Bible Study Notes: Prayer: Daily Bread Pt. 2

Our Daily Bread – Part Two
Matt 6:9-11

Matt. 6:9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Matt. 6:10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Matt. 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread,

Crying out to our Father in prayer is not about petitioning Him for our will to be done, but that we would daily see His will as what is best and most satisfying for us in this life.

Heaven’s bread is God’s supply of everything we need to nourish the desire and ability to please him. The prayer for daily bread is another way of saying to God, “May your will be done in my life.” Bryan Chapell, Praying Backwards (p. 41).

I want us to quickly jump down to some of Christ’s instructions given to us after these instructions on prayer:

Matt. 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
Matt. 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matt. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matt. 6:32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Matt. 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

I can see how praying can become complicated if our desires are not seeming to align with Jesus’ instructions here. If we were to pray this daily, genuinely believing and then looking to our lives to watch how the Father would answer our prayer, I’m wondering what might change.

QUESTION: How do you think praying for God to change our desires above our circumstances might change our perspective on prayer?

To seek the advancement of God’s kingdom above all else will bring joy to our hearts, but we will find ourselves in conflict with the desires and mission of the kingdom of darkness. What strength and provision will we use to survive while we live in this earthly kingdom? Jesus' instructions call us to conform daily to what the Father deems best for us. Proper expectations in prayer provide us with more strength and trust in prayer. But when we treat prayer not according to Christ’s teachings but our inventions placed into the text, no wonder why we are frustrated and find ourselves less and less depending on the Father.

To conclude this Petition, then, the sum of it is this.—‘O heavenly Father, as no one is able to endure thy will, and as we are all too weak to destroy effectually our own will and the old Adam, we beg of thee that thou wilt feed us, comfort us, and console us by thy holy Word, that thou wilt give us thy grace, and that thou wilt, by the preaching of the Word, diffuse abroad that heavenly bread Jesus Christ throughout the whole world, that we may hear of it and known it in our hearts, and that at length all pernicious, heretical, erroneous, and all human doctrines may cease, and thy Word alone, which is the true bread, be spread abroad.’

Luther, Martin. Martin Luther's Explanation of the Lord's Prayer. GLH Publishing.

QUESTION: How does seeing prayer as a daily strength help your understanding of prayer? How have you seen the use of prayer in the past?

Why do we fall into the trap that we think we can feed ourselves spiritually? If we could, Jesus would have commanded us to feed ourselves. But instead, we are to come to the Father daily and trust that HE will provide for all of our needs spiritually and physically. When we stop depending upon the Father to provide for us, we also stop desiring the Father’s will. We then easily slip back into seeking our kingdom first instead of the Father’s. We have no promise of peace or purpose in this life when we seek after our desires. Fear, anxiety, selfishness, anger, strife, bitterness, and envy are all products of a life lived, placing oneself first instead of God’s kingdom.

These instructions from our Lord are not simply helpful tips to help us live happier and fuller lives. These instructions from Christ are designed to confront our sinful and wicked hearts daily. Daily we are reminded that to praise the Father is the greatest call of our lives. It is His kingdom we love and serve and seek to see come in our hearts and the hearts of every living being. It is His will we seek to fulfill daily and not our own. And how will all of this be accomplished day after day? His strength was provided to us using prayer.

QUESTION: What area do you find hard to give to God when thinking about prayer?

Putting the “Our” back in prayer.

Christ began the instructions by using “Our Father.” He uses it again by stating, give us this day “our” daily bread. Notice how He continues to draw the community into prayer, not just the individuals. He could have said, pray like this: “My father, give me my daily bread.” It was no accident that Matthew and Luke made a direct quote. We should not ignore the significance of how Christ presented prayer.

We are not just simply living in some random kingdom, living out our lives trying to find some sense of purpose and happiness while we wait to die of old age. We have a mission. That mission is to seek after the kingdom Christ came to proclaim among the nations. We are called to also take this kingdom news with us wherever we go trusting in its promises. We live within a family that has the same mission with the same struggles. We pray not seeking what is good for us as individuals but the strength we all need to carry out this mission the Father has given us.

QUESTION: How often do we think to pray from the “our” perspective compared to the “my” perspective?

If we begin to pray and truly trust in this prayer, our lives will never be the same.

Our habits will change.
Our desires will change.
Our priorities will change.

What did Jesus say to the man who ignored His words and built his house upon the sand? He called him a fool. What did He call the man who built his house upon the rock, which is a picture of Christ? He called him wise. We are fools if we continue living on this world's sand. We will never reach peace, for that is impossible. We will never have joy because we will be trapped in our sins. We will never have hope because our lustful desires blind our eyes.

If we as a church all commit to pray for each other that the Father’s name is praised in all we do, that we would seek first His kingdom, and pray that God’s will would be done in our hearts, what kind of community would that be to live in? Where do we find joy in what we give away instead of what we try to take or keep? A place where hurting people find help from a community seeking to advance God’s Kingdom? We can begin by praying for that change to occur in our homes and in small groups.

QUESTION: What do you see as the greatest obstacle to believing these words from Christ?

QUESTION: What do you struggle with the most when considering what we have learned concerning prayer and God’s will for our lives?


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PRAISE, PRAYER, AND CONFESSION:
What can you offer to the Father in glory?
What is a sin you need to confess?
What is a burden we can carry?
What can we take to our Father in prayer?