“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Greg Nixon says:

This reminds me of George Muller, who over his lifetime cared for many thousands of orphans in Bristol during the 1800s. There are many stories of God’s daily provision, and of George’s prayerful and daily reliance on God to provide for their daily bread – at times down to the minute. On one day when they had run out of food, the children waiting at breakfast, George prayed and thanked God for the breakfast He was confident God would provide; there was a knock at the door, and a baker was standing outside with a big loaf of bread – having been prompted by God the night before to bake more than usual and bring it to George!

Liz Nixon says:

When I pray this short and simple line, I’m reminded that we are encouraged to ask for what we need for today. Later, Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, for today has its own cares. Both of these verses focus on today, the here and now rather than the future. And I think that’s a really good place to live!

It encourages me to make the most of the generosity God has shown me in my life by being thankful that I do have so much and by being generous to others. It’s important for me to remember that everything I have comes from God and that depending on Him for all things in life, whether it’s the essentials, the luxuries, the small things or the big things, is how I want to live each and every day. This line inspires both gratitude and dependence on God within my prayer life.

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

This week’s thoughts are from the Watts family - parents Jen and Rick with children Abbie and Nathan.

Jen says:

In other words, give us what we really need for today, not a weekly shop with luxury extras. We are to depend on God daily to meet our needs. He desires us to live in the kind of relationship where we depend on him and look to him to fulfil our needs.

I think it’s important to note that this section doesn’t come until after the first couple of lines. We are to dwell on God, his nature and get fully into his presence before we make our requests. If a friend contacted you out of the blue with a short message that read ‘I need a new car, now.’, you’d think that was extremely rude. If you wouldn’t speak to a friend that way, then we definitely shouldn’t approach God, the most powerful being in the universe, this way. We are also to be mindful about whether we truly need something before we ask for it.

Imagine a child running into the oval office to ask their dad (the president) something. If it’s urgent, they have the right to interrupt the president as their needs are hugely important to him. However, if they keep barging in asking for something that can wait or is really unimportant, then that’s not going to go down well. Of course, God is the ultimate father and infinitely more gracious and patient than any earthly parent, but he is also worthy of the highest level of respect.

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Lizzie Jackson writes:

To me this is a reminder of God’s provision, something I will never fully grasp but he has definitely spoken to me about recently. To me, believing that God will provide is not just to say so before getting on with your daily life, but to actively prioritise God, knowing that your earthly needs will be accounted for.

I am currently studying for mid-term exams. This year of medical school is the year that study leave disappears. Our lectures now go right up to the first exam. Gone are the days of 4 weeks off to study. I know that I could block out all hours of the day for studying and cancel all other responsibilities, it might be an impressive work ethic but would it really be glorifying God? Its important to give time to other things- even though it might mean getting lower grades.

My instinct says that’s an excuse for being lazy, but its quite likely that this desire to study all day doesn’t come from a work ethic but a fear of failure, a lack of understanding that my career really is in God’s hands. Full marks is not necessary for me to be able to live out God’s purposes and would only really benefit my ego. At that point I’m using my time to worship exam success rather than God because I’m not trusting in his provision.

When reading Ecclesiastes in the Summer, God really spoke to me over Ecclesiastes 5:19-20. “God keeps them occupied with a gladness of heart!” Are we working down to the bone when we actually don’t need to? We could be trusting in God’s provision that the money lost from taking on a morning’s volunteering wont change his promise to provide. The sheer simplicity of that verse strips back the stress, the worry, the demands and tells us to enjoy our day to day.

Does my life look different to the lives of those who don’t believe there is a God providing for them? Why not? Where can I commit my needs to God and take a leap of faith? I think it’s time for me to cook dinner for my family more often instead of always studying into the evening and when I catch myself worrying about a mid-term exam, lifting my eyes back to God so he can put it into perspective. He knows what we want and what we need and he promises to provide when we serve him first.

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Dan Green writes:

Bread is a source of some frustration in our household. No matter how much of it Karen seems to buy, it just seems to keep running out or going mouldy in the bread bin!

The regularity with which we need to buy bread should be a good reminder of just how much we depend on it. It’s so easy to forget this though, when a 5-minute walk from our front door can get us to the bread aisle in Aldi, Co-op, Tesco or a handful of other shops too! In Jesus’ day, and even today in many parts of the world, it’s a different story of course. People rely on bread to stay alive, and they don’t take its availability for granted in the way that we do.

