“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

One of the things you notice here in Ecuador is the presence of panaderías (bread stores or bakeries) on nearly every corner. Bread is a staple here, whether it is your dinner roll type of bread with your café con leche in the morning or a sweet bread with tea in the afternoon. Construction workers have bread with a bottle of cola for their 10am break. It is plentiful and inexpensive and there is nothing better than fresh bread out of the oven.

We often have people over to our house and one of the activities we enjoy sharing is cooking flour tortillas on a clay dish over a charcoal fire. It is about the most basic form of cooking bread. When I read of Abraham running to bake bread for the three visitors in Genesis, I think his bread was just like our tortillas, easy and quick.

Bread is also a symbol of God’s provisions. When the Israelites received mana from the sky, they were told to take just enough for that day, any more would rot quickly. It created an attitude that makes one dependent on God and acknowledge that all we have is from him. Praying for our daily bread teaches us to have a spirit of humble dependence.

In English we can use the term bread for our income, such as my spouse is the breadwinner. Thus, bread represents our daily provisions and we are to give thanks to God for it and are commanded to pray for it daily. Before eating, the Bible says that Jesus would give thanks for the bread before sharing it. Jesus, the one who could multiply bread and feed thousands, was still grateful for a single loaf.

This attitude of dependence is important especially in areas of abundance. Out of all expenditures, what Americans spend on purchasing food is around 7%, in Ecuador 26% of expenditures goes toward food. In countries like Haiti or Nigeria it is over 50%. It might be a bit tough in the U.S. to pray for your daily bread, but in other cultures it is real. Millions of people still may not know where their next meal is coming from. In the U.S. we don’t live like that, and for many the problem is not too little to eat but that we eat too much. Based on eating only what we need from the mana illustration, this could be sinful.

Even though we have full grocery stores we still need to be dependent daily on God. Things can happen. Remember COVID and breaks in supply chains and empty shelves. Things can change quickly. We always need to express our dependence on God for all things come from Him. I am reminded what happened to King Herod. Acts 12 says, “Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. (The people) shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” When we think what we have is from our own efforts it builds pride, and pride goes before destruction.

The last point is that when we are worried about where our next paycheck will come from or next meal, we pray for our daily bread. We are reminded in Philippians 4, to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The Apostle Paul who knew how to live in wealth and in poverty reminds us in verse 19 that our “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”