Alms, Prayer, & Fasting 6:1-18
Our daily bread v.11
We’ve briefly looked at the first three of six petitions referencing God’s name, kingdom, and will. Now we’re going to look at our need for bread, forgiveness, and victory over evil. Daily bread comes first. If there is no bread there is no life.
I’m no Greek scholar (nor are you, probably), but with a little digging in a Greek lexicon or two one can come up with a pretty good idea of what “daily bread” referred to. First of all, bread and “physical provision” are relatively synonymous. Daily is a bit more elusive in that it could mean “sufficient bread” or “bread for sustenance”, but likely means “bread for this day and next”, enabling Christians to “be not anxious” about tomorrow. The Lord wants us to live free from worry when it comes to our physical needs.
This petition is a recognition of our vulnerability and dependency. It is not a passive request. Daily bread means daily labor — we’ve got to bend our backs. But we bend them dependent on God’s provision of life in the seed, fertility in the soil, and the faithful cycles of sun and rain. Without these we are food insecure, indeed we are in danger of death. So, as the lord incrementally metes out his provision, we declare “to God be the glory!”, and we seize the day.