Luke 11:3 NKJV
Give us day by day our daily bread.
When a child is young, they are fully dependent on their parents in fact, their parents take care of everything and the little lad has no worry in the world. Soon enough, the young lad grows into a teenager and things begin to change. They no longer want to depend on their parents but rather they want independence. They want to find their identity as they struggle with peer pressure and every so often, they even feel embarrassed being seen with their parents. At this point, all they can dream of is moving out and finding independence, being their own man and like the prodigal son, if they had a similar opportunity, they would take it and rejoice.
Interestingly, things move in the opposite direction when it comes to our spiritual life. The more we grow spiritually, the more we realize how much we need God, and we no longer want independence from him but rather we want to be fully dependent on him every hour of the day.
When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, he told them to ask for daily bread, not a year’s supply or a month’s supply but a daily supply. This signifies of a relationship where we are fully dependent on God for our daily sustenance. We do not put our faith in our resources but rather on God because he is our father, and we are his children.
This also brings about another realization, God is ready to give us our daily bread, otherwise why would Jesus tell us to ask for something that God is not willing to supply? As children of God, we should never have to worry about our daily bread because God our father has the responsibility to provide it for us. But even with this, remember without faith we can never receive anything from God.
No wonder Jesus would tell us,
Matthew 6:25-27
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [j]cubit to his [k]stature?
But even with that, remember also that Jesus told us that man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He has provided the spiritual food that we need and when we take it then everything in our natural lives aligns to God’s plan.
Reflective Thoughts
What’s your favourite food?
What does depending on God for your daily bread look like to you?
When you know that God is your source, and he can never run out, then when he tells you to give, you give freely. How freely do you give?