So as we discussed this line in the Lord’s prayer over dinner together (which included bread of the naan variety by the way, alongside a delicious rice and daal special!), it reminded us of two things: to be grateful for the abundance that we have, and to keep depending on God for all the things we need, not just the ones we eat. As Noah pointed out to us, what if bread isn’t just physical or literal, but might be a picture of something else… like love? What if we read this prayer more like ‘give us today our daily dose of love’?

Let’s keep looking to God and depending on Him for all that we need today.

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Joanna Moss writes:

When reflecting on this verse, it’s tricky to not immediately think about food. In a society where, for the most part, we live in an abundance of food, the need to depend on God to provide ‘our daily bread’ can get a bit lost behind…well, behind our piles of food. In the comfort of my own food security, I am prone to forget the grace of God’s provision over me as well as feel uncomfortable at the contrast of my plenty to others lack. For myself, Andrew and Laura, we recognise the tension of feeling blessed for what we do have, whilst also knowing that for many there isn’t enough.

As we thought on this, we were reminded that we are told to pray for ‘our daily bread’: the context of the Lord’s prayer is community. Andrew highlighted in our discussion that as we each wrestle with local and global inequality, this verse is a reminder to steward what we have been given carefully but also with generosity. To not hoard what we don’t need, but to see where we can be God’s hands and feet in providing daily bread in our own community.

Of course, this verse goes far beyond just our physical provision. In praying for ‘our daily bread’, there is an all-encompassing-ness to it as we are asking to receive everything we need for the day ahead - strength, wisdom, grace, patience, resilience, increased capacity, (fill in your blank here). That’s not to say that everyday suddenly becomes easy and stress-free, but more that in trusting God to provide what we need, we don’t have to fear scarcity, strive on alone or worry about having enough left over to survive tomorrow as well as today. We can trust that God will give us what we need for today and what we need for tomorrow too, but not until tomorrow. For me, there is freedom in that revelation but also a struggle. I am typically reluctant to ask for help and would rather rely on my own capabilities. But this verse reminds me that I can and should be daily asking God for what I need, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.

For Laura, she shared how she sees this outwork in her own life. When she starts the day trusting that God will give her everything she needs emotionally her day goes a lot better because she knows that God has given her everything she needs for it. Instead of relying on our own emotional capacity and resilience, she can work out of God’s.

In all this, I am made aware that I don’t truly trust that or live as though God can provide me with all I need for each day. As I try to get better at asking God daily for what I need, I want to also be mindful of the things or people I am relying on instead of God.

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Bern Leckie writes:

This one sounded straightforward but was complicated by Ocado.

I know this isn’t everyone these days but, I confess, we are a “big shop” family. Sorry about that. As you look for somewhere quick to pay for your handful of necessities, we are the people you might get stuck behind with our two trolleys, piled with family meal ingredients, random treats and bulk buy bargains to keep for ages, just in case, and a small boy joyously hopping among the lot.

Or rather, that was the pre-pandemic routine. Now it’s fewer people picking up the same stuff (or more, because “just in case” covers more dreadful possibilities now) or, if we feel it’s justified once in a while, booking a precious delivery slot and stocking up on luxuries we can only get from the posh van service, like we did on Valentines Day.

To be clear, we are amazingly grateful for the ability to do this. But when there is more than a week’s worth of everything at home, it can feel guilt-inducingly weird to me to pray for daily bread.

So, this is where the prayer took me. What are the down sides of stocking up and feeling comfortable? I was briefly reminded of the foolish man who piled up his stuff to retire but died in a poverty of love towards anyone else. I don’t think that’s us. I really don’t want it to be!

But even if that’s not who we are, I think there is a danger that without a daily reliance on God, knowing that we really need continual supplies from him to survive, our comfortable insulation can remove our sensitivity to what he keeps giving us, how he keeps loving us, and how he might be guiding us. We might even fool ourselves that we are doing fine providing for ourselves.

Jesus talked about bread, and provided it, but also showed that we need more to survive. We discussed this and realised that Jesus wasn’t guiding his followers into holy poverty but into an everyday reliance on God for all we need, including his life-bringing word. Jesus lived on that in the desert, and we can too.

The practical conclusion? We need to keep praying this every day. Jesus gives us this pray to keep us coming back, not to stock up on holiness for a week or more. And we want to grow in love and generosity, because “our stuff” isn’t really our stuff, it’s what God has trusted us to look after for our neighbours as well as ourselves. (Ask if you need anything!)