The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, Matthew chapter 6. We'll begin reading in verse 9. Matthew chapter 6, verse 9 to 13. Let's read together the Word of God. After this manner, therefore, pray ye, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Now this afternoon we're going to continue our consideration of the Lord's Prayer and we're going to look at the Fourth Petition. But as we move into the Fourth Petition, there is something of a structural note to take in on the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer, kind of like the Ten Commandments, is kind of separated into two tablets, as it were, or two sections. So the first half of the prayer, the first three petitions, are much more related to the Lord himself as the object. We focus upon the glory of God, the kingdom of God, and the will of God. But now as we transition into the fourth petition, it's like moving to the second table of the law, as it were, and now it's much more focused upon our own particular needs. the needs that we have as the children of God, and the things for which we petition His throne for. Now, I want to consider the fourth petition under three what's. Ask three questions of the fourth petition. The first is, what does this petition teach us about God? Secondly, what does this petition teach us about ourselves? And then thirdly, what does this petition teach us about prayer? So it's a very simple outline to follow. In almost every one of the times we've gone through this, the various petitions of the Lord's Prayer has been more or less the outline. But let's look first now at what does this petition teach us about God? And we're looking at Matthew 6, verse 11. Give us this day our daily bread. Well, the first thing that we learn about God is that all things belong to God. All things belong to God. And therefore, anything that we possess is communicated to us by way of His grace and mercy. We read in Genesis chapter 1, that great verse that I'm sure so many of the children here who are listening and being very attentive right now hear. You remember Genesis 1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The very first verse of the Bible teaches us that there is a God in heaven and that he is the maker of all things, which means that he possesses all things, that all things are accountable to him morally and ethically, we know this, but all things belong unto him as his own possession in a peculiar way. And so we read in Psalm 24.1, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. He is a sovereign creator God. He is the one who has made all things and who possesses all things and to whom all things belong. And that's why then the apostle Paul can say, what do you have? that you have not received. For all that we possess is by way of communication, by way of communication of the grace of God. Now the Lord who possesses all things in the beginning created man and he placed him in the lush of the garden and out of his bounty he gave man all the world, as it were. How much does the Lord love to give? Well, look at what he did. He created a world and he gave it all to man. He set him as his vice regent over all creation. He put all other creatures under his dominion and under his care. And for his food, he was given all of the vegetation and all the trees of the garden. except one, and yet man in his rebellion, in his act of self-love and self-exaltation above God, he broke the covenant, and God's word upon him, therefore, was a curse. For the breaking of the covenant brings upon, the one who breaks the covenant brings upon him the covenant curses. And the covenant curse was a stripping away of life. was a taking away of life and therefore was a taking away of all the things that attended his life. All the things that were needful for life. Which means that by an act of sin, man lost his right to even daily bread. Because the only thing that man was worthy of by virtue of his sin was eternal death and damnation. And yet, although that is so, we also see that although all these things are possessed of God, that God in His goodness bestows all these things on man. And yet, even in man's sin and rebellion, God still communicates it to man, not by way of right, but by way of mercy. God saw fit to continue to preserve the life of man in order to carry out his purposes of salvation and redemption. And as long as there is a gospel to be proclaimed, as long as there is a sinner to be saved, God is going to preserve the world and he's going to continue to communicate his goodness to these creatures of his, to men. But he does so by way of mercy, by mercy. And we see from this that the Lord delights in mercy, and judgment is indeed His strange work. But the second thing we learn about God from this petition is that God communicates all these good things, even the goods of temporal goods, He communicates all these things to us peculiarly. in a special way to us as His children. So although it is true that God is Father of all men by virtue of their creation, and although it is true that God dispenses all good things to all men, whether they be righteous or wicked, It also is true that God gives even the daily bread of His children, He gives it to them in a peculiar manner as His children. So these things come to us, even our daily bread comes to us through the grace of Jesus Christ. There is a very real sense, brother and sister, that Jesus Christ, by His blood, purchases it for you, the right of bread, daily bread. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 21 and 23 read, Therefore let no one boast in men, for all things are yours. even earthly things, even these creature comforts, all are yours, and you are Christ, and Christ is God's. The Lord cares for us as His children, and He cares not just for our soul, but He cares for our body. And one of the greatest evidences that He cares for us, even in our temporal needs, even in our bodily needs, is that Jesus Christ did not come as a spirit, He did not come as an angel, He came and took on flesh as man. The incarnation is a great argument for the fact that God cares for us both in soul and body. The resurrection of Jesus is a great argument that God is not simply interested in saving souls, but in redeeming the whole man, body and soul. and that His purpose is to unite all things together in Christ Jesus and to unite us to Himself. As we read earlier this morning, as we considered the work of Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 6.20, for you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit. And God, who has given us of His own Son, Will he not with him also give to us freely all things needful? Our daily bread, our daily health, our daily