by anyone or anything. He is in all places at all times, and yet, He is our Father. The triune God is Father God. And it is this one that we pray to. And then that famous first request, really command, hallowed be your name. We spoke of how when we pray this, we're not saying something, we're actually asking God to do something. Lord, hallow your name in our hearts. And then that famous, well-known phrase, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, simply put, Lord, cause things to be here. And in our hearts, and in our minds, and in our world, and in our church, cause them to be here as they are where you are. Bring your will and your kingdom to bear here on earth, as it is where you reign. And then there is the petition that we seek to look at tonight. Give us this day. Give us today our daily bread. I live in a house where bread is frequently made. If you've come to the Davidson house, one of the things that you might have tasted is homemade bread. It's one of the things that, not I, of course, but my lovely bride regularly makes, almost daily, in fact. And one of the things about having bread every day is that you have bread every day. You need bread. And you might say to yourself, well, that's a lot, making bread every day. Surely she tires of making homemade bread. What's wrong with store-bought? But it's a rhythm that happens in our house. And yes, there is occasionally store-bought bread in our home. But one of the things that is clear as Christie makes this bread is that it meets needs. It becomes sandwiches. It becomes French toast on Saturday mornings. It becomes something to grab quickly with some peanut butter. It meets a daily need. And you would think that she would tire of making it, but it seems at every turn, she readily wants to make bread. Interestingly enough, in the model prayer, the Lord gives us a reminder that He meets our needs. And He uses bread to demonstrate it. Let me just remind you that when we are commanded to pray, give us this day our daily bread, the Lord is not saying that is the only thing that we are to pray for. Boys and girls, God is not teaching us, Jesus is not teaching us that the only thing that we asked for is bread for our sandwiches. But rather bread points to the most basic of needs in the first century and in the Davidson house. Bread is really a symbol for all of the various things which we need. Turn over to Psalm 136. Psalm 136, there we see just a reminder of this. Jesus, steeped in the Old Testament hymn book, undoubtedly would have remembered this very passage among others. Psalm 136 and verse 25. If you've noticed that Psalm 136 looks laid out in a particular fashion on your page, it's because something is attributed to God, and then there's a refrain, for His mercy endures forever. If you get to the end of the psalm, you see this, who gives food to all flesh. for his mercy endures forever. Boys and girls, there's not one bite of food that you eat or that I eat that doesn't come from God himself. Turn over to Genesis chapter 28. Genesis chapter 28 and verse 20. Genesis chapter 28 and verse 20. We read of part of the story of Jacob. Then Jacob made a vow saying, if God be with me and keep me in this way that I am going and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. We could continue throughout the pages of Scripture and see how bread is regularly used. Go to the New Testament, just one other passage Before we move on, 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 12. Notice how the scripture uses bread. Here, warning against idleness. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. See, in all these instances, whether food is referenced or bread is referenced, we see that provision comes from God, and in the Scriptures, the word bread is often used as a symbol for all of our needs. In His great work, which I commend to you, the Christian's reasonable service, Willemus Abrakel writes these words, All manner of livelihood, particularly food, is expressed here by the word bread. This being the preeminent and most nourishing food, bread which strengthens man's heart. Psalm 104, 15. It is the most essential food, for without bread one cannot live well. However, it is possible to live without meat or fish. These being referred to as supplementary foods. It is the most pleasant of all foods. Bread always tastes pleasant when we are hungry. We never tire of it. It is the most common of all foods, for people of all ranks, high and low, make use of it. It is the food most used in moderation, for we desire no more of it than we need for the satisfaction of our hunger." His point is, in the Lord's Prayer, Bread is mentioned because we are to take all of our needs for provision to the Lord. So what do we see in this simple phrase, give us this day our daily bread? I think we see at least three things. Number one, God provides for us all that we have. It's a simple truth, and yet we forget it. We strive after things. We think, if I could just put in a few more hours, we'll have what we want. If we could just take a second job, we'll have what we need. If we could find a way, and work is good, beloved. But if we're not careful, we'll forget the simple refrain of, give us this day our daily bread. No matter where we work, no matter how much we toil, no matter how big or small the paycheck is, it is God. Who provides for us all that we have. You see, we are dependent creatures. We're dependent creatures. Look at Psalm 136. Psalm 136 and verse 25. We heard this read earlier, that it is God who gives food to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever. We are blessed to live in the country that we live in. And all of us in this room, I dare say, have at least one or two meals stored up in advance. But there are many all over the world who literally pray in the morning, God, today provide food. Today provide bread. And you may tend to pity such a one. who doesn't have a refrigerator or a pantry full of meals, and yet there are many of our brothers and sisters who know the gift of contentment because they actually pray, give us this