The Fourth Petition:
“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”

“Daily bread.” Between you and me, I hope that God gives me more than just bread. Steak, potatoes, veggies and dessert would be just fine with me!

In Matthew 17:20 Jesus taught that faith could move mountains. If faith—and the prayer of faith—can do such wonderful things, why would Jesus teach His disciples to pray only for daily bread?

The answer is simple. He wanted to disciples to focus their prayers on at least two simple things. First, they should only ask for what they needed. Second, they should give thanks for whatever God has given them.

God gives us everything we need…and more. He gives daily bread to those who pray for it…and to those who don’t.  The Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that Everything God gives us is our “daily bread.” This includes “food and clothing, a home and property” and everything else Luther mentioned in the Meaning to the Fourth Petition.

The focus of the Fourth Petition may include a warning from Jesus: Don’t get hung up on earthly things!

When we start using prayer to focus on more money and more things, we risk seeing God as our Big Daddy in the sky with a big checkbook, not as our loving Father who provides for all our needs as He graciously and lovingly determines.

All of us know how easily our materialistic world tempts us. We risk developing an unquenchable desire for bigger, better, faster , newly-improved designer versions of things that are better than our neighbors’. That’s what Satan wants. Why does He want it? Because Satan knows the best way to lead us away from God is to turn the desires of our heart from God to worldly things.

Just a few verses after Jesus gave the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9ff., Jesus spoke about the danger of a concern for material things.

“28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Matthew 6:28-33 NIV

“Give us this day our daily bread.” We can trust God to provide for all our daily needs. Because of that, we can be thankful for all that He gives us.

The Fifth Petition:
“And Forgive Us Our Trespasses…”

The Fifth Petition reminds us of two needs: First, we need God’s forgiveness. Second, we need to forgive others as God forgives us.

Jesus taught us to pray, “And forgive us our trespasses….”

If we could earn forgiveness  would we have to ask God for forgiveness? Of course not! When Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses” He taught that none of us can ever earn or deserve God’s forgiveness. Only God can forgive sins…ours and others.

What is a “trespass?” “Trespass” is one of many words for “sin.”

In the Bible “sin” is described as many things including “rebellion,” “disobedience,’ and “missing the target.”  To “trespass” is to sin against God by  “crossing over the line,” that is, to ignore or defy God’s limits on our thoughts, beliefs and actions. This happens each time we break the Ten Commandments.

Sometimes it can be hard to ask God for forgiveness. That’s probably why Jesus included this petition in His prayer. “And forgive us our trespasses.” God’s forgiveness is His way of pushing the “restart” button in our lives.

Luther captured the very soul of the Fifth Petition in the last line of his meaning. “What does this mean?” “We should heartily forgive and readily do good to everyone, especially those who sin against us.” The Fifth Petition urges us to seek God’s forgiveness and instructs us forgive others as freely as God has forgiven us.

The Sixth Petition:
“But Deliver Us From Evil”

For what things did Jesus teach us to pray in the Sixth Petition? Very simply, Jesus taught us to pray for two main things:

First, we pray that God would not put our faith to the test; and

Second, we pray that God would deliver us from Satan and every evil.

God does put our faith to the test. He can also allow Satan to test our faith. The Book of Job describes how God allowed Satan to test Job’s faith to the extreme. Amazingly Job’s faith withstood this excruciating trial of faith.

The Bible reminds us that God tests every believers’ faith. In one sense, the Bible is a record of people whose faith has been tested. Who are some of the people in the Bible whose faiths were tested? Some of these people include Patriarch Abraham, the prophets Moses and Elijah, Jesus’ disciples including Peter and Thomas.  We could add the prophet Jeremiah and St. Paul….and so many others.

God also allows our faith to be tested, too. God can test us by allowing us to experience sorrow, disappointment, failure, loss of friends and relationships, sickness and other trials. None of these are easy. In many cases, these kinds of painful experiences can cause us to question God and our Christian faith.

God can also test our faith by giving us wealth, comfort, success and achievement. Many who receive these blessings may forget they come from God. When they do, their faith may fail. 

Perhaps the greatest way our faith is tested is when we are persecuted for our faith. In this prayer we also pray that we would not let the Devil silence our witness. We also pray that God would not allow us to be in a position where telling others about Jesus would cost us our jobs, our family, our friends…and our very lives.

According to Luther, in the Sixth Petition Jesus is teaching us to pray that God would watch over us and give us victory during and after our testing.

One translation of the Sixth Petition provides a simple summary of this petition. “Save us from the time of trial.”