strength, our daily portion of all that is necessary for daily life. Well, as we move on, we consider now our second question, and that is, what does this petition teach us about ourself? And I have five things, and I'd like to move along pretty quickly, otherwise the carbs might kick in, and you begin to fall asleep, and then we won't be able to be alert, attentive, and be able to pray after this time. So very briefly, what are the things that we can learn about ourself? Well first, we learn that we must trust and rely upon God for our every need. It's not just in great soul needs, and it's pretty amazing as you think about it, that we can trust God to save our soul, but we can't trust God to provide transportation. We can't trust God to provide for the house payment. We can't trust God to provide for our future job or our education. We don't trust him for the future spouse, but we'll trust him for our soul's salvation. How foolish. Is not one greater than the other? Isn't it far more difficult to provide salvation and to procure redemption for fallen sinners than it is to provide simple things like bread and a roof over your head and clothing for your back? We're so distrusting of the Lord, aren't we? And this petition reminds us of it. that we are to flee sinful distrust of God, but we are to press into the heart of our Lord who is good and who provides all things to us as is our needful. Does he not love you more than the birds of the heavens or the grass of the field? Matthew chapter 6, 25, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you'll put on. The birds of the heavens are fed, the grass of the earth is clothed, and aren't you more to the Father than birds and grass? He says to us, your heavenly Father knows all that you have need of. We need to trust the Lord. We need to believe that the Lord not only cares for us in things spiritual and things unseen, but things temporal, and even in the things that you daily feel and see. He is mindful of the financial setbacks. He is mindful of the loss and bereavement of friends, family, and children. He is mindful of all of the circumstances of life, and He has promised that He shall provide our daily portion, so we're to trust Him. Secondly, we learn that we're to be content. I'm not gonna steal Pastor Martha's thunder, he's gonna be teaching us about contentment next Lord's Day in the CE hour. He also taught a whole series of messages on this whole matter of contentment, so he's the expert, but a few things to say. Notice that Jesus tells us that we are to pray for daily bread. Daily bread. Only what's needful for the day. Isn't that what the prayer of Agur teaches us in Proverbs chapter 30 verse eight? Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me. Or in the ESV, feed me the food that is needed for me. As Paul says in Philippians 4.1, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. And then he goes on to say in verse 19, my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. He doesn't say I will provide for all of your certain needs, these particular needs. but for your every need in Christ Jesus. God has promised to supply our need and our duty as believers is to be content with what he gives us. He has promised to supply our need. Our response is to be content with what he gives us. Psalm 23 one, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And so in seeking contentment, we have to throw off covetousness, dissatisfaction, love of earthly treasures more than heavenly treasures. I love Thomas Watson on this. He says, rather a heart full of grace than a house full of gold. Does that resonate with you this afternoon? It is better to have a heart full of grace than a house full of gold. Oh, we ought to prize those heavenly treasures. Even if we receive a small portion of earthly things, we have been given so much in Jesus Christ. Thirdly, we are to be thankful. Ephesians 5.20, give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. There ought to be no reluctance on our behalf to give thanks to God daily because he bestows upon us far beyond our needs. He gives to us many of our wants. And we who are worthy of nothing, who deserve nothing, How could we complain? God is good in Christ and has bestowed upon us vast blessings, vast graces, vast riches, and we are to be thankful to him. But isn't it sad that we who are Americans are so often grumblers and often complainers and we're often upset and unthankful for what we receive. this week I came across another statement of one of the Puritan forefathers. He said, What convicts me is that when the Lord remembers me most, that's when I forget him most. I forget him most when he remembers me most. The Lord has been so good to us in this land, to have the kind of bounty that we have, to have the kind of meals that we just took part in, and how could we not be filled with a sense of gratitude and thankfulness to the Lord? Well, fourth thing that we learn is that all things are a gift of God, that we possess all things as gift. And that comes from the word, the Greek word, didomi, that's used here. It's translated give. It means actually to give freely, to give graciously, to bestow upon us as gift. Ecclesiastes 5, 18 through 19, behold, I have seen I've seen to be good and fitting it is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil which one toils under the sun and few days of his life that God has given him for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil, this is the gift of God. You see, the gift of God is not just that you have what you have. is that you can actually enjoy it. That happens by virtue of God's blessing. That isn't simply natural. You know, your food would be about as nourishing to your body as a stone or as dirt apart from the blessing of God. It is because of the blessing of God that goes along with the gift that he provides, that it does us some good. that the food nourishes our body, that the clothes warm our flesh, that we have success in our business, in our school, or whatever it may be. It all is due to the blessing of God that comes along with the thing itself that He gives us. Think of a passage like this, Haggai 1, verse 6. You have sown much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourself, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them in a bag with holes. You have all these things, as it were, or you think you have these things. You labor for these things, but because you do not have the blessing of God upon them, there's no enjoyment of them. There's no multiplication of them or increasing of them. I once heard of one man in a church in Rockford when I was an intern there. He was in finance, and he told me that there was a person who made