The Lord's Prayer--Fourth Petition

Give us this day our daily bread.

Of the seven petitions in the Lord’s Prayer, only this one speaks to the needs of our bodies; the other six petitions address the health of our souls, our relationship with God, and our relationships with each other. Obviously, Jesus wants the bulk of our prayer life to be focused on the spiritual and relational, as opposed to spending much of our time worrying about material things. Indeed, Jesus taught His disciples: do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' For the unbelievers chase after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:31-22).

However, Jesus also devoted much of His attention to the physical needs of His followers. Following a sermon given in a remote area, He fed over 5,000 people who were far from home, using a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. He healed a woman who had suffered from continual bleeding for 12 years. He gave sight to a man who had been blind from birth. And He taught us to pray give us this day our daily bread.

Since this petition is the only one that speaks to our physical welfare, it must therefore include every blessing that we need for earthly life and comfort. In the Catechism, Luther lists what this all includes: "food and drink, clothing and shoes, house and home, land and cattle, money and goods, a godly spouse, godly children, godly workers, godly and faithful leaders, good government, good weather, peace and order, health, a good name, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like." The fourth petition is a prayer for everything that we need to live our lives here on earth.

A farmer came to his pastor during a dry spell and said, "Pastor, it’s been dry for a month now; we ought to have a prayer in the church service for rain." While there is nothing wrong with praying for such things specifically, that farmer had forgotten that in the Lord’s Prayer, the congregation was already praying for rain. Give us this day our daily bread is a prayer for rain when the fields are dry, and a prayer for sunshine when the fields are muddy. It’s a prayer to God for the kind of weather that we need so we can have our daily bread.

This petition is a prayer for the necessities of life. It is not a prayer for luxuries or riches—Jesus taught us to ask for our daily bread, not our daily cake or pie. It is easy to become obsessed with things that aren’t really necessary—this is called greed, and is something that God repeatedly warns us against. Jesus said, watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15). Writing to Timothy, Paul offers the following words of wisdom: godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:6-10).

There’s a story about a foreign tribe that would give any person all the land he wanted, provided that he could completely circle his claim on foot between sunup and sundown. A middle-aged man, who had a comfortable home and was making a good living for his family, sold all that he had and traveled to this distant country. As the sun rose early in the morning, he started walking. He was about to walk around a beautiful farm, when he saw a glistening lake filled with fish just a short distance beyond. He adjusted his course to include the lake in his circle, but on the far side he found a woods filled with trees just perfect for logging. He had to include that. As he rounded the far end of the woods, he found a large pasture filled with grazing cattle; he had to have that too. Suddenly it occurred to him to check his watch. It was already past noon! According to the tribe’s offer, he could have whatever land he had walked around before the sun set. But on the way back he came upon another tempting farm; he couldn’t let it slip through his fingers. By now the sun was low in the sky. He started to push himself; soon, he was running. Now the sun was touching the horizon. Onlookers stood rooting for him as he urged each aching muscle for a final sprint to his starting point. Just as the sun set, he made it. All the people cheered. Then he promptly suffered a massive heart attack and sank to the ground, dead. The tribe gave him all the land he could use—a plot measuring six feet by three.

This is a parable. Yet don’t you know people just like this man, people who drive themselves to sickness and death because they always want more? They have not learned that happiness cannot be bought or won, it only comes from within. Money and possessions cannot guarantee peace or happiness; all they give your life are more things to worry about! How will my investments hold up in this economy? How can I afford the payments on my big house? Wealth and material goods can easily distract us from our Lord, who in the First Commandment tells us that He is to have first place in our lives. In Colossians chapter three, Paul equates greed with idolatry, the worship of something else besides God. Jesus said to his disciples, I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23).

But Jesus tells us to pray for our daily bread, because having too little can be just as much a problem for the soul as having too much. Wealth tends to make people feel that they can take care of their needs without having to lean on the Lord for help; poverty, on the other hand, can lead people to become bitter and curse the Lord for their situation. This is why Proverbs chapter 30 offers us the following prayer: LORD…give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, `The Lord? Who's that?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. This attitude is exactly what Jesus looks for in our hearts when we pray give us this day our daily bread. Give us what we need for a happy life—enough to eat, a safe place to sleep, the love of family and friends, and good health—not too much or too little, just enough that we can live and be satisfied.

Give us this day our daily bread is also a prayer to free us from worrying. Jesus did not teach us to pray "give us this week our weekly bread" or "give us this month our monthly bread." He taught us to pray for today’s bread because He doesn’t want us fretting about a tomorrow that hasn’t happened yet, but to live in the now that He has graciously given us. Continually worrying about the future wears us down. Worrying about today, tomorrow, next week, and the coming month all at the same time; it’s just too much—it’s mentally exhausting. Trying to live too much in the future robs you of today’s joys, and can cripple your ability to get anything done by splintering your attention among too many things.

It is not wrong to plan for the future. A wise college student declares a major and then chooses classes accordingly. A wise administrator sets yearly goals for the company and then works with the employees on ways to achieve those goals. What Jesus warns against is worrying, because to worry is to fear that things are going to go horribly wrong, and you have to figure out how to protect yourself in advance. In Romans chapter eight Paul assures us, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love [Him]; when we worry, we show that we don’t really believe this promise.

Give us this day our daily bread is a prayer that reminds us where everything good in our lives comes from. It is God who gives. It is God who causes plants to grow, and who placed minerals in the earth. It is God who gives us the strength to grow crops and to mine the ground. It is God who gives us the knowledge to convert these raw materials into clothing and homes and medicines. Moses cautions, You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

Some people grumble that God is stingy with them. They have a list of things they claim are essential for them to be happy, and they believe that God owes them everything on that list. Such presumption is completely unwarranted; God doesn’t owe us anything. He is the Maker—we are merely His creations. In addition, by nature we are worthless; sin has made us defective. We neither honor our Maker as we should, nor do we love our neighbors as ourselves. Our worth comes solely through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. It is only because Jesus suffered and died for our sins that God is willing to forgive our flaws. This is a free gift which we did nothing to deserve; it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:5). Everything we have is an undeserved gift of God; instead of complaining about what we feel we lack, we would do well to thank our Lord for all that He has chosen to give us.

Give us this day our daily bread reminds us of one thing more—you are not to live for yourself alone. Jesus didn’t teach us to pray "give me my daily bread;" in this prayer, He reminds us that we are to be concerned about each other. God gives to us so that we can share with others. James is quite blunt: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:15-16) Paul tells us that we are to be generous and willing to share. At the same time, we must be careful not to become lazy and sponge off the generosity of others; Paul warned: Whoever does not work should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

Keeping our desires for material things in perspective can be hard, so it is helpful to remember why God created us in the first place. We are alive for the purpose of praising God and serving Him. We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works (Ephesians 2:10); Jesus tells us that the purpose for doing good works is this: let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). When we pray for our daily bread, we are asking for those things needed by our minds and bodies so that we can do the good works which bring glory to our heavenly Father. Viewed from this perspective, much of what clutters our lives diminishes in importance. Do you need a large house to serve the Lord? Do you need the newest fashions or latest technological gadgets to be about His work? If you have more money than most, do you see yourself as unusually blessed with resources that can be put to use in supporting the mission of the Church? Can you honestly say that everything you want is necessary to keeping you physically and emotionally fresh, and ready to serve the Lord with gladness? Or has the Lord actually given you more than you need from Him? When you look at your material life from the proper perspective, it is easy to see that the Lord is quite generous, and more than amply answers our prayer give us this day our daily bread.