Our Daily Bread

In stressful times it’s natural for us to worry, even though it does absolutely no good.

Furthermore, the Bible is full of passages that tell us not to worry but instead to trust in God (see Matthew 6:25, 37).

A phrase from the Lord’s Prayer recently helped me understand this better when we went through a stressful time as my father-in-law’s health failed.

In those verses that Jesus taught us to pray, we state the words ‘Give us today our daily bread’ (Matthew 6:11, NIV).

It occurred to me that the prayer does not say, ‘Give me adequate bread’ or ‘Never let me run out of bread.’ The emphasis is on daily bread—enough for the day at hand, and that day only.

The clear message is that we are to renew our relationship and our trust in God every day.

While times of anxiety will continue to occur for all of us, excessive worry separates us from God by focusing on the problem, instead of focusing on him.

The principle of daily bread is about seeking and trusting him anew every day.

Prayer: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ Amen