It is worth noting, at this mid-point in the Lord's prayer, there is a significant change in focus with this phrase, 'Give us this day our daily bread.' It is a shift in pronouns. So far each statement has been about focusing on God and what God wants – ‘your name…your Kingdom…your will’. Now the focus shifts to us and what we need – ‘our bread…our wrongs…our temptation’. The first section focused on acknowledging God, the second set focuses on expressing our needs.
You do not get to ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ until you have first worked through the previous three statements. We can only really begin to rightly ask God for things once we have the right starting place, once we have a good foundation built on recognition of who He is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.
The first half of the Lord's prayer builds such a foundation. Especially when we first approach God as Father and King - this inspires confidence. Without confidence we will never really pray in the first place. If we have no confidence in the power of prayer, if we have no confidence in who we pray to, then why would we start to pray?
Shortly after Luke records Jesus teaching the Lord's prayer he reminds us of our confidence in asking God for our bread.
You do not get to ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ until you have first worked through the previous three statements. We can only really begin to rightly ask God for things once we have the right starting place, once we have a good foundation built on recognition of who He is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.
The first half of the Lord's prayer builds such a foundation. Especially when we first approach God as Father and King - this inspires confidence. Without confidence we will never really pray in the first place. If we have no confidence in the power of prayer, if we have no confidence in who we pray to, then why would we start to pray?
Shortly after Luke records Jesus teaching the Lord's prayer he reminds us of our confidence in asking God for our bread.
“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts ot your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” - Luke 11:11-13
Matthew offers a similar flow of thoughts. At the end of the same chapter where Matthew records Jesus' prayer, he talks about the extent of God's love and care for His people.
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:25-34
Certainly, there is a place for outright asking things of God, but it should be done in light of who He is and trusting in what He wants. We shouldn't make a habit of rushing to ask without first worshipping.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
- How do the first three phrases of the Lord's prayer prepare and impact your approach to praying for your 'daily bread'?
- Do you tend to spend more time worshipping God or petitioning (asking) God?
- If you reflect on the two passages - Luke 11 and Matthew 6 - how might you turn those into a prayer?