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Give us our daily bread
Updated: Feb 26
One of the lessons Jesus taught in the model prayer was that we should not worry about tomorrow, but we must maintain a clear focus on the duties, tasks and obligations of the day. That is, believers must strive to be present in every moment, maximizing all the opportunities given to them one day at a time. In Matthew 6:11, The disciples asked Jesus, "Teach us how to pray." In asking this question, they probably understood, by revelation, that they had been praying but possibly incorrectly or unproductively. They had the pleasure of witnessing Jesus do mighty miracles that were activated by the power of prayer.
One thing is clear, they desired to be effective in their prayer life by following the precedent set by their master. And in response, Jesus told them in part to ask the Lord to give them their daily bread. In this case, the word 'bread' refers to Christ because, in John 6:35, Jesus defined himself as the bread of life. So put together, this can be re-worded to say, 'give us our daily portion of Christ.' We can also say, 'give us grace sufficient for the day.' Or better still, 'Give us the I am who I am continually.' Essentially, they were required to ask in prayer that the Lord should be made manifest in their lives eternally by establishing his kingdom in the earth as it is in heaven. It was a call to the chief shepherd from his sheep who would otherwise never know the way to life. Faithful to this prayer, the Lord answered at the cross of calvary, where Jesus conquered the grave, following which he sent us his Spirit, who guides us into all truth and shows us how we ought to go. To this effect Jesus said, "I no longer leave you as orphans ..." (John 14.8) ...but I will send you the Holy Spirit, who will guide you into all truth."(John 16:13) The truth is Christ, for he said I am the truth, the way and the life. (John 14:6) So the Holy Spirit keeps us in Christ Jesus as he tells us everything he has heard from Jesus. In other words, he gives us our daily BREAD.
This is why you should not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will worry about itself. (Matthew 6:34) Put your trust and confidence in the Holy Spirit, who guides you daily, and stay focused on today's bread and instruction. Do your best today; be kind today, be generous today, worship today, pray today, walk away from sin today, and praise God today. Don't wait to do tomorrow what you can do today. You will live your best life possible by listening to the Holy Spirit's instruction and maximizing every moment one day at a time.
Well, someone may be saying, "I want to maximize my opportunities so how do I partake of this bread?" Let's make a date same time next week.
NEXT WEEK - How do we partake of our daily bread?
