“Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 5:11)
Many of us don’t know what it is like to live in reliance to just our daily sustenance. We may not be rich or well off, perhaps we’re even on a grocery budget, but praying for God to provide our daily bread is far from our tongues.
My friends tease me because I keep very little groceries in our house. We keep the minimum amount of food needed for 2 people, and we eat nearly all of the left overs so we don’t waste any food. And even in our home, if I didn’t go grocery shopping for a week, I’d still have enough food to survive. Sure we’d eat some weird meals, but I wouldn’t starve. I have a refrigerator and a pantry, and if I had to make bean burrito sandwiches and serve them with green olives, I could.
We as Americans really don’t know what it’s like to rely on God for our needs. I think when we can afford iPhones, cable TV, hair dye, and make-up; we’re a little out of touch of what “daily bread” really is.
Imagine for a moment you literally had no idea where your next meal was coming from. Not your next paycheck to make your car payment or credit card bill, but your next meal. As in you have so little, you don’t know what you will eat for lunch in 3 hours.
This is how Jesus is teaching us to pray. He’s teaching us to pray for manna, not for Costco. He’s teaching us to rely on Him daily, to look to Him to meet our need each day.
Proverbs 30:7-9 says:
“Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die:
Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.
Giving us abundance makes us self-sufficient. Giving us too little makes us beg, steal, and borrow. Giving us just enough makes us thank God and trust in Him.
Give us today our daily bread. Lord would you meet our need.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”
(Lamentations 3:24)
- What is the meaning of “daily bread”?
- What are some of the daily needs you have?
- In what ways do you trust God to provide? In what ways are you more self-sufficient?
Melissa Danisi 