Give Us Our Daily Bread

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                            Give Us Our Daily Bread

                                                       By Mae Shurow

Kay Arthur (1982) said:
"Prayer shows your total dependence upon God, for you are to go to Him asking for the supply of your daily needs. Thus, a major precept of prayer is asking. God has promised to ‘supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 4:9)."
"To try and have your needs met apart from seeking Him is to end up in a state of internal war, finding yourself riddled with lust and envy, with your pleasures waging war in your members (James 4:1-2). To try to have your needs met apart from trusting in God is to end up in quarrels and conflicts with others (James 4:1). To try to have your needs met independently of Him is to deny your need of Him and His promises (Phil. 4:19). To go to others for help instead of to your Father is to live a life of woe (Isaiah 31:1), to be cursed. For, ‘thus says the Lord, Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and
whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness…’ However, those who live in total dependence upon God have this promise in:

Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Why, oh, why will we not humble ourselves, get rid of our pride, and realize that apart from Him we can do nothing, not even supply our own needs? (Day 23).

All our needs are supplied in Christ Jesus—physical, emotional, spiritual. He is the Bread of Life, and the Living Water. He is Husband, Friend, Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty Fortress, Rock of Ages…

Matthew 6:11 says, "Give us this day our daily bread." The bread spoken of here is nourishment in general. I believe it speaks of both physical and spiritual nourishment! We do need to ask for food for our physical sustenance, without it we will die. But the Bible is clear that we also need spiritual nourishment. Without spiritual nourishment, we will perish.

· Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. .

· 1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Jesus used physical metaphors to explain spiritual truths many times. One clear example is:

· Matthew 16:6-11 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

Bread: metaphorically meaning the bread from heaven, i.e., that divine spiritual nourishment presented as the life and soul of Christians in the person of the Son of God (John 6:31–58, particularly vv. 51–56; hence compared with manna in vv. 49, 58)” (Zodhiates, 2000, #740).

“What man needs is more than healing of the body, or restoring of the soul. He needs the impartation of Life into his spirit, his inner man. In order to abide in the Living Christ one must be alive in spirit. This presence of Life in the inner man is absolutely essential. We need more than a touch from God; we must have God Himself. There is an ocean of difference between receiving the blessing and receiving the One Who blesses; between getting a touch and receiving the One Who touches; between healing and the Healer; between redemption and Redeemer; between salvation and Savior. The former deals with what God has or can do, while the latter deals with God Himself” (Brogden, ¶2).

· John 6:31-35 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

“Jesus had just multiplied the bread and the crowd was thrilled. Give us to eat of this bread evermore, they said. Please hear what I am saying. It is good to be fed, to have the bread and fish multiplied before your eyes, and to take up the basketfuls that remain. This was indeed a miracle. But the things Christ gives you and does for you will never satisfy you. Only He alone can satisfy. They ate of the loaves, and were filled, yes. For a time. After a little while the hunger came back again, the stomachs began to growl, and they had to seek Christ for bread all over again. This pattern would fain repeat itself for ages. So Christ offered them more than another meal; He offered Himself as the final solution and fulfillment of all they hungered for.

The simple, beautiful truth of this passage is that we must receive Christ into ourselves, digesting Him so to speak, and thus uniting with Him. For he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Obviously the physical Christ could not be received, as the crowd pointed out. How then do we receive Christ? May I say it reverently? The Holy Spirit is Christ in a receivable form. The physical Christ can multiply the loaves and fill our stomachs; but the Spiritual Christ can satisfy us with His Presence. This is why He said, It is expedient for you that I go away... but I will come again…As a Man we could only behold Him, as Holy Spirit we may receive Him; as a Man He could give us to eat; as Spirit He becomes our food and drink, our life and sustenance” (Brogden, ¶7).

John 6:50-58 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Many of the his disciples said this was a hard saying, who could understand it? Jesus tells them that he has been speaking of the spiritual and not the physical in:

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

And because they could not understand on this spiritual level:

John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

He Himself is our nourishment. Many of us don’t know how to let Him be our nourishment. We think it’s way too hard to understand. He gives us His flesh to eat, He provides Himself as sustenance, but when we don’t know how to partake of Him on a spiritual level, the result is we don’t have the understanding or strength to follow, and many turn back and walk no more with Him.

The Bible tells us He provides everything we need to follow Him. By His provision, He gives grace, understanding, knowledge, strength and power.

2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Ephes. 1:17-20 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
2 Cor. 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
Col. 1:9-11 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

Let us pray for our daily Bread. Let us trust Him to provide everything we need to follow Him. Let us pray that as He provides it, we will recognize it, understand it, and partake of Him so that we may be strengthened by His glorious power!

Ezekiel 2:8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
Philip. 3:8-9 …That I may win Christ, And be found IN HIM, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is OF GOD by faith:
Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

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Arthur, K. (1982). Lord, Teach Me To Pray In 28 Days. Harvest House Publishers: Eugene,
Oregon

Brogden, C. (2003)Eat My Flesh. Retrieved June, 2003 from
http://www.watchman.net/articles/flesh.html

Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament
(electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers