Our Daily Bread

After we have prayed for His will in others, we should also pray for our own needs. The way we pray for our own needs, though makes a different.

First, notice that we pray for our bread.  Bread is not cake, neither is it a five course gourmet meal. We pray for simply bread, not because our Father is unwilling and incapable of giving us a feast.  On the contrary, He loves to lavish riches upon us!  The fact that God often gives us feasts indicates His generosity.  We will all sit together at the wedding Feast of the Lamb one day.  No, we ask for bread because we understanding the corrupting power of human appetite. The more we feed our flesh, the more our flesh desires.

Second, notice that Jesus says “daily” bread.  Unless we are fully committed to Him, then the dailyness of God’s provision will never make us happy.  In the Old Testament,  God fed his people daily with manna every day, and did not allow them to store it up for the next except for the Sabbath,  so they would be constantly dependent upon His guidance and provision. 

Third, notice that it is “our” bread we ask for, not someone else’s. God’s blessings are not a “zero sum game.”  Just because He has given to one, does not mean that he cannot give to another. 

We can receive daily from God, and give daily to others, because God is not stingy with His gifts. They keep coming. We have no need to be jealous of what others have, because God gives us such bounty as we need. 

Father, thank you that we do not have to worry about anything, because You are providing from Your children with great bounty.  Give us what we need today, so that we may give today to those who need it more.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.