By Ben McEachenWednesday 5 Apr 2023The Lord's PrayerPodcastsReading Time: 3 minutes
Am I telling God what to do?
In many English translations of the Bible, “Give us this day our daily bread” sounds like a command.
A command we are directing at God.
In the fifth episode of limited series The Lord’s Prayer podcast, author and theologian David Hohne delves into the provocative request for provision.
As David explained to Hope Morning’s Ben McEachen, we should view this more as our cry of desperate need for God.
Less about bossing God. More about dependence, trust and perpetual gratitude.
The big idea
“Everything that sustains me is from the Lord” God through Jesus, David said.
“There is a spiritual question” underneath everything we have. This “daily bread” petition grounds us in it, leading us to recognition of and reliance upon God and Jesus Christ.
Also, this: Jesus is the “bread of life”. Think about it.
Talking points
- The “daily bread” petition marks a significant pivot point in The Lord’s Prayer.
- The first half of the prayer focuses upon God. The second half turns to what Jesus indicates we can “rightly pray for ourselves, in the light of those things”.
- Having established the centrality and importance of God, Jesus turns our attention to our physical, everyday need for God’s provision.
- David said the original Greek wording of this “daily bread” petition could be translated to indicate that we pray for tomorrow’s bread, today.
- Lifting our sights beyond bread or any other physical sustenance, David said the thrust here is more about calling upon God for everything we need now and forever.
- Consider Jesus declared he is “the bread of life” and “whoever eats this bread will live forever”. Then, go back to the “daily bread” petition in the Lord’s Prayer!
- “I think what Jesus is asking us to pray [here] is give us this day the bread that will preserve us into the future, everlasting,” David said.
- Given the spiritual dimensions of this request, David addressed the thorny issue of what we rightly can expect God to physically provide in the here and now.
- “Jesus’ original hearers easily could have gone hungry every day,” David said. “The real sharp edge of trusting in Jesus or being encouraged by him to trust our heavenly father’s promises, that we must always put our hearts towards them in spite of the circumstances.”
- “Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the poor.’ He doesn’t say, ‘Blessed are the rich’.”
- “Even if you don’t have as many resources as you feel that you need, God has got you in the resurrection of Jesus. So, we live righteous lives.”
Explore more
- Psalm 78 – Poetic reminder of God’s daily supply of “manna from heaven” to his people in the wandering wilderness.
- Psalm 104 – “All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.”
- Matthew 5 – “Blessed are the poor… “
- John 6 – After Jesus performs a “feeding miracle”, he points beyond “the food that perishes” to the “bread from heaven” that provides eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”
- John 11 – “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die… “
Let’s pray
Our Father in Heaven. Your name be honoured as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Encourage us to remember our reliance and trust in you for all that we have and will have. Inspire gratitude within us for the many ways you provide for us, daily. Fuel us to live now for the resurrection life to come, thanks to the ‘bread of life’ that sustains us forever. Amen.
Listen to the full Give Us Today Our Daily Bread episode in the player above or the video below. Subscribe to The Lord’s Prayer podcast.