Luke 11:1-4 (ESV)
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
Having looked at the God-ward part of the Lord’s prayer the last two days, we turn to the man-ward part of the prayer. This part begins with a request for provision, “Give us each day our daily bread.” The pattern for us here, then, is that we ought to come before our Father in heaven and present our needs, request that He gives us that which we need for sustenance. In other words, it is okay to ask God to supply for your needs.
Notice though the specific words that Jesus uses for this part of the prayer – ‘each day’, ‘daily bread’. This hints to us that our prayers to God cannot be far between but must be offered regularly. If what Jesus taught is anything to go by, then we must pray each day and must trust God for the need of the day, the daily bread. This speaks of a daily dependence on God for our sustenance – bread signifies sustenance. Yet in a higher, more glorious sense, the bread here points us to the one who is more and better than the physical bread – Jesus, the bread of life. Therefore, just as one cannot do without bread (read food), we cannot do without Jesus. And as two portions of Scripture aptly capture the same:
_I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;_
_I have no good apart from you.”_ (Psalm 16:2)
_“Apart from me, you can do nothing.”_ (John 15:5)
Reflections
1. Is there a pressing need that you currently have? Ask God to give you what you need.
2. Have you been praying daily? If not, what do you need to do to make that happen?
3. How does the realisation that Jesus is better than physical bread affect your life and faith?
