It has been said that the Lord’s magnificent prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) starts and ends on the highest of mountain peaks. It begins with our Father in heaven glorified and finishes with His kingdom and glory. In between, however, we take a journey into the valley where all of us live...into the lowland of human need. We start the prayer with God, we end the prayer with God. But between those two majestic summits are the concerns we deal with every day—our need for right priorities, for protection, for provision.
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This is what Jesus has in mind when He instructs us to pray for our “daily bread”. By this point in His prayer, our Lord says it's time to ask. We have praised God for who He is and oriented ourselves to His kingdom rule. Now He tells us to ask. What exactly does He mean?
Dependence on God
By instructing us to pray for our daily bread, the Lord reminds us that, regardless of our place in life, we all depend totally upon God for the daily supply of our material needs. Of course, we depend upon Him for everything—for breath, for life, for companionship, for emotional support, spiritual guidance, for vision, for hope—but here He focuses primarily on our physical needs. At other times He would say things such as, "Man shall not live on bread alone" (Matthew 4:4) or of “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35); but here in this great prayer He has in mind the physical necessities of life, represented by bread.
Psalm 104 is a magnificent hymn that praises God for His sustaining work throughout the earth.
God sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains; they give drink to every beast of the field: the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they lift up their voices among the branches. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. He causes the grass to grow tor the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine which makes man's heart glad, so that he may make his face glisten with oil, and food which sustains man's heart. The trees of the LORD drink their fill the cedars of Lebanon which He planted, where the birds build their nests, and the stork, whose home is the fir trees. The high mountains for the wild goats, the cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers…the young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
(Psalm 104:10-21)
All of these creatures—donkeys, cattle, birds, goats, rock badgers, lions, humankind—depend upon God every moment of their lives. As the psalmist says, "They all wait for Thee, to give them their food in due season. Thou dost give to them, they gather it up; Thou dost open Thy hand, they are satisfied with good. Thou dost hide Thy face, they are dismayed: Thou dost take away their spirit, they expire, and return to their dust” (Psalm 104:27-29).
If for one minute God closes His hand or for one instant doesn't provide we are all in trouble. God is the One who ultimately feeds the mouths of all mankind. It doesn't matter which mouth it is or where the mouth is located; if it gets filled, God is the One who put the food there.
This article is an excerpt from Prayer the Great Adventure by Dr. David Jeremiah.
This book offers a step-by-step approach through the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), the same prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray. With gentle, practical guidance, Dr. Jeremiah shares his own story of learning to pray out of desperation, inspiring you to find the same urgency and intimacy in every stage of your glorious walk with God.