give us to-day our needed bread,
The prayer the Lord gave His disciples turns here from God's name, kingdom and will to the one praying. The first thing asked for is a day's food. Much of the teaching in this short line hangs on that order, and on the odd word translated "daily."
Where the petition stands
The prayer falls into two halves, and this verse opens the second. One writer sets out the division and what each half is for:
This is not the prayer of a sinner seeking mercy. It is the prayer of people who already stand in a relationship with God, and who deal with Him directly as Father about their need. The petitions divide the prayer into two parts. The first three ask for the glory of God. The last four express the creature's dependence. It is beautiful to see the spirit of worship in the way the Name, the kingdom and the will of God come first… The whole prayer shows the three main thoughts of true prayer: God's glory, and the creature's need — first in earthly things, then in spiritual things.
So we confess the body's everyday need first, and the soul's need after that.
What "daily" means
The English word "daily" does not carry the full force of the original. One writer says the word seems made for this petition, and that its sense limits what we may ask:
The word "daily" is a very poor way to put the original term into English. The Greek word epiousios means our "sufficient" bread — a word that seems to have been made for this very idea, as opposed to having more than we need. We cannot ask for more than enough without slighting the wisdom of the Lord. One ought not to look for more, even from the Lord of heaven and earth. He tells me to ask for bread enough for each day's needs.
The same writer connects the petition with contentment:
Give us today our sufficient (or, necessary) bread. So they are taught to begin by confessing dependence for ordinary needs, just as the apostle called us to be content with food and clothing.
One day at a time
"This day" sets the limit of the request. It leaves tomorrow out:
We have to do with God today. We may leave tomorrow to Him. He is our God, our Father today, He will be the same tomorrow when we meet it. The Lord did not teach His disciples to pray about tomorrow, but "Give us this day our daily bread."
Asking only for today shows how much we lean on a secured income:
Many a saint of God would almost break his heart if he thought his income would come to an end in twelve months' time. But this prayer means that we look to Him, and have no other resource for today's needs.
"Give us" — never "give me"
Every petition in the second half is plural, and that shapes who is in view when we pray for bread:
A sense of dependence, of failure, and of weakness stands out plainly in them. The needs we feel are seen as the needs of others in the same family of faith, who are therefore joined with us in every petition. The prayer is a family prayer all the way through. It expresses a shared interest, and no one pulls out of it to walk alone. How well we would be cared for if everyone remembered everyone in this way, and the family tie held the whole family together.
Bread for the body, and more
Commentators differ on how far the petition reaches. One writer says it covers the soul's need as well as the body's, and points to the manna — the bread God gave Israel each morning in the desert:
It is not stretching the request for daily bread to let it include a spiritual meaning too… In both ways the supply must be constant. The manna must be fresh every morning, and freshly gathered as the morning comes: hoarded, it breeds worms and stinks. There is no release from this dependence. It only makes us feel the love that keeps supplying us, and it keeps us near the gracious hand of the Almighty… it is not meanness but love that deals with us this way.
For those with nothing in hand
For anyone who can walk into a shop, the petition can feel like a formality. It was not framed for them alone:
It is easy to have a well-filled purse, and enter a well-stocked shop, and buy what we need. It is quite another thing to be like the persecuted believers… for whom every single meal was an anxious question of where it would come from. What deep comfort to have the ear of One who loves, who knows, who cares, who is almighty, and who holds the hearts of all people in His power.
Summary
- Order — God's name, kingdom and will come first; only then do we ask for anything, and the first thing asked for is a meal.
- Enough — the word rendered "daily" carries the sense of sufficient or necessary bread, not extra; we ask only for what the day needs.
- Today — the request stops at this day, leaving tomorrow to the Father we will meet there unchanged.
- Us — the petition is plural throughout, a family asking together, no one praying for himself alone.
- Daily — like manna that spoils when hoarded, God renews the supply each morning, and that keeps us near the hand that gives it. That continual dependence is love, not meanness.