“Give us day by day our daily bread” [Luke 11:3]

“Give us day by day our daily bread”. Asking for one’s daily bread assumes that one is dependent upon God for it. The labourer may toil to gather the harvest, but it is with strength the Lord gives, he does so and it is God’s law of nature he is harnessing. Requesting daily bread in this way demands that we acknowledge it is not ours by right. It is likely that a shortage of it conveys a greater appreciation of it and those who cry most earnestly for it must draw nearer to God as a result. We can neither presume to be given the day nor the bread to sustain us in it.
Bread refers to the basis of any staple diet – it can be rice in some areas. And when millions undernourished are praying this prayer, those who have enough and to spare should not be surprised if an instruction comes to share it with their brother.