"Give us this day our daily bread"
(Matthew 6:11 ESV)
“Our daily bread”. It’s a familiar phrase. One we may hear or repeat frequently as part of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught. The danger with such beautifully simple and familiar verses is that we skim past them, overlooking the powerful tools they provide.
Earlier this year, I was caused to reflect on “our daily bread” when I heard someone share the strength it gifts them. For them, the verse refers not only to our literal bread of food or other material provision, but anything we might need on a given day - and so, the “daily bread” we request alters from day to day.
My heart recalled this reflection as I sat in church recently, praying the Lord’s Prayer. I had remembered that that very day last year, I had spent in the breathtaking Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, and although the calendar announced the same date in the year, my needs a year on were really quite different. Firstly, I was back in London worshipping at my home church. I was also cat-sitting for friends and planning landmark birthday celebrations for someone very dear. Preoccupations, circumstances and needs new and varied from a year before. My daily bread had changed.
Jesus guides us to pray: “give us this day our daily bread”, grasping that the need is daily. Also that the need is broad. He recognises our shifting emotions and changing circumstances. What is your daily bread? Maybe it is physical, emotional, relational or material, or maybe you cannot place your finger on it, but you feel simply out of sorts. The “daily bread” to which Jesus refers in his Sermon on the Mount applies to our whole lives: including your tasks for the day and any other matter coursing through your mind. It covers the things you understand and the things you do not. It even embraces the needs of which you remain unaware. This simple prayer responds to them all!
Next time you awake feeling quite different to the day before, or you veer through the passage of one week from happy to anxious or robust to vulnerable, or you know not what you need, remember that Jesus understands your moving landscape and is more than able to meet it. Trust that he knows the portion of bread we require, even when we do not, and simply ask: “Lord, please give me today my daily bread”.
Copyright © Sharmila Meadows 2021
Scripture quotations are from The ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Bonjour Sharmila,
Merci pour ce beau message sur nos besoins quotidiens. Je ne prie pas souvent pour mes besoins quotidiens, car je les pense souvent matériels, mais ton message me fait réaliser à quel point ces besoins sont larges et profonds, qu’ils soient spirituels, émotionnels ou relationnels.
Dear Readers, thank you for reading The Mission Post. What does "our daily bread" mean to you and has this post influenced the way you might view this verse? I'd love to hear your thoughts on "our daily bread" or how the Lord's Prayer ministers to you.