How to Pray (Part 5 of 9)

…Give us this day our daily bread…

Scriptures:

Matthew 6:9-11

“Pray, then, in this way: Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread…”

Philippians 4:6-7

 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

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“Give us this day our daily bread” is the start of the second portion of Christ’s model for prayer. In the first portion, Jesus taught us how to focus on who it is we are praying to. He taught that when we pray we are to pray to God the Father who is in Heaven and to put His interests before our own. We are to know that He is Holy and we must approach Him with reverence and humility. We are to look forward to the day when His Kingdom comes and that the conditions that are present right now in Heaven are present here on the earth. That is, His perfect Will is carried out by His creation with absolute obedience and child like faith.

At the onset of the second part of the model prayer, we are encouraged to make a petition regarding ourselves. It is very noteworthy that the Lord Jesus starts off with our physical needs first. He doesn’t focus on the spiritual or even forgiveness of sins first, but the physical. “Give us this day our daily bread.” The Lord knows that we need food and drink. He knows the limitations of our bodies. The Lord is not over spiritual, in that He only wants us to focus on spiritual matters, but is very practical and understands what it is like to live in a human body. He created us and He knows our struggles.

Practical Steps:

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, consider the Israelites, when they traveled from Egypt to Canaan, they needed God’s constant preservation. Unable to grow crops or raise cattle in the desert they came to learn the beautiful providence of God. This was shown to them by the daily provision of bread that was rained down to them from Heaven, we to must confess that the source of our daily bread is God Himself. God is in control and He is the source of all the food and water that we eat and drink. He is the one who created the seed. He is the one who causes it to grow and produce food for us to eat. Always ponder this truth when you sit down to have a meal. He is taking care of the whole world, including you. Both sinners and saints eat from the gracious hand of our God. Let us not worry about tomorrow. Let us only focus on today. Let us seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and all food, water, and clothing will be added unto us (Matthew 6:33). That goes for today, tomorrow, and beyond. When we pray “Give us this day our daily bread” it is God honoring because we are acknowledging that He is our source, sustainer, provider, and creator. We are dependent on Him and so is the whole world, whether they know it or not.