Honoring our Heavenly Father’s Name, asking for His Kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth, in each individual heart, as it is in heaven, prepares us for asking for the needs pertaining to our daily human lives.
The need for daily bread, a forgiving heart, and physical and spiritual safety are all necessary, not just for our physical and spiritual comfort, but to be able to release into the spiritual realm the character of our Lord Jesus Christ, allowing His Kingdom to come in right-living, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit dwelling in our individual hearts.
Daily bread is necessary to keep us from being hungry, physically and spiritually. If we are hungry physically, all we are thinking about is how to find food to fill our stomachs and to stave off the hunger pains.
If we are hungry spiritually, all we think about, from a carnal mind, is how to satisfy the desires of our flesh and our intellect to make our lives comfortable, pleasurable, and wise enough to avoid anything unpleasant. These may take the forms of any of the works of the flesh or the seeking of false spiritual teachings that lead us away from the true Christ.
Bread is a symbol of all we need physically, mentally and spiritually to live in this world in a manner that pleases our Heavenly Father.
Physical Needs
God created this world, and He owns all the gold and silver and the cattle on a thousand hills. (Haggai 2:8 & Psalm 50:10)
Everything we need and have, comes from God. There would be no grain in the field without God causing it to grow from the seed planted in the good soil. God sends the rain and the sunshine and the change of temperatures to cause everything to produce after its kind in its time.
Humans need clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, healthy food to eat, clean clothes to wear, a secure, temperature-controlled, and safe shelter to dwell in, and a good job to provide the income to make all of this happen. Unfortunately, these basic needs of life are becoming more and more expensive; and the ability to earn a living wage is becoming less and less of a reality for many around us. When this happens, crime increases and our security and safety are jeopardized.
Poverty and homelessness are a reality, not only around the world but in our own cities, and sometimes our own neighborhoods. The breakdown of families, loss of jobs, addiction to drugs and other vices, leave many without roots, homeless, and/or in institutions and shelters.
Wars brutalize us, making us killers of our fellow-man, and reducing people to hungry refugees forced to steal and fight one another for food and temporary shelter.
This is one reason we are taught to pray for the leaders of our government, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, and to give unto Caesar that which belongs to him, and to support the church’s ministry of spreading the Good News to all. When people hear and believe and practice the Gospel, then they impact the world around them for good; and many come out of crime and poverty to help others like themselves.
John taught us to help those in need as we are able to do so. We have to be willing to give unto others as God has given unto us; freely. (I John 3:17)
Mental and emotional health deteriorate when our basic needs are not supplied, or we are threatened by lawless people and greedy government leaders. We need to pray for all who are struggling to do what is right in the sight of God and man. May our Heavenly Father give them strength to do that which is lawful and proper and to be able to trust God to supply whatever is lacking in their lives.
We cannot truly pray for daily bread without being willing to work. Paul said those unwilling to work should not expect to eat. (II Thessalonians 3:10) We, and others, have to be willing to be part of the answer to our prayers. ‘God helps those who help themselves’ is not scripture, but it should be sacred.
Notice again that Christ taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”. We, as individuals, are part of the human race. We, as individual believers, are part of the Body of Christ. What touches one, touches all. This goes against the selfishness of our society, where everything is about feeling good and what is in it for ME.
The Kingdom of God is not about me. It is about us. It is about God the Father, manifested in Jesus Christ, establishing His Kingdom on earth, just like it is in Heaven. Heaven is all about teamwork. There are no individual big shots. Even the archangel, Michael, deferred to the Lord when disputing about the body of Moses. The Lord Christ leads in heaven, and He will lead on earth in the near future. Every knee will bow before Him as their Lord and King.
George Muller, a Christian evangelist and Director of Ashley Down Orphanage in England, laid his orphanage table even though he had no food to set before his children. As He prayed, God stirred the hearts of those who had plenty to bring food for the orphans. God desires to cause those who have, to give, and those who have not, to receive with humility and thankfulness.
Spiritual Needs
The Bible is spiritual food. Bread is a symbol for scripture. God gave manna from heaven to the children of Israel because they had nothing to eat. God gave them this bread to teach them that people need more than bread for their life. Real life comes from feeding on every word of the Lord. This is spiritual nourishment. (Deuteronomy 8:3)
Jesus chose bread to represent His sacrifice in communion. Every time we eat the bread and drink the wine or juice, it is a reminder of how much God loves us and the sacrifice He made so that we can go to live with Him for eternity.
“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15)
Thanksgiving Day:
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in America. As you gather with family and friends, pause to give thanks for all the blessings which your Heavenly Father has blest you with.
On Nov. 26, 1789, President George Washington proclaimed the first nation-wide thanksgiving celebration in America, “… as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God.”
It was only six years earlier that the last British troops left America, ending the Revolutionary War. President Lincoln, in 1863, standardized Thanksgiving Day in America. The Civil War prevented its widespread acceptance. Not until after the war was it made a national holiday, by Franklin Roosevelt in 1941, only 19 days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
These three leaders knew that we needed to be thankful as a country, not only in times of blessing, but also in times of struggle. It is through the success of enduring our struggles, that we appreciate our blessings.
This Thanksgiving Day, don’t forget to pray, “Give us this day, our Daily Bread”, and Be Thankful for the good, and the bad, in your life!