day our daily bread. But whether we have bread in the cupboard or not, notice who gets glory for being the provider? God. But there's a second thing, and that is this. This phrase, this prayer, teaches us something about God. Namely, God delights that we come to Him daily for our needs. Think about that. We're commanded to pray. Give us this day our daily bread. We expand that. We're commanded to pray to God, asking for the things that we need, for He is the one that provides them. But think about this. From the opposite point of view, God is telling us something about himself. He wants us to pray about our needs. He is pleased when we ask. Unlike many of us, if not all of us, who are parents and grandparents, and the requests come moment after moment. Can I have a snack? What's for dinner? What's for breakfast? And at some point we begin to get a little impatient because we don't know yet. God is not like that. He, our Lord and Savior, teaches us to pray, give us this day our daily bread. He's revealing something about God's character to us. He wants us to come to him. Notice that we are to pray this daily. This is a daily dependence. If we had time tonight, we'd look at 1 Peter 5, 7 or Matthew 6, 27, where we are told not to worry about things. Look down just a few verses at verse 27 in the context of the Sermon on the Mount. That famous passage about worry, which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? Which of you, by being anxious or worrying, can accomplish anything? Similarly, in 1 Peter 5, 7, our anxieties are cast by prayer and thanksgiving. There's a contrast there. My point is, when Jesus teaches us to pray, he doesn't just say, occasionally pray for your needs. But there's an expectation in this model that we're regularly going to our Lord. Lord, provide. Lord, meet our needs. You delight that we come to you, our Father. Where's our meal coming from today? Where's our paycheck coming from tomorrow? Lord, would you provide? We trust you. You have told us to come and it's a regular occurrence that we come to you. So God provides for us all that we have and God delights that we come to him regularly. But thirdly, When we pray, give us this day our daily bread and the Lord provides. There's a third truth that we should be mindful of. God will give us what we need. God will give us what we need. Turn over to Psalm 147. Psalm 147, we often hear this read. various times in worship services. Psalm 147 verses 12 through 14. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For He has strengthened the bars of your gates. He has blessed your children within you. He makes peace in your borders and fills you with the finest wheat. God's provision is a blessing. But friends, when we pray, give us this day our daily bread, and God provides. He's providing what we need. Which means there are times when God does not give us what we ask for. A good brother within this own body has a saying that he often says, and it struck me. I don't have that. because I don't need that. Speaking of God, God is going to provide and if I don't have it, what if that itself is actually God's provision? Give us this day our daily bread. So it is God who provides for us all that we have. God delights that we come to him regularly. This is a daily bread that we're praying for and God will give us what we need. Christian, when is the last time that you actually laid your head down on your pillow at night and prayed or woke up from your pillow in the morning and prayed, Lord, today would you provide our food? And one of the benefits of praying such a prayer is that when he does, the prayer of thanks that you utter at the table is not simply a trite, rehearsed, oh, we've got to pray because we're eating. It's a reminder. We prayed that God would provide our food, and look, he's provided our food. Give us this day our daily bread. Look. We prayed at the beginning of today, boys and girls, that God would provide our food, and he did it. He did it. There are great and eternal truths in this phrase, give us this day our daily bread. You see, part of this prayer is the beginning, our Father who art in heaven. And we've spent some time over these last weeks talking about prayer. And one of the truths that one of the brothers helped us to see again is that we call God Father because Jesus has died for us and saved us. And He has met our most crucial and important need. Namely, that we be freed from our sins. We have a mediator to stand between us and God. And that we go from children of darkness to those that are children of light. If God can meet our greatest need, surely our daily bread, he can meet as well. Have you ever thought about the fact that when you pray for your daily bread, that it's a reminder that everything that you have that day, even things that you're not fully sure about yet, God has provided. When you pray for your provision, have you thought about the fact that as you're asking God for something, you're learning about God because God wants you to come to Him regularly. Regularly! There is no impatience with God. Surely, even the most godly, impatient parent or grandparent among us at some point gets a little impatient when the requests for food come every hour. Not so with our God. And have you ever thought about the fact that when Jesus teaches us to say, give us this day our daily bread, that at the end of the day, When we have eaten and we have our provision, it's exactly what we needed. Give us this day our daily bread. Let's pray. Almighty God, we ask for your pardon for how often we fail to bring our simple requests to You for the basics of our lives. We thank You that You have provided for us in abundance, but would You increase the rhythm with which we come to You and depend upon You? For our Lord and Savior was giving us a model not to occasionally go to God with, but he was teaching us a rhythm of dependence upon the triune God. Lord, make us in mind and in soul and in heart more dependent upon you, for we are. Help us to see it. We thank you for your faithfulness and your provision. In Jesus' name, amen.