There are three things I would like for us to notice about this prayer.
- Give us this day our daily bread
- Give us this day our daily bread
- Give us this day our daily bread
First, much of the American Christianity is expressed and experienced from the perspective of the individual. The Lord’s Prayer doesn’t want any part of that. Remember, “Our Father…” And now, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Think about your prayer language, how much of our prayers are about us? My needs, my wants, my desires, my wishes, my hopes.
Jesus teaches us to take a broader perspective. The Christian life is lived in community. We were created for community. It is in community we will fully discover our place and role. So it is quite right that we pray “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Secondly, Jesus commands us to pray for our daily bread. Notice it’s not our weekly supply of bread, or our yearly need. We are commanded to pray for our daily need.
This is reminiscent of the feeding of the Israelites in the wilderness with manna. The manna was for the day. It was not permitted to grab more than what one needed for the day. You couldn’t save manna. You needed to go out every day to get what you needed for the day. Manna that was saved for later rotted.
God gives us what we need for the day. What God gives us for the day is to be used up and spent for that day.
Finally, bread. At the most basic level this is speaking about physical bread, the bread that we need for nourishment. At the same time, the bread Jesus offers us is a spiritual bread. This is the bread Jesus promised that once we taste of it, we will never hunger again. There is a spiritual hunger for meaning, purpose, and identity. We find that in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who can fulfill that longing and hunger.
So, pray every day: “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Praxis: Faith in Action 