Introduction

As American families, as well as others throughout the world, gather together today for the traditional Thanksgiving meal, we should be thankful for what God has given us and appreciate that bounty that is set before us.

In looking at the Model Prayer (Mt. 6:9-13), verse 11 states, Give us this day our daily bread. I was once told by a co-worker that this refers to the as the word of God; Jesus is the word (Jn. 1:1) and the Bread of Life (Jn. 6:35). She also said that it can’t possibly mean physical food as we don’t have to pray for it.

In this latter statement, I think she might have been referring to verse 33 that says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” I’m going to suggest to you that I believe that it can mean both. We’ll study it further in this article.

Wants and Needs

Someone relayed what a brother said during his public prayer in the worship assembly. He stated, “God, you know what we want, give us what we need.” I’d say no truer words were spoken in a prayer like that.

In regard to Matthew 6:33, there are those that believe that once you become a Christian that God knows what we need and will automatically give it to us. Really? So, we are to expect that each day our refrigerator will fill up with the necessary food need to eat that particular day? Suppose we don’t like the choices that God sends us? Can’t we request alternatives?

I’m joking, of course. The apostle Paul said, For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

Others have said, “If I work for my food, then why should I pray for it? I earned it without God’s help.” God has blessed you with the ability to work, the intelligence to hold down a job, and the opportunities of a variety of types of jobs out there.

Pray for the Physical Food

We should pray for physical sustenance even though God knows we need it. It shows that we depend on Him, daily, of what gets us through the day. A lot of us will pray before a meal but did it ever occur to pray after a meal as well? It also gets us into the habit of praying to God everyday which should be routine for us. Since most people eat three meals a day, we can pray, at least, three times daily for “Our Daily Bread”.

In regard to the word, “our” it shows that this should be a family endeavor. You’re not simply praying for your own food but for that of the entire family present. Just because one is verbally wording the prayer doesn’t mean it’s for them only but as a representative of everyone at the table.

Pray for the Spiritual Food

Jesus stated, to Satan, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)

Going along the same line as Mt. 6:33, if we don’t need to pray for our physical food, then why should we have to pray for the spiritual food? The reason, to me; in this line of thinking, is that since we have the bible, we don’t need to pray for it as long as we read it daily.

The reason we pray for spiritual food is to make sure that when we read God’s word, we understand what is being said (Eph. 3:3-4) and not to draw our own conclusions based on our own preconceived notions.

The apostle Paul wrote, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV). Notice that latter part, “rightly dividing the word of truth”. This is about making sure that we are making application of what the scriptures teach and not simply trying to draw our own idea by what we think is being said.

The apostle Peter adds to this when he wrote, knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). Although this speaks of prophecy, it also applies to the scriptures themselves. He goes on to say, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures (2 Peter 3:16).

How often do we hear people explaining the scriptures to read the way they want it to read? This is why there are so many denominations, no one wants to read the bible for themselves nor to read it exactly as it was stated by God.

Conclusion

Jesus stated that we should pray for “our daily bread” and do so every day. Someone once said, what if you woke up and only found that which you pray for the night before? If you don’t pray for physical food, could it be that it might not be there anymore?