“Give Us Our Daily Bread”
Luke 11:3
August 23, 2026
One blistering hot day when they had guests for dinner, a mother asked her four-year old to give thanks for the meal. “But Mom, I don’t know what to say,” he protested. “Oh, just say what you’ve heard me say,” she told him. Obediently, he bowed his little head and said, “Oh, Lord, why did I invite these people here on a hot day like this?”
We know we should pray, but one of the reasons we don’t pray is that we don’t know what to say. Just what do we say to the Master of all things? Even if we know we have needs, for what do we ask Him, and how should we ask Him? Those questions are behind the request the disciples make of Jesus, “Teach us to pray.” And that isn’t just a question for the Twelve; it’s a desire we also have — we want to pray more biblically, more effectively, and more like Christ.
Jesus answers the disciples with concise instruction about prayer. He tells them how to address God — as Father (remarkably!), and then He gives them five topics to pray; the first two relate to the nature of God — for the character of God to be hallowed (revered and worshipped), and for God’s kingdom to be established on earth. Following those two expressions of worship and submission, Jesus teaches the Twelve and us to pray three corporate and personal requests. The first of those is the simple desire, “Give us each day our daily bread” (Lk. 11:3). With that request He is simply reminding us —
You have needs and God is sufficient. So ask God to provide for you.
To paraphrase Matthew Henry, we have something to say to God every day. Many of us are unaware of that need, believing we can live without God — we are unaware of our dependence on Him and obligation to Him, and when we do not go to Him with our worship and needs, we are living without Him.
We don’t want to live without Him. We want His help. So what does it mean to pray for daily bread? Let’s consider this petition by recognizing three truths about asking God to meet our needs…
- The Way We Ask for Our Needs
- The Kind of God Who Provides for Our Needs
- Some Spiritual Provisions in Our Material Needs
Download the rest of this sermon on Luke 11:3.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.
Words of Grace 