Lord’s Prayer Series – 4 – Daily Bread
Opening: Ask the group to refresh on what they’ve looked at in the last few weeks
Brainstorm: What are the essentials you need to live?
(food, drink, clothes, shelter)
Explain: Today we’re thinking about the section of the Lord’s Prayer which says ‘Give us today our daily bread’. When Jesus says bread he intends it to mean give us the essentials we need to live.
Bible: Matthew 6:11
Exodus 16:1-24
Ask: Why do you think God waited so long before providing the Israelites with food?
(so they would depend on Him/trust Him???)
Explain: In the passage we just read we see the Israelites being completely dependent on God for their very basics, when they’re hungry they cannot just pop into Subway or Sainsburys and buy a sandwich they have to wait on God
Ask: What would happen if your parents suddenly decided to stop buying food for your house & cooking meals? How would you eat? How would you afford to?
Explain: To a certain extent that’s the sort of dependancy the Israelites had on God, except whereas we could go to friends for food they couldn’t because their friends didn’t have food either.
Ask: Think about how they felt when they had food for the first time in 16 days…how would you have felt?
Do you think there’s anything significant about the food going mouldy if kept overnight?
(God wanted to provide what they needed and not beyond?)
Ask: Have you ever had to depend on God for something?
Explain: The early disciples sold everything they had, they were completely dependent on God for their next meal, for shelter over night even for the clothes on their back…we often forget that it is God who provides for us, he provides us for the people in our lives who look after us, who make sure we’re fed and watered and clothed and sheltered. When we say a grace before a meal we begin to acknowledge that God has provided our essentials but we only begin to.
Prayers
Pass around the group an object and when each young person has the object they will need to say ‘Thank You God for…’ and mention an essential God has blessed them with.
To conclude the prayer it’s good for the leader to pray…you may also like to challenge the young people to look at their world this week with eyes looking our for what God provides for them.