DAILY DEVOTION, May 15, 2021, Bread

We come at last to that petition where we focus on our needs. “Give us this day our daily bread.” To pray for our daily bread may seem strange to us.  Most of us have enough food in the house to last for weeks. When we pray this petition, we are confessing our faith that whatever we have comes from God. Whether or not we always realize it or think about it, we do not know what a day will bring. Everything we have may be taken from us in a moment of time through some natural disaster or unexpected illness. We need to pray daily that God will meet our needs.

The word “bread” does not simply mean literal bread. Like ourselves, the Greeks and Hebrews used the word to refer to all our physical needs.  We sometimes refer to the one who earns a living for the family as the “breadwinner.”  Bread in that expression refers to all our temporal needs. When we ask God to supply our daily bread, we are asking Him to supply all our needs – – – food, clothing, shelter etc.

We make a drastic spiritual error if we fall into the trap of thinking we are self-sufficient, able to provide for our own needs. Yes, God gives us intelligence and strength so that we do work for our daily bread, but when we pray for our daily bread, we acknowledge that all that we have and all that we are comes from God. We are headed for disaster when we think too highly of ourselves and too little of the God who made us what we are and who provides for us.

There is one more aspect to praying for our daily bread we need to examine. What is the bread that we need most of all? Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” The bread we need most of all is to walk in faith daily with our Savior and Lord. If you have a living, vital relationship with Jesus Christ, you have everything you need. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are praying that the Lord Jesus would abide with us throughout the day. He is the “daily bread” we need most of all.

Father in heaven, I do thank you for providing my daily bread, for giving to me all that I need to function in this life and even blessings me beyond my needs. May I never forget that all that I have and all that I am comes from You. Thank You especially for sending Jesus, the bread of life. In His holy name, I pray, Amen.