As Jesus taught His disciples to pray he asked them to petition God for their daily bread. Back in the times of Christ daily bread was a staple. Bread was baked every day, fresh. It was a necessary part of life. Jesus was asking His disciples to ask God for what they needed to live for that day. Jesus was introducing a unique concept to His disciples. It was God who provided all that was necessary for life. Man shall not live by bread alone. But by the bread God provides. Our daily need.

It is my belief that today, we are trying to make our own daily bread. We look at the materialistic side of things and think that if we make enough money then we will be happy. Let's steer away from that for a moment. Daily bread refers to our food, and clothes, and money. But oh so much more. It refers to our emotional needs, our physical needs, our health needs, our relational needs....everything that we need for a healthy daily life. God is the great caregiver. We can only go so far. We work hard and plan for a good future. We have it all under control BUT it is God who determines how long you will live. It is he who determines what will happen. You may spend your entire life searching for riches and miss what life is really about. It is God who supplies our daily bread. Mat 6:32ff

There is an exhortation here. Jesus commands us to ask. In no stronger way could Jesus have told his disciples to petition God for their needs. But within that petition there is the faith knowledge that God will provide. Phil 4:19 We ask God, knowing that he hears us and answers us.

Daily bread is also something more. We ask God to supply our daily needs. But that assumes that we are asking according to His Will. It is no coincidence that this comes after Thy will be done. There are five things I want you to know about our daily bread.

1. Put God first. James 4:3. We need to ask according to his will not our flesh

Remember the story of Joseph. Could he not have fooled himself into thinking that a little pleasure was necessary? He ran and kept his life pure. Our daily bread will satisfy us and build us up spiritually.

2. We work hard. 2Thes 3:10, IThes 4:11-12, ITim 5:13, Psalm 75:6-7

If a man does not work he should no eat. But a worker is worthy of his wage. God's will is for us to work hard at our jobs and not slouch off.

3 Give. Luke 6:38, 1 Kings 17:10ff, Gen 26, Mal 3:18 2 Cor 9:6ff.

God gives so we can be generous. When we are generous God causes us to be rich in everything, i.e. our daily bread. We need to be generous but also wise stewards of what God gives us. Remember this, we can be stingy with more than money. Love, Kindness, thoughtfulness, encouragement., etc.

4 Ask! Ye have not because ye ask not. James 4:2 Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full

5 Keep asking! Don't give up or lose heart. Go after God's dreams, never give up. Luke 18:1-8

God will sometimes reveal much to you by what you ask for. Sometimes it is here that we question whether something is God's will or not. Good keep asking until you know it is either God or your flesh.