The Lord’s Prayer is recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. One portion of the prayer says, "Give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). This has a wide ramification. In the first instance, this request means that God would sustain us physically. The provision of the manna, which was given every day in the desert to the Israelites, is a recognition of the fact by our Creator, that food is a necessity for man. Thus, this great miracle was done by God. Exodus 16:4 “Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.” We recognize God as our provider and rely on Him to meet our daily needs. He is the one who makes our work fruitful and also meets our physical needs in miraculous ways.
Requesting daily bread is not only about physical provision. It can also refer to asking God to provide for our lesser tangible needs. In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Good parents provide not only what their children need for physical life, but also for practical, emotional, and relational needs. God is the giver of all good gifts as well.
In Deuteronomy 8:3, we are shown a bigger picture “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” John 6:33-35 “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” The Lord thus, provides the spiritual bread.
God has met our greatest spiritual need, forgiveness, and restoration, through Christ. Jesus calls Himself the "Bread of Life". Further John 1:4 states "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind". Jesus says He came to bring us abundant life. Not only are we saved for eternity, but we also experience a restored relationship with God now. We seek Him daily, and He renews us day by day. God sustains us physically and spiritually and also meets the less tangible needs of this life. He is the bread that satisfies our spiritual hunger. When we ask God for our daily bread, we are humbly acknowledging Him as the sole giver of all we need. We are exercising simple faith in Him to provide just what we need.
Thus, we are to come to God in a spirit of humble dependence, asking Him to provide for our physical and spiritual needs and to sustain us from day to day.
Dr Ashwin Drummond
Laddertoheaven.co.in