Petition: Our Daily Bread

We now get to a particular kind of prayer in which people are very interested–what some call a “give me” prayer. “Give us today our daily bread.” This prayer is the reason why most people even get involved in prayer. They have a need, and they want God to meet it. They have a situation, and they want God to change it. But notice, “Give us today our daily bread” happens dead in the middle, dead smack in the middle, of the Lord’s Prayer. It is surrounded by all sorts of other statements and ideas and concepts. You cannot understand how what we call “petitionary” prayer works unless you see, “give us today our daily bread” in all of its relationships to the rest of the prayer. I think the Lord’s Prayer tells us petitionary prayer only works if you get confident (knowing his power), if you get perspective (knowing his glory), if you get humble (knowing his wisdom), and if you get reconciled (knowing he is God and letting him be God). This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 14, 1995. Series "The Lord's Prayer 1995". Scripture: Matthew 6:9-15. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.