Thine...not mine | Give us this day our daily bread

Give            us              

          this                       day            

our

                   daily          

bread.

Pray it real slow     with spaces     to pause     and think     about what you’re really declaring to God.

Our Father…give us…this day…our…daily bread!

If you look it up in your Bible; in Matthew 6:11, you’ll notice a little footnote indicator there at the end of the line.  Drop down on the page.  Notice there what it says?  I have the English Standard Version open near me.  The foot note reads:  “Or our bread for tomorrow”.

Hmmm.

How shall we understand what we are declaring or requesting of the Father here?  Am I declaring that He be our generous Father and provide bread for today…or for tomorrow? 

My understanding on footnotes in the Bible is they give us an alternative way of reading the text that may be closer to how the original language would have conveyed the idea. 

Translating text can be weird, especially when you’re moving from an ancient language to a modern language.  The men and women who work tirelessly on our Bible translations are brilliant folks with intimate understandings of both languages at hand.  Often enough they come across texts that made more sense in the ancient language then they ever will in the modern language.  Not because one language is more deficient than the other, though in some instances that may be the case.  Rather, because the languages are just that different.  (Keeping in mind there are hundreds, even thousands, of years between the cultures that bore these ancient biblical languages.) 

In a humble effort to faithfully represent the ancient language well AND stay faithful to the modern audience – you and me – who will read the translation, the translators offer a readable understanding in the biblical text and footnote an alternative understanding for those invested in further study or deeper understanding.  Thus, footnoted Bible passages aren’t meant to shake up Scripture’s reliability.  Can I really trust this?  They are meant to serve the reader in greater understanding. 

If we consider the original Greek text of this line in the prayer our Lord has given to us, and tried to translate it word for word, it would sound something like this:

“The bread of ours for today or these days, give us today.”

Kind of awkward to read, huh?  We don’t talk like that.  However, an interesting point emerges when we do read it this way.  Do you see it? 

Whatever this daily bread is – and we’ll think about that in a minute – we are declaring to the Father to give us this day, today, a measure of it that might be equal to a day or two or three’s worth.

Hmmm.  Why would Jesus ask us to invoke the generosity of God and request a couple days worth of “daily bread?”  

Maybe so we can be generous too?

Maybe so we can not only have enough for ourselves, but enough to give away to someone else!  Maybe so we can, like Jesus suggests in the context right before in Matthew 6, give to the needy (6:1-4)!  Maybe so we can, like Jesus illustrates in the context right after in Luke 11, be ready to act as the Father would and give when someone comes knocking (11:5-13)!

“Father, give us today our bread for today and another day or two’s worth to share with others.”

“Father, give us today only my necessary ration, not next week’s or next month’s, but maybe a ration for the next guest.”

“Father, give us just enough to stay the need and stand off the want; no more, no less – though it will certainly be less than my more – and just enough to stay the need of our neighbor, should we be called upon for an honor such as that.”

Have you ever thought about that before?  Have you ever considered praying for enough “daily bread” to give away to others in need?  Would Jesus tell us to pray in such a manner? 

Now, what about the “daily bread”?  What are we declaring to the Father to give us anyway? 

Perhaps “daily bread” simply means bread, period.  Perhaps it means more than bread.  Perhaps this is a generous enough text to substitute in for “daily bread” whatever we might need or want for today or these days? 

Is this where we can pray for a promotion or a couple more bucks per hour? 

Is this where we get to declare to God that our car is on its last tire and we need a new one? 

Is this where we ask for all that we hoped for but didn’t get for Christmas? 

Is this where I can suggest to God that we eat expensive organic foods instead of the less expensive non-organic stuff? 

Is this an “all you can ask for” prayer buffet?   

The questions begin to lean into absurdity…but I’ve heard them asked.  My response is always to consider what the Bible says. 

Bread is all over the pages of Scripture.  So much so, that we ought to imagine bread as pretty important.  Indeed, bread is a significant enough biblical motif or theme to pay some mind to. 

I skimmed through several verses on bread in a Bible concordance, cross referencing a few, and the list below is what I came up with.  It’s a limited list of passages on bread, but they offer us a broad enough sweep of the Bible’s use to catch onto what we might mean when we pray for “daily bread.”

Take a few minutes to look these up and jot down the gist of what bread may mean in each.  Be sure to read the context of each verse.

§  Genesis 14:18; 18:4-5

§  Exodus 16:4; 35:13

§  Deuteronomy 8:3 (cf. Matt. 4:4)

§  Ruth 1:11; Samuel 16:4; 17:12 (These ones are interesting because Bethlehem means House of Bread, cf. Matt. 2:1)

§  1 Kings 17:6

§  Psalm 78:25

§  Matthew 26:26 (Lk. 22:14; Acts 2:42)

§  Luke 11:3; 24:30

§  John 6:35

§  1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:26

What did you come up with?  As I perused the verses with a group of others it occurred to us that bread is soul food! 

We are complex beings.  There is a lot that makes up who we are.  Most basically, however, we are earth-dust and God-breath (Genesis 2:7).  Maybe more clearly stated, we are flesh and we are spirit, and as the pages of scripture turn we are further convinced this flesh/spirit unity makes up a live soul; a whole living being.  

Bread, then, appears to be a primary nourishing means for these live souls that we most basically are.  Bread is what generates sustenance for our physical being and in a unique, perhaps even analogous sense, sustenance for our spirit.  Bread is life and breath.  Bread is soul food.

Thus, I don’t think this is an open declaration that we can take liberties with.  I don’t think we get to substitute in all our wants and desires.  I don’t think it expands to shelter or clothing or any number of other material luxuries, even warmth, because then it was suggested by our Lord to the exclusion of hundreds of millions of people in the world.  I think it means bread.  

Bread is flour and oil and water mixed up and baked to nourish our body.

Bread is Jesus; flesh and blood and living water, crucified and raised to nourish our spirit.  

Bread is nourishment for these live souls that we are.  

Father, give us this day our bread for today and another day or two’s worth that we might give it away to those in need.  

Now try this:  Very simply, pray this line to our Father with the understanding we’ve discovered above.  Then pay close attention to His provision and the needs around you.