10-15 Facilitator Instructions: Divide the group into two teams for this game. This is a brainstorming blitz focusing on this task: Name as many different kinds of needs God met in people s lives in the Bible. Groups may use people, circumstances, and events from both the Old and New Testament to get them thinking about needs God met. The team with the longest list of needs that were met by God wins! Groups will have five to compile their list.
A few examples to get the groups started. Adam was alone so God gave him Eve God met Sarah s need for a son by giving her Isaac The Red Sea provided a way of escape for Israel Debrief: Bring the two teams together and see who has the longest list. A candy prize for the winning team is always a great idea. Then, compare lists by asking each team to share the list they came up with. If you have a whiteboard or flipchart paper, list the various needs that were met as they are shared. Key insight: After the debrief share with the group that the focus of today s session is on the part of the Lord s Prayer that talks about daily bread. When we pray about daily bread, in part, we are asking God to meet our daily needs the kind of needs that were met in people s lives in both the Old and New Testament. 10-15 Facilitator Instructions: Before you move into the article below, ask the group how they did with the homework from the last session on prayerwalking. Ask for a few volunteers to share what the experience was like for them (also, be ready to share your own experience for the benefit of the group). Transition the group to the article entitled. Ask everyone to read slowly and to highlight key ideas. After everyone has read, ask people to respond to the reading in groups of two and three by going through the discussion questions at the end of the article. Then bring the whole group back together and ask people to share their responses to the discussion questions. You might want to capture the insights on a flipchart or white board.
In the previous modules, we have explored the implications of addressing God as our Father and praising Him by focusing on the phrase hallowed be thy name. The Lord wants us to experience all of the fullness of what it means for Him to be our Father. He desires closeness and authenticity with each of His children. The third module injected the idea of prayer walking as a creative way to pray about God s kingdom and will be established in our lives and communities. In this section, we will explore the portion of the Lord s Prayer that centers on the phrase our daily bread from Matthew 6:9-13: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For a few weeks we have been talking about clay and the potter s wheel image. Clay needs two things to become something useful pressure and water. The skilled hands of the potter carve and mold clay into the intended image that the artist has in mind. And yet, throughout the shaping process on the potter s wheel, generous amounts of water are applied to the clay to keep it malleable.
So it is with our lives. We have needs and our heavenly Father is keenly aware of them. Yet, we are encouraged by Jesus in the Lord s Prayer to make our request known to God. And so, it is fitting, that we ask God to meet our most pressing daily needs. Daily bread can take on a broader meaning as we consider going to God with a variety of needs. When we move to this part of the prayer, it is important that we remember Jesus is encouraging us to ask God to meet our needs, not simply our wants. God is not to be pictured as our heavenly buddy, or the great vending machine in the sky. But rather, He is a loving Father who encourages us to ask. A posture of asking keeps us humble and dependent. It is a sure-fire way to help us remember that we are the clay; we are the ones that need the hands of the potter to lovingly shape us and apply water to our souls to keep us malleable. What then are we to ask for? Consider these daily bread areas of your life: Friends who need God: Remember your friends who need a relationship with God. As you pray for them by name on a regular basis pray that the truths of the Lord s Prayer would become real to them. Pray that they will discover that they have a Heavenly Father that they can take their needs to. Wisdom: We need wisdom as we navigate through our day. There may be a major decision that you are faced with or a spur of the moment circumstance that comes out of nowhere. Courage: It takes boldness to reach out in a broken world. Some times it is not convenient or you may be apprehensive. Join hands with the Apostle Paul who asked others to pray that he would have the courage to be a witness for Christ in his spheres of influence. A part of your daily bread might be your need for courage with your friends and contacts that need God. Love: No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends. Today, your need might be for a greater demonstration of love toward another. Or perhaps you do not feel very loved right now. Tell your heavenly Father exactly how you feel and ask Him to meet your longing. Strength: Sickness and injury is a part of the human experience. Stress and the pressures of life can take a toll on any one of us. There are times when we need a fresh sense of God s resurrection power pulsating through our veins.
Resources: Is it a bill? A debt? A job? Where are you feeling the pressure financially right now? Go to God with that need and ask Him to provide you with what you need to make it through this day. Relationships: God wants us to go to Him with the significant issues that have surfaced in your key relationships. Is there a broken or fractured relationship that needs mending? Are you hiding anger or bitterness over something in your relational world? Take those needs to the Lord in prayer. Discussion Questions: 1. What stood out to you as you read the article? 2. What principles from the article are you most challenged by and why? 3. What questions or reservations do you have about praying for daily bread in this way? 15 Facilitator Instructions: This is an individual activity. Encourage people to individually write out a Prayer to God. Ask them to use the categories that were mentioned in the article to frame their writing. They are simply asking God to provide daily bread for themselves and others by using those categories. This will not be something that they have to show other people. It is between them and God. Instructions: Your assignment is to write out a prayer to God. Use the categories that were mentioned in the article to frame your writing. You are simply asking God to provide daily bread for yourself and others by using those categories. Use this as a time to be real and honest with God. 5
5-10 Facilitator Instructions: Hopefully by now the group is becoming a little more comfortable with the idea of praying aloud. This is another opportunity for people to pray with others about their needs. Ask people to pray briefly so that several can enter into the time of prayer. Ask the group to focus on the kinds of things they wrote down which they are comfortable praying about in front of others. For example: Father, I want to ask for wisdom about Father, I want to ask that you would bring complete healing for Father, I ask that you give me courage to Father, in this relationship, help me to 5 Homework: Facilitator Instructions: Close out the session by highlighting the homework assignment and asking people to work with someone else in the group as a partner for the homework. Homework Assignment: This week, make it your goal to have two prayer times that focus on daily bread requests. If you are more comfortable writing your prayers, then use the prayer exercise as your template your time with God. Also, feel free to incorporate other aspects of the Lord s Prayer that you have learned about in this series.