Daily Bread

Matthew 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.

The prayer the Lord Jesus taught us is not a piece of religious recital. Nor is it meant to be a mundane and monotonous repetition over and over again under the guise of prayer. Nor is it a format and standard for one’s spiritual prayer. Rather, it conceals within a key to access the treasures of divine blessings. Every word is meaningful, full of divine revelation.

Give:

A prayer of asking the Lord who is the source of every positive thing in the whole universe. All that we had and have and will be having are all from God, the Creator of the universe. As a creature, we are bound to receive from our Creator all that are necessary. Perhaps, one might wonder, why the need in asking when one already has. Well, if this is meant to be a mere asking of physical things the case may hold true. But the emphasis here is in the “faithful dependence on God” who creates and provides to His children. The Lord wants us to depend on Him and have faith in Him every day for everything. So is the prayer, “give.” We all should trust the Lord, have faith in Him and pray all the time, trusting and depending on Him for everything.

Us and Our: 

A prayer in the Body for the Body. Our asking is not for ourself alone but for the Body. All that we do, and all that we are, are all for the Body. Even our prayer must be Body-centered. Our views, considerations, decisions all must be for the Body, as much as our prayers are. We pray as “Us” and for “Ours.”

 Today and Daily:

God is a God of all time; of the past, of the present and of the future. Whenever we pray, we pray in the “present tense”, praying for the need of the hour. Otherwise, it would be an anxious care and concern. We must live in the present and ask for what is needed today. In the usage of “daily” which is a constant and repeated occurrence, we are to always, constantly and repeatedly depend on the Lord for every need. Ever depending constantly on the Lord.

 Bread: 

The Lord revealed Himself as the “living Bread, true Bread, Bread sent from heaven, the Bread of life” in John 6. When He taught us to pray for “Bread” though it may also mean physical food and daily necessities, it much more means the daily necessity of ours for the Lord Himself as our food and means of spiritual livelihood. He wants us to live in Him, with Him and by Him. Christ is our Bread; we must pray to Christ to give us Christ every day. This is a very healthy prayer; to pray to Christ to supply us Christ as our daily Bread. This is synonymous to “living and walking by the Spirit” in Romans 8: 4, 6, 7-13 and Galatians 5:16, 25, “living Christ” in Philippians 1:21 and “praying unceasingly” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Two weeks ago, after enjoying this verse I ministered my enjoyment to a doctor couple who got baptized a year ago, to a sister who came to faith recently, to two sisters who are on the process of recovery into a normal Christian life and church life, and to a professional who was also baptized few months ago. They all were so nourished with the ministry of the Word, which is ever fresh, living and new.

The Lord’s word is a daily bread indeed, so eatable to all who hunger and thirst for Him. May our living be always in the principle of “Give us today our daily bread, Lord.”