Matthew 6:1 (NKJV) Give us this day our daily bread.
The Lord’s Prayer is a model and a way for us to approach God in prayer. The above verse is a crucial part of the Prayer because it concerns our dependency on God. It acknowledges that God is the sole provider of everything we have and that we are stewards of His blessings.
Many people may find it irrelevant, insulting or demeaning to ask God for their daily bread, and Christians are often teased when they give thanks to God before a meal. However, if we are well grounded in the Word, we will not take it for granted that we are about to partake of something good.
When the Israelites left the land of Egypt, they trusted God for the quail and manna daily. They were dependent on God, who provided them with fresh manna daily. In the earlier portion of the Book of Deuteronomy, God was reminding them not to forget God, who is the provider of everything they had because He was watching over the covenant with them. God wanted them to be mindful after they had built beautiful houses and had more than enough for the family that it was God who had blessed them, and in their abundance, they must not forget to worship and honour God.
It is easy to take pride in our wealth because we think it is due to our own ability, but we need to realise that it is the grace of God that we have everything in our lives. God is the creator of heaven and earth, and we are part of His creation. Our entire being—body, mind, and spirit—is His creation. God created us and breathed life into us, which is why we are still alive. It is in Him that we move and have our being. No amount of riches and wealth can give us life. Sadly, some people may only realise this truth when they are on their deathbed.
Often, too, it is only when things go awry in our lives that we seek God and pray for Him to deliver us from the situation. However, how can we trust God for the thousands and the millions when we have not started to trust Him for our daily bread? Everything is progressive, including our faith in God. Therefore, we need to develop our faith in God for His provision by including in our daily prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread”. It helps us to be wholly dependent on God. When we have this dependence on God, it frees us from the fear of tithing and giving freewill offerings. They are expressions of our faith and declarations of our trust that He is the source of our provision and our freedom from the stronghold of money over our lives.
Sermon Series: Lord, Teach Us How To Pray (Part1)
上帝是你每日所需的来源
马太福音 6:1 我们日用的饮食今日赐给我们。
主祷文是我们在祷告中接近上帝的一个榜样和方式。上述经文是祷告中的一个重要部分，因为它关系到我们对上帝的依赖。它意味着上帝是我们一切所有的唯一供应者，我们是祂赐福的管家。
许多人可能觉得向上帝祈求每日所需的食物不相关、侮辱或贬低，基督徒在饭前感谢上帝时也常常受到嘲笑。然而，如果我们对圣经有扎实的理解，我们就不会认为自己即将享用的美好事物是理所当然的。
当以色列人离开埃及时，他们每日信靠上帝赐下的鹌鹑和吗哪。他们依赖上帝，祂每天为他们提供新鲜的吗哪。在《申命记》前面的部分，上帝提醒他们不要忘记祂，祂是他们一切所有的供应者，因为祂在看顾与他们的盟约。上帝希望他们在建造了美丽的房屋、家中富足有余之后，仍要铭记是上帝赐福给他们的，并且在富足中不可忘记敬拜和尊荣上帝。
我们很容易为自己的财富感到自豪，因为我们认为这是凭自己的能力得来的，但我们需要意识到，正是上帝的恩典让我们拥有生命中的一切。上帝是天地的创造者，而我们是祂创造的一部分。我们的全部存在——身体、思想和灵魂，都是祂的创造。上帝创造了我们，并向我们吹入了生命的气息，这就是我们得以存活的原因。我们在祂里面行动、生活并存在。再多的财富也不能赋予我们生命。遗憾的是，一些人直到临终时才意识到这一真理。
通常，只有当我们生活中出现问题时，我们才会寻求上帝并祈求祂拯救我们脱离困境。然而，如果我们还没有开始信靠上帝为我们提供每日的食物，我们又如何能信靠祂赐下成千上万的祝福呢？一切都是渐进的，包括我们对上帝的信心。因此，我们需要通过在每日祷告中加入“今日赐给我们日用的饮食”来培养对上帝供应的信心。这帮助我们完全依赖上帝。当我们对上帝有这种依赖时，我们就不会害怕奉献十分之一或自由捐献。这些是我们信心的表达，也是我们信靠祂是我们供应的源泉的宣告，祂让我们脱离金钱对我们生活的束缚。
讲章系列： 主，教我们如何祷告 （第一部份）
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