Lord's Prayer
5: Give us this day our daily bread

Read Psalm 33. Read verses 18-20 in unison and then thank God for his provision of our daily needs.

1. The first part of the Lord's prayer is about God but here we are encouraged to pray about ourselves. Do you find it encouraging that God cares about our daily practical needs?

2. What would you describe as basic human needs and why?

3. What did Jesus mean when he said, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God"? (Matthew 4:4) The American psychologist Abraham Maslow, who became a committed humanist, taught that only when a person's primitive needs (physical needs, security, love and belonging) have been met, will they be able to develop self-esteem, respect for others, confidence etc, and only then can they develop morality, creativity, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts etc. Do you agree with this? Do you feel that you have been held back by the lack of basic needs including love and belonging? Can God help us to overcome our problems even without us having all our basic needs met?

4. Can we truly pray "Give us this day our daily bread" without becoming concerned about the basic needs of people around us and around the World?

5. Oliver Cromwell said to his troops, "Trust in God and keep your powder dry." Can we learn something from this?