Series: Dear God
Message: Daily Bread
Passage: Exodus John 6
INTRODUCTION – 5 MINUTES
What food could you eat as part of your diet, every day for a year?
Leader note: This is just a fun question to consider before you read about the Israelites eating the same bread, every day for 40 years.
OBSERVATION – 20 MINUTES
Read Exodus 16 and John 6:25-69. From the passages, what do you learn about “bread”?
Leader note: Ask the question, and then read the passages so your group can focus on what God is saying in Exodus, and then what Jesus is saying in John.
Commentary (some of the answers your group should find)
From Exodus
Bread came from heaven
God provided what they needed
Shelf life of his provision was one day – except for on the 6th day when it lasted two days so they didn’t have to gather on the Sabbath
Hoarding led to spoiled bread with maggots
They were to preserve some bread to “remember” how God provided for them
God provided every day for the entire 40 years they were in the wilderness
Reminded them God set them free from slavery in Egypt – remember…
From John
Bread for the Israelites in Exodus would sustain them for one day
Jesus is the bread of life – eternal sustenance
Eaten to remember Him and His provision
Reminder we are free from death, separation from God – remember…
Came from heaven
What are the similarities of “bread” in the two passages? And what are the differences?
Commentary:
Similarities
Came from heaven
Provided sustenance
A way to “remember”
Differences
Daily vs. eternal
One was literally eaten, the other is figuratively
UNDERSTANDING – 20 MINUTES
What are ways we ask for bread today? How do people misunderstand “daily bread”?
Leader note: Turn this into a discussion where everyone participates – not one on one with you. You can say, “Let’s open this up for discussion. When people ask God for ‘daily bread’, what are they usually asking for? What do they want from Him?”
Commentary: Two meanings may come up in the discussion – first, that we should pray for daily provision to meet our needs, and second, that Jesus would be enough to sustain us through any need. Encourage discussion around these two ideas.
Commentary: So often people use this part of the Lord’s Prayer to make a laundry list of things they want from God. “Rain down your blessings on me Lord!” They forget the first few lines of the prayer and jump right to this part where they use God as a supernatural vending machine. This doesn’t show dependence, it really reveals their desire to control. It could also reveal selfishness and greed, when God provides in abundance, they may hoard or store up their provision, which could show a lack of trust, trusting in the provision and not the Provider.
APPLICATION – 20 MINUTES
How have you been praying for “bread”?
In light of the first part of the Lord’s Prayer, and your understanding of “bread” now, how will you pray?
Leader note: Recap the first parts of the prayer:
Our Father
In Heaven
Hallowed Be Your Name
Your Kingdom Come
Commentary: When we recognize who God is, His place in our lives, and our relationship to Him, our prayers for provision, and the fact that His ultimate provision is enough, changes the way we pray, and the way we expect His answer.
What are ways you can remember God’s provision?
LIVE IT OUT
Where can we bring the promise of “bread of life” to those seeking daily bread?
PRAY
Pray through the Lord’s Prayer, contemplate and possibly verbalize the meaning behind each statement. As you pray for today’s daily bread, pray with your new understanding of the bread of life, and God’s provision.