Lord's Day 49

Whereas the first three petitions of the Lord’s prayer have focused our attention of the majesty and supremacy of God (hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom, thy will be done), the next three petitions turn to our personal needs in a community of faith. The fourth petition appeals to God for the disciples' daily bread, the necessities of life which include all of the believer's daily physical needs. 

What do we need for daily survival? There are things that each of us need for our daily continuance: food, water, shelter, health, etc. The Israelites, during their sojourn in the wilderness, learned to depend upon God for their daily bread, the manna or bread of heaven which fed them daily. Never did they hunger or want for food during their 40 years of wandering. The psalms remind us that God provides for His creation, you “give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things” (Psalm 104:27-28). Everything we need for our physical existence is provided from the hand of our heavenly Father. 

More importantly, God also provides for us our daily spiritual sustenance. Left to our own devices, we would fill our hearts and shape our spirits with the things of this world, following after lesser gods, chasing the desires of our hearts, never finding true satisfaction, eternal assurance, or spiritual fulfillment in this life. Knowing that, because of our sin, we have a God shaped hole in our lives, our loving Father has provided for us the real Bread of Life, Jesus Christ our Lord. He is for us the strength and provision we need to go through this life with confidence and hope for the life to come. As we daily feed on the word of God, we are nourished and strengthened as disciples who are growing in the likeness of Christ. 

To pray for God to “give us this day our daily bread” is both a humble acknowledgement that everything we have comes from God, and a bold statement of faith, trusting that our God, who has provided so completely in the past, will continue to sustain and bless us in the future. We will never need anything more than what God will provide for He has blessed us in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3).