GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD
“Give us today our daily bread…” Matthew 6:11
“Let your word feed and nourish me every day.” Again, we must read this in the context of Jesus’ whole teaching in Matthew 5-7. Prayer is not about needs, so what is this request all about?
The Hebrew mind would automatically connect this prayer with the concept of bread in the Torah. As the Israelites went through the desert into the Promised Land, there were two kinds of bread in their experience. “Daily bread” referred to the manna which they gathered in the wilderness daily, while the second kind of bread was the “showbread” which was placed on the table in the Holy Place in the tabernacle and eaten weekly by the priests.
The manna which they gathered daily, except on the Sabbath, appeared on the ground as hard seed like coriander seed which had to be pounded or ground into flour before they could cook it. Grinding it would release both its palatability and its nourishment.
God’s word is like manna. Its value is locked within the seed and needs to be worked before it releases its flavour and nourishment. Jesus is God’s word made flesh (John 1:14). He is our nourishment – “I am the bread of life” John 6:35. We must take time to “assimilate” Him.
Like the hard work it took to gather and prepare the manna for a meal, so it takes effort to gather the manna of God’s word and process it until it becomes part of our thinking and experience. There is nothing “instant” about feeding on the Word of God. This prayer is a plea for grace to gather the “manna” and take it in so that the Holy Spirit can nourish and energise our hearts daily with the Word.
The second kind of bread, the “showbread”, was placed on the table of showbread in the Holy Place for a week after which it was eaten by the priests serving in the tabernacle. This bread symbolises the nourishment we receive weekly when we participate in the teaching which our “priest”, nourished by the Word of God, in turn, feeds us – breaking open God’s Word as he understands and imparts it.
What are we praying when we ask for daily bread? We are asking for revelation truth about Jesus, whom the Holy Spirit will reveal to us as we open our heart to Him. John 16:13-15. Why do we need the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth about Jesus to us? Colossians 2:2-3. God’s word is the manna which we must process through prayer and meditation until the Holy Spirit unlocks its truths to our hearts and gives us insight into God’s heart for us and for the world over which we have an influence for the kingdom of God.
Secondly, we pray for our pastors to be open to the truth of God’s Word so that we, in turn, may benefit from the revelation he has received.