over $200,000 a year but had massive amounts of credit card debt that they couldn't pay off. How in the world do you make so much money you can't pay your credit card bill? Well, that's Haggai 1.6, not having the money but not the blessing of God upon the money to do you any good. Fifthly, We learn that we're to be mindful of the needs of others. The Lord Jesus did not just teach us to pray for my daily bread, but for our daily bread. And insofar as he teaches us this, he's teaching us the importance of diligent hard work, whereby we might have something in order to give to others who are in need. He teaches us by this, that we're to be mindful of those physical, tangible needs of the people of God. It's good to give money to the church for the purpose of supplying the diaconate so that they might serve the people of God and give to those who are in need. In all these ways, we're to be mindful. An illustration of this we see in Dorcas in Acts chapter 9. I know Pastor Martha is a fan of our sister Dorcas. In Acts chapter 9, verse 36 and 39, we read that at Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas, and this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did. Then Peter arose and went with them. And when he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by weeping, showing the tunics and the garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. You see, the Lord delights when the people of God are mindful of each other and seeking to provide for the needs of other people. And it's important that we pray this way also in our family worship or in our private worship, that we are mindful not only of our own needs, but of the needs of the rest of the people of God. Okay, what does this petition teach us about prayer? Everybody be with me. We've got five minutes, we'll be done. What does this teach us about prayer? Well, there's a general lesson that we need to learn. And that is, although it is true that our spiritual petitions, or petitions for spiritual things, must be first and foremost, It is completely legitimate, and God delights to hear even prayers for temporal needs. So it is legitimate to pray, and we have liberty to pray for our temporal matters. Philippians 4.6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, in everything. In everything, let your request be made known to God. There's nothing so small as it were, or insignificant in your life, that if it is of some significance to you, that will not be of importance to the ears of your father, who stoops and bends to receive the petitions of his children. But there is a qualifier that we need to have here when we think of temporal petitions and temporal needs. And I want to qualify it in three ways. First, that we must pray moderately for them, moderately. That is to say that we are to set temporal things in their proper order. Spiritual things need to be prized more than temporal goods. And often the Lord will not give us the temporal things we pray for when we exalt them above those spiritual needs. And so we're to pray, not for vast riches, but for the things which are needful. Secondly, we have to recognize that when we pray for temporal things, we pray conditionally, okay? When we pray for spiritual things, we pray absolutely. We do not pray, Lord, if it's your will, forgive my sin. We pray, Lord, forgive my sin. When we pray for sanctification, we don't pray, Lord, if it's your will, will you sanctify me? We know it is the will of God. We pray, Lord, sanctify us by your grace. So for things spiritual, we pray absolutely, without condition. When it comes to things temporal, we must pray conditionally. If it pleases you, Father, give to us the thing we ask. Yielding ourselves in submission to the goodness and the wisdom of God. Lastly, We have to pray for temporal things to a spiritual end. I think this is often where we go wrong. We pray in faith to the Lord, we believe he can provide, we trust that he will in some sense, but we often don't pray to an end or a purpose that is spiritual. So it's good to pray for a wife or for a husband. God invites you to do such a thing, but if your purpose is only to supply for loneliness so that you won't be lonely, this is not the way we ought to pray. but it ought to be, Lord, provide a wife, provide a spouse. For what purpose? That I won't be lonely, and that I might have companionship, and chiefly, that that individual will help me unto God. I'll grow closer to the Lord through fellowship with that person, through that relationship, through the marriage bond. I will draw closer to you, O Lord. That's the way we're to pray. That the Lord would provide the job so that he would be glorified. The Lord provide the house so that he would be glorified. The Lord provide the car so that he would be glorified. And so whatever we pray for, that we not spend it on ourselves as it were. That's what James says. You ask and you do not receive. Why? Because you ask amiss. And what does he say you ask amiss? He says that you may spend it on your pleasures. This is only for you. Just for your enjoyment. No, all, even temporal things must have a spiritual end. We must pray having a heavenly-minded mentality even when we pray for earthly goods. Four quick applications. We ought to pray that God would be glorified in the least of things. 1 Corinthians 10, 31. Whether you eat or drink whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Secondly, we ought to pray that our faith would be strengthened so that we wouldn't be doubtful. We wouldn't be distrusting of the Lord, but we'd go to him in faith. Thirdly, we ought to pray that the Lord would work in us a spiritual contentment. Contentment with himself, Hebrews 13, five. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And fourthly, we ought to pray for an increase in humility, remembering that everything we have, all that we are and all we possess, we receive by way of grace and mercy through Christ Jesus. So therefore, there is no grounds of boasting in our possessions. All that we have is from the Lord, and therefore, he is worthy of praise and thanks and adoration. Thank you for continuing with me. Let's pray. Father, do bless your word to our souls this afternoon, and would you help us that we might learn to pray or write, and that you would be glorified in our private and in our family and in our public times of prayer together as a church, that you, O Lord, would be our instructor by the Holy Spirit, that we might lift up the things which are needful, that we might lift up the petitions on behalf of others, and to know that you are good, and that you will hear us, and you shall bestow upon us everything that is in accordance with your will. In Jesus' name, amen.