Our Daily Bread
God is utterly reliable, a keeper of his word, and the giver of good gifts who will never fail us.
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).
This is such a simple request, but as is often the case with the most simple truths, it is more profound than we first might recognize. Simply put, this is a prayer for our material needs to be met. It is a request that God would meet the needs of the day on the day–no more and no less.
But that no more and no less is where we begin to see the depths and riches of this little prayer.
No more means that we are not asking God to provide for us anything he has not promised to provide for us. We are easily tempted to ask him for riches, comfort, and security in material things. We want assurance that tomorrow, next year, and the rest of our lives will be safe, secure, and easy. But in this prayer, Jesus is teaching us to trust God for precisely what we need today. He is showing us God’s present care and goodness over our circumstances.
No less is a bit more subtle, because it refers to settling for less than what God offers. He offers everything we need, everything that is good for us, yet we settle for seeking security in things that are infinitely less trustworthy than Him–bank accounts, employment, relationships, etc. In God’s perfect economy, when we trust him today for our needs and take confidence in that, little as it may be, it is more than all the material goods or earthly comforts we could otherwise put our trust in.
In teaching us to pray this way, Jesus is implicitly reminding us that we are utterly dependent people who must turn to our Father in Heaven to meet our needs. And he saying that God is utterly reliable, a keeper of his word, and the giver of good gifts who will never fail us.
Believing and enjoying this!