The Lord’s Prayer: A Loaf of Bread

Do you know what I love about family reunions in the South? There’s always plenty of food to go around. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s it seems like there’s always a party or family gathering with mass group emails about who’s bringing what to the dinner.

The sensational goodness of ham/turkey, dressing, casseroles, and all the other side dishes. My family designates an entire table just for desserts. It’s incredible! And there’s usually so much food that you see people rounding up their own dishes and scoops of others’ to make ‘to-go’ plates before they leave for home.

Speaking of New Year’s; there’s this tradition around our house that we eat several specialty foods on the first day of the New Year. Typically after a morning of hunting we gather around momma’s dinner table for pork roast, turnip greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread.

I’ve got to be honest, I’m not a greens and black-eyed peas kinda guy. I learned at a very early age to chip in and do my part with eating the traditional New Year’s meal so I wasn’t an outcast or an oddball with the rest of the family. But if there are greens or peas on the stove in March or October I’m probably just gonna walk on by.

However, there are some other requests that I will sprinkle in my mother’s ear throughout the year. Of course, my all time favorite is the breakfast menu for any meal of the day; biscuits ‘n gravy, sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs with a glass of chocolate milk. I’m already looking forward to Christmas morning. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray He said, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Have you ever thought about that phrase and exactly what it means? Give us this day our daily bread. Ask the Lord for His provision. Don’t treat special circumstances as an opportunity to find some genie in a bottle. Recognize God for who He is and routinely ask Him to provide for your needs.

Earlier in His prayer we saw God as our Father, King, and Master. He is our daddy longing to show His love toward us through having an intimate relationship with Him. As King, we recognize Him as being in heaven and sovereign over all creation. As Master, we learn to submit to His plan and His will for all that He’s prepared to unveil in our life.

Now we see Him as Jehovah-Jireh, our provider. He is fully capable of providing for His people as He’s proven time and time again all throughout the Scriptures. An open line of communication allows us to ask Him for His provision. And He’s glad to do it.

Bread is a necessity. He didn’t specify the type of bread like whole grain, sourdough, rye, or chapati. He tells us to make a simple request for bread. When we ask, God listens. He’s attentive to our pleas. We come to Him in desperation recognizing that He is our life-line of existence.

What does this bread look like? Our daily bread shows up in the form of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. God is providing healthy doses of bread to every part of existence.

God is willing to provide for us physically. He’s willing and able to meet our physical needs. Providing jobs, paying bills, putting a roof over our heads. He’s opening doors for us to enter into these moments grateful for His intervention and provision. He does so much to help provide the food, water, and shelter that the world says are necessary to nurture our physical well-being.

God is willing to provide for us emotionally. Our mental and emotional state is real. Depression is real. Loneliness is real. The pain of loss and heart break is real. We can’t downplay the reality of people’s mental and emotional pain. Sometimes God’s bread of provision comes through self-reflection, a counselor’s coping strategy, a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription, or the presence of a trusted friend.

God is willing to provide for us spiritually. The world with all its light of entertainment can still be a very dark place. The tug to chase our own desires is so enticing and strong. Yet can be so deadly. The bread of God’s provision enlightens our hearts and minds to the reality that we are lost, dying, and in desperate need of a Savior. We can be awakened and transformed when we experience the true Bread of Life.

What we must be sure we don’t do is see God as this genie in a bottle to serve our own selfish purposes and expect a bail out when we can’t provide for our own needs and desires.

It’s not just a prayer of provision, ‘give us this day our daily bread.’ It’s a way of life; a daily expectation that we’re asking Jesus to go before us into the day. Asking Him to scope out the lay of the land and provide us with the attitude, speech, faith, and possessions that we need to make much of Him in every circumstance of our day.

How do I know what to ask for? To know what to ask requires us to know what God has already said. Jesus combated Satan’s words of twisted truth with “man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” It’s not just about the daily provision; it’s about the ongoing relationship that’s being built with Him.

I’ll never forget this story my pastor made about this passage when I was a kid. We’re asked to pray, “give us this day our daily bread.” He asked, “How many loaves of bread do you suppose will be sitting at the table in heaven with your name on it when you get to heaven?”

He said, “Imagine seeing loads and loads of bread in heaven with your name on it. And when you ask, ‘God, what is this?’ He replies, ‘this was the bread of my presence and provision I was ready to give but you never asked.'”

What a sad day! Putting your life in your own hands while seldom asking the creator, provider, and sustainer of your life to intervene with the unlimited supply of heavenly manna from above to shape the path to His eternal presence. May we never be guilty of ignoring the ongoing work God desires to do in our life by providing the good gifts of His provision for His kids!

As we walk through our day, remember, Christ is our daily sufficiency. When we aren’t enough, He’s enough. When we can’t provide, He will provide. When we don’t know the way, He is the way. When we’re not sure of the truth, He is the truth. When we feel dead inside, He is the life. No one comes to the table but through Him!