Week 4: Give Us This Day
Small Group Study Guide: The Lord’s Prayer
This study will explore the meaning and significance of the Lord’s Prayer, guiding participants to deepen their understanding and practice of prayer. Each session includes video teaching from Dr. Timothy Smith, scripture readings, discussion questions, personal application prompts, and a guided prayer to conclude your time together.
Session 4: “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:11; Philippians 4:19
Discussion Questions:
1. What does “daily bread” represent in this prayer?
2. Why does Jesus emphasize daily dependence on God?
3. How does this verse challenge our culture of self-sufficiency?
4. In what ways has God provided for you in the past?
5. How can we cultivate gratitude and trust in God’s provision?
Application:
As we pray for Father to GIVE us our daily bread, we recognize our total dependence upon Him. In praying this prayer each day, we begin to become aware that our whole life, no less than our daily bread, is a gift from God. Each breath we breathe, each beat of our hearts, are gifts received from our Father. So, with thanksgiving for His lavish goodness to us, we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
We pray for bread knowing that we are part of God’s wider human family. And so we pray, pleading with our Father to feed the hungry and care for the needy. And we pray, asking Father
how we might be an answer to our prayer for the world’s desperate people. How might we bless others out of our daily abundance? We ask, and then we listen…
Practice:
• Keep a gratitude journal this week, recording ways God provides for your needs.
Guided Prayer:
Pray together the Lord’s Prayer and then pray the prayer below:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.
“Gracious Provider, we thank You for meeting our daily needs. Remind us of our reliance on You and help us trust in Your faithful provision every day. As we journey through this week, may we be ever mindful of Your generous care, and may our hearts overflow with gratitude. Amen.”
For added enrichment consider singing the Lord’s Prayer or Listening to some artist singing the Lord’s Prayer.
Suggested Artists:
Andrea Bocelli-The Lord’s Prayer
Jon Guerra-The Lord’s Prayer