Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11 ESV
Having properly oriented my heart to see and acknowledge the authority of my heavenly Father and seeking to align my desires to see His kingdom come and His will be done, Jesus now brings me to the point of the prayer where I begin to share my personal needs and requests before the Lord. The first of these requests is a recognition of my daily need for sustenance and provision. Jesus emphasizes in these seven words the necessary humbleness that should permeate my life in light of this all-powerful and caring Father that loves me and cares for me. Jesus is encouraging me to acknowledge my continual need for a provider. I am in need of my daily bread. Each and every day I am to pray, “give me this day… my daily bread.” And in humility, I am to come back to him over and over again with this same prayer. A daily request for the great provider to provide.
As I sit and reflect on this verse, I am humbled to realize how few times I actually pray this prayer. Not the whole prayer mind you, but this simple prayer of asking God to provide for my daily needs – today. I fall into the trap of thinking that I shouldn’t bring such simple requests before God. I convince myself that my daily bread is something that I myself can bring about and provide. It is true that God has gifted me with daily sustenance even without me asking, but I am missing something important in not acknowledging my daily need before the Lord.
Without this daily acknowledgment of God’s provision and my weakness, I can slowly convince myself that I am in control or I am the one who is the source of provision. Sure, I may give a word of acknowledgment when asked and I will surely confirm that God is absolutely in control of all things including my daily bread. Yet my actions do not match my convictions. There is a disconnect between my head and my heart. Over time this disconnect causes me to drift into waywardness and self-righteousness. This lack of seeing my daily need for provision will ultimately lead me to a place of self-reliance and self-justification.
I need this daily dose of medicinal truth. This medicine is meant to be taken daily for a reason. I listen to my doctor and follow her directions when she prescribed an antibiotic. Why is it that I find it so very difficult to follow this directive by my Savior? Why do I follow the prescriptive advice of a doctor but neglect the prescriptive advice of the Author of Life? I don’t see the need at times. I lose sight of the spiritual needs of my soul in relationship to the Father, Son, and Spirit. I do not care for my soul in a manner worthy of my calling.
Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength. This is the essential understanding that I need to carry forward. I look around and I see everyone seemingly thriving in this world. I let covetousness and pride cloud my understanding. What I need is exactly what Jesus is calling me to pray for in this verse. I need Jesus each and every day. I need him daily. I need him moment by moment. It is important to not only know this but to verbalize it in prayer. To acknowledge before the Lord my need for his provision today and then tomorrow I need to acknowledge this again. This is for the good of my heart and soul. It is for the good of my mind. It is to keep me in a place of humility before Jesus. It is to keep me close to him every day. To train my heart and mind to simply trust in Jesus and his provision, however he decides to best provide for me this day.