Matthew 6:11 (NIV): “Give us today our daily bread.”
Every day God provided manna to the Israelites in the wilderness. And every new day He provided anew (except for the Sabbath – instead He provided twice as much the day before, so there was no lack). And every morning the Israelites had to trust God to provide for them, to actually go outside and collect what they would need for the day.
Many of them would have preferred for God to give them a week’s worth of manna all at once, or a month’s worth. That would allow them to not have to “worry” about their provisions until they started to run low. But God was not merely providing food for them; He was helping them to recognize and embrace their complete dependence on Him. He was teaching them that trust in Him and His provision was not supposed to be done only when supplies were running low, or in the hard times; it was to be an every-day attitude. The people were to trust Him to provide for them anew every single day.
Today people do not feel the need to trust in God as much. With paychecks coming weekly, twice a month, or monthly instead of every day, and large enough to last for a while, God’s people have grown away from their sense of dependence on His provision. (Unless, of course, the check is late or the job goes away!) With pantries and refrigerators and freezers, people are able to store up food for weeks, or even months. All of this has lessened God’s people’s sense of dependence on Him, their understanding that He even provided the food that is stored in their freezer. Not until some tragedy hits do they turn to God for help, and then there is fear and anxiety in their hearts, because they have not built , through long experience, an understanding of God’s ability to provide.
When Jesus included this line in His model prayer, He did it to remind God’s people that every good thing that we have comes from His hand. Every bit of food in our pantries and our freezers is God’s gracious gift. Every cent in our savings account is there because He gave it to us. If we will keep those things in mind every day, and every day ask God to provide what is needed (which is actually FAR more than mere food, shelter, and transportation if we are truly doing the work of the kingdom), it will help us to build a consistent mindset of dependence on Him that will unleash a continual flow of blessing into our lives.
Father, thank you for providing all that we need each day. Help us, Lord, to keep You right at the center of our focus, all day, every day, and to turn to You every day for all that we need. Give us today our daily bread. Amen.