“Truth is, I think, if God just gave us our daily bread, many of us would be angry. ‘That’s all You’re going to give me? You’re just going to give me enough to sustain me for today? What about tomorrow or next year or 10, 20, 30 years from now? I want to know that I’m set up.’ And yet Jesus says just pray for your daily provisions.” -Francis Chan
Yesterday at a local church, I glanced at their welcome table and saw a very familiar sight. Some of you might be familiar
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with the “Our Daily Bread” devotionals. They have been published and distributed monthly for over 75 years. The ministry was started in Grand Rapids, MI by Dr. M.R. DeHaan to connect people (now millions) every day with God and the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. My mother was a faithful distributor of these booklets. She sent them to family and friends and she was serious about that mission. Honestly, just seeing those little books brought comfort and fond memories of my mom, who literally got on her knees by her bed and prayed DAILY – which means done, produced, or occurring every day.
Many of us have prayed, recited or even sung ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’ With this simple instruction in Matthew 6, Jesus taught His disciples: to pray in secret so that God could reward them openly (vs. 4); to pray privately, not to be seen by people, but to go into their secret closets to petition the Father, who openly dispenses rewards (vs. 5-6); and not to babble on with vain repetitions like heathens who think that many words will get them to the Father’s heart because…God knows what you need before you ask Him (vs.8) Then Jesus showed them the model prayer with which we’re all familiar:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matt. 6:9-13)
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Now we have jobs, budgets, savings plans, pensions, investments, a 401k retirement…why do we need to pray for God to give us daily bread? Francis Chan exposes our craving for control and challenges our need for long term security. Are we trusting in God or in our assets and ingenuity? These practices, though certainly not all bad, can lead to a less faith-filled, prayerful, and God-dependent life. In fact, some of us are doing all that we can to avoid placing ourselves in any position that requires total reliance on the LORD for what we daily need.
God told the Children of Israel through Moses that He’d led them through the wilderness to humble and test them, to know what was in their hearts – whether or not they would keep His commands. (Deut. 8:1-3) He humbled them with hunger and then satisfied it with just a DAILY provision of a food He created called ‘manna’ (meaning ‘what is it?’). He did this to rid them of their pride and self-reliance – so they could understand that they did not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
