My memory verse for this week is Matthew 6:11 "Give us this day our daily bread." It is simple enough to remember. I have been meditating on this verse to commit it to memory. My goal for 2021 is to memorize 52 memory verses: one per week. This verse has a special meaning for me because of the book I hope to publish this year. I want to unpack this verse today in a brief Bible study.
Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray. We have access to the Scriptures so we are learning how to pray as well. Jesus cautions in verse seven of the same chapter not to use vain repetitions when we pray. Prayer is a conversation we have with our Heavenly Father. It is not mysterious. It does not have to be a long conversation and we do not need to use big words and Jesus even says don't repeat the same things over and over. No one wants to talk to someone for a half hour and twenty minutes of that time is spent repeating the same phrases. Our Heavenly Father wants a real conversation from our hearts. When we pray to our Abba Father, speak clearly and honestly. He knows our thoughts and the intents of our heart. Nothing we say will shock Him!
Jesus goes through the different parts of prayer and when He gets to verse 11 it really got my attention. We are to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Why should we pray this specific request? What does it mean? What are we really asking when we say Lord, today give us our daily bread?
We should pray this specifically because it was important enough for Jesus to highlight when He teaches the disciples. We are in a heart posture of recognizing we need something that we cannot obtain without God, our Heavenly Father, providing it for us. It is not a want. It is not a selfish desire. It is a basic human need and we cannot get it without God. What is this need?
We pray, "Give us" because we lack something. "This day" is every single day we pray. The need is repetitive. It is not met in one prayer session one day once in a while. We need this from God every single day we live. "Our daily bread" is not just the food we put in our mouths. Yes He does provide food for His children. David said, "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread." (Psalms 37:25) God is going to meet your needs for food. He has done it for me time and time and time again. He never fails! But what else could it mean?
Matthew 4:4 reads "But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Our physical bodies require food to live, but we can live a while without food before our bodies are damaged and we waste away and eventually die. People fast all the time. In fact, in January many people begin the year with a 21 day fast, sometimes using methods Daniel used in the Old Testament and it is called the Daniel Fast. Others use those same 21 days to fast things they enjoy the most in an effort to grow closer to God. Fasting food is Biblical and is important for every Christian to do in some form or another. So if we do not need food to eat, why would we pray for daily bread?
Jesus said He is the bread of life. He said it twice in John chapter six. John 6:35 "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and He that believeth on Me shall never thirst." Does that mean that once we become a Christian we never want food or water anymore? No! Of course not. This is spiritual. Jesus is the sustenance we need for life. Without His spiritual food and spiritual drink we will die. We cannot live without Jesus! We need Him every single day. We need the daily bread of life!
Jesus says it again in John 6:51: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." This was such a hard saying that many of His disciples couldn't take it. They turned back and stopped following Jesus. They had learned so much from Him but when it came down to acknowledging Jesus as their source of life, they decided they wanted selfish desires more than a closer walk with Him. They would rather be comfortable in their unbelief and their religious rituals than to uncover the truth that would give them eternal life.
When we pray "Give us this day our daily bread," we are actually asking for a daily dose of Jesus. We are praying for more of Him. More of the bread of life and the living water that sets us free. We are asking God to give us more of what we need to survive in this spiritual war we are in and without it we will die! We need Him that much!
Jesus included this request in His example of how to pray. It is so important we take time to not only ask for our daily bread, but to take our time enjoying the bread. Take our time getting to know the bread of life. Jesus wants to reveal Himself to us in a special way. He wants to draw us closer to Himself. He wants a deeper relationship. We can communicate with Him every single day, all day long because He taught us how to pray. We do not need to repeat the same thing over and over, but we must ask for a fresh portion of the bread of life every single day we live.
I had a really crazy day! It was a doozie! But God sustained me. He kept fighting for me and reminding me of how to win, how to persevere, and how to overcome. I am ending the day bruised, sore, and a little tattered but I have the joy of the Lord down inside my soul and strength and peace that does not make sense. I am going to bed tonight feasting on the Bread of Life and I never want to go one moment without Him!
God bless you!
~Bridgett Owens
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