Give us today our daily bread
9 ‘This, then, is how you should pray: ‘“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread. (Matthew 6:9-11)
As we approach the season of Christmas our stores of food seem to expand with more and more lovely things to eat, so that we might celebrate. The celebration is that the Saviour has been given to the world and that we can come into the presence of Almighty God.
In the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray – we are trained to ask for our daily bread. Let’s think what that means. Bread is not Bread Sauce for your turkey. It is just the bread. Jesus tells us to ask God for our necessities. But in England of 2025 why do we need to do this? We have local shops, and money, do we need to ask the Almighty for this tiny thing?
Look at the Lord’s prayer “Our Father” tells us He is in a relationship with us. Asking for his name to be hallowed is telling our own soul that we want to respect and treat Him as holy – reminding ourselves of his holiness and therefore to honour Him throughout our lives.
Asking for his kingdom to come tells us that regardless of our preferences and upbringing, we look to the Bible to see how God looks at the world, and we seek to bring about this kingdom.
Asking for his will to be done tells our souls that what He wants comes first in our priorities – think of the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ (Matthew 26:39).
Now we have put our mind in order – God provides for us, we agree that He is the source of all we need. True food, wealth and happiness come from Him. In the book of Proverbs, we are taught “give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” (Proverbs 30:8) Note that poverty might make us resent God, and that riches might mean we could forget God.
So, Jesus in the prayer is teaching us how to get our mind properly arranged instead of flatly presenting God with a shopping list of requests that we seek. We can now ask for things without being anxious as we are confident that God wants our best – He will not give us things that are not good for us.
There is a social element to the prayer too – for all to have daily bread we need a thriving economy, good employment and a just society. “Give us…” is not just me – it is for all of us. This is a prayer against wanton exploitation in business.
Those who would crush the poor for their own gain are effectively being warned to beware the intercession of the Church, because in answering us, God brings down condemnation on those who exploit others.
So, as you prepare for your celebration, remember you depend on God for all things, and that you are part of the wider movement for Global change which is the Church of God.
For completeness I include the last part of the Lord’s prayer
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:12-13)
Brian Leathers November 2025