The Lord's Prayer: Give Us Daily Bread

Notes from Tuesday, October 14, 2003

by Pastor Brian Greene

Text: Luke 11:3 - "Give us day by day our daily bread..." (KJV)

Here we find the fourth principle in the Lord's Prayer which we need to master in order to have an effective prayer life. Notice the words "day" and "daily." Whatever definition of "bread" we use for this Scripture, we at least know that this bread is something to be taken on a daily basis.

Charles Swindoll once stated that "if a Scripture makes sense the way it is written, then it means exactly what it says." Therefore we see here that our Lord is encouraging us not only to ask Him for food during our time of prayer, but we should also ask Him to meet our daily physical needs. God is not only interested in our spiritual needs being met, but He is also interested in things which are important to us such as: clothing, housing, automobiles, education, health care, good friends, etc.

James tells us that we "have not because we ask not" (James 4:3). There is no physical need or desire too insignificant for which we should not ask our Father (source) in heaven to respond. And yet I believe that this Scripture indicates a deeper and richer principle which our Lord desires to impress upon all those would address our Heavenly Father in prayer.

It is during this portion of the Lord's Prayer that we should consider one of the often neglected disciplines of the Christian Life, that being The Discipline of Daily Bible Reading . Although it is quite clear that this scripture involves our asking for our natural needs, the definition of bread also let's us know that we should request the "bread from heaven" as well. (See: John 6:31-35) We are required to read, study, and meditate on God's word on a daily basis! (See: Psalm 1:1-3; Joshua 1:8)

In this text the word "BREAD" is the Greek word "ar-tos" means "that which nourishes." The word Nourish comes from the Latin word "nutrire" from which we derive our English word "nutrition." The following definitions are used to define the Latin word "nutrire":

1. "Promotes growth." (1 Peter 2:2)
2. "Builds up resources." (Psalms 119:71, 72)
3. "Provides energy." (Nehemiah 8:10; Psalm 119:111)
4. "Gives confirmation." (Psalm 119:28)
5. "Supplies the necessities of life." (Job 23:12)
6. "Keeps my mind and spirit (emotions) from giving way under trials and afflictions." (Psalm 119:49-50)
7. "Replaces any loss." (Psalm 107:20)
8. "Breast-feeds" me. (Hebrews 5:12, 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 > "walk like a man" > The immature Christian walks like a man, that is he conducts his life by following his human nature instead of his new godly nature.)

Therefore when we ask God to "give us day by day our daily bread", we are really asking: "Lord, daily give us that which will:

1. Promote our growth.
2. Build up our resources.
3. Provide us with energy.
4. Give us confirmation that we are doing God's will.
5. Supplies us with the necessities of life.
6. Keeps our minds and spirits (emotions) from collapsing under the weight of troubles and problems.
7. Replace (restore) any loss in life we incur.
8. Breast-feed us for at times we do need mothering."

I challenge you to make these eight requests to the Lord on a daily basis. The Holy Spirit will feed you Himself from the bountiful banquet table of God's Word. For He will make sure that your personal Bible reading time will never again be the same.