The Faithfulness of God and the Prayers of His Saints Part 3
4th petition - daily bread
Commentary
Every word here has a lesson in it: (1.) We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance; we ask for bread, not dainties, not superfluities; that which is wholesome, though it be not nice. (2.) We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not ask for the bread out of other people’s mouths, not the bread of deceit (Prov. 20:17), not the bread of idleness (Prov. 31:27), but the bread honestly gotten. (3.) We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us not to take thought for the morrow (v. 34), but constantly to depend upon divine Providence, as those that live from hand to mouth. (4.) We beg of God to give it us, not sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it. The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread, (5.) We pray, “Give it to us; not to me only, but to others in common with me.” This teaches us charity, and a compassionate concern for the poor and needy. It intimates also, that we ought to pray with our families; we and our households eat together, and therefore ought to pray together. (6.) We pray that God would give us this day; which teaches us to renew the desire of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies are renewed; as duly as the day comes, we must pray to our heavenly Father, and reckon we could as well go a day without meat, as without prayer.
Again, a very frequent Synecdoche occurs in the word bread, under which the Hebrews include every description of food. But here it has a still more extensive meaning: for we ask not only that the hand of God may supply us with food, but that we may receive all that is necessary for the present life.
But here an objection may be urged. It is certain, that Christ has given a rule for prayer, which belongs equally to all the godly. Now, some of their number are rich men, who have their yearly produce laid up in store. Why does he command them to ask what they have at home, and to ask every day those things of which they have an abundant supply for a year? The reply is easy. These words remind us that, unless God feed us daily, the largest accumulation of the necessaries of life will be of no avail. Though we may have abundance of corn, and wine, and every thing else, unless they are watered by the secret blessing of God, they will suddenly vanish, or we will be deprived of the use of them, or they will lose their natural power to support us, so that we shall famish in the midst of plenty. There is therefore no reason to wonder, if Christ invites the rich and poor indiscriminately to apply to their Heavenly Father for the supply of their wants. No man will sincerely offer such a prayer as this, unless he has learned, by the example of the Apostle Paul, “to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to suffer need,” (Phil. 4:12,) to endure patiently his poverty or his humble condition, and not to be intoxicated by a false confidence in his abundance.
We are thus taught, that what we seem to have acquired by our own industry is his gift. We may likewise infer from this word, that, if we wish God to feed us, we must not take what belongs to others: for all who have been taught of God, (John 6:45,) whenever they employ this form of prayer, make a declaration that they desire nothing but what is their own.
It is clear, of course, that the term “bread” should not be taken too literally. Whatever is necessary to sustain physical life is meant.
And well may the conviction of c. total dependence fill the heart, for all men, including even the richest, in order to have, consume, and enjoy food, are dependent upon the condition of soil, water, weather, and health of body. Moreover, in order to eat, men of slender and those of average means need to work, that they may earn their bread. Therefore, all men are dependent upon the general state of the economy, together with all its contributing factors, ecological, social, political, etc., which in the final analysis means that all are dependent upon the sovereign God, who is in control of the universe.
Although the supplicant is making a living in the sweat of his brow and besides has even paid for his groceries, he must still accept what is on the table as a gift from God, a product of grace; for, not only is God the ultimate source of every blessing (James 1:17) but also, by reason of sin man has forfeited all!
Apparently one of the smallest, yet one of the greatest petitions. I. Smallness of the petition: 1. We ask what most men already possess; 2. we ask it only for the small circle of those around our table; 3. we ask only daily bread; 4. we ask it only for to-day.
Quesnel: Prayer requires heart rather than tongue, sighing rather than words, faith rather than reason,
Quesnel: Prayer is not intended to inform God, but to set before man his misery, to humble his heart, to awaken his desires, to kindle his faith, to encourage his hope, to raise his soul toward heaven, and to remind him that his Father, his home, and his eternal inheritance are above, Phil. 3:20.
Our daily bread comes from God, and not by blind fortune, or by fate, Hosea 2:8.—Let us be satisfied with what is absolutely necessary, and not ask God for more than that, 1 Tim. 6:8; Prov. 30:8.—The ungodly receive their bread by the intercession of the saints, Gen. 41:54.—The poor equally pray for the rich, and the rich for the poor.—
If we desire that God will give with the bread which we receive the virtue and power of nourishing and preserving our bodies, which requires that we do not merely pray for bread itself, but also for the blessing of God; for if God does not bless us in that which we receive, all our cares and labors are vain, and the gifts of God themselves are therefore useless and hurtful according to the threatening, “I will break the staff of your bread.” (Lev. 26:26.)
Q. 193. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. In the fourth petition, (which is, Give us this day our daily bread,h) acknowledging, that in Adam, and by our own sin, we have forfeited our right to all the outward blessings of this life, and deserve to be wholly deprived of them by God, and to have them cursed to us in the use of them;i and that neither they of themselves are able to sustain us,k nor we to merit,l or by our own industry to procure them;m but prone to desire,n get,o and use them unlawfully:p we pray for ourselves and others, that both they and we, waiting upon the providence of God from day to day in the use of lawful means, may, of his free gift, and as to his fatherly wisdom shall seem best, enjoy a competent portion of them;q and have the same continued and blessed unto us in our holy and comfortable use of them,r and contentment in them;s and be kept from all things that are contrary to our temporal support and comfort.t
1. Because he will have us to ask daily as much as we need for each day. 2. Because he would restrain our raging and boundless desires. “Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.” “There is no want to them that fear him.” (Matt. 6:32. Ps. 37:16; 34:9.) Hence the petition, Give us our daily bread, means, Give us as much bread as is sufficient for us—give us so much of what is necessary for the support of life as every one of us needs, to serve thee and our neighbor in our several callings in life.
Question 125
Which is the fourth petition?
“Give us this day our daily bread”; that is, be pleased to provide us with all things necessary for the body,a that we may thereby acknowledge thee to be the only fountain of all good,b and that neither our care nor industry, nor even thy gifts, can profit us without thy blessing;c and therefore that we may withdraw our trust from all creatures, and place it alone in thee.d
So too, although the power to procreate is naturally implanted in men, yet God would have it accounted to his special favor that he leaves some in barrenness, but graces others with offspring [cf. Ps. 113:9]; “for the fruit of the womb is his gift” [Ps. 127:3 p.]. For this reason, Jacob said to his wife, “Am I God that I can give you children?” [Gen. 30:2 p.]. To end this at once: there is nothing more ordinary in nature than for us to be nourished by bread. e(b)Yet the Spirit declares not only that the produce of the earth is God’s special gift but that “men do not live by bread alone” [Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4]; because it is not plenty itself that nourishes men, but God’s secret blessing;14 ejust as conversely he threatens that he is going to “take away the stay of bread” [Isa. 3:1]. And indeed, that earnest prayer for daily bread [Matt. 6:11] could be understood only in the sense that God furnishes us with food by his fatherly hand. For this reason, the prophet, to persuade believers that God in feeding them fulfills the office of the best of all fathers of families, states that he gives food to all flesh [Ps. 136:25; cf. Ps. 135:25, Vg.]. Finally, when we hear on the one side, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears toward their prayers” [Ps. 34:15], but on the other, “The eye of the Lord is upon the impious, to destroy their memory from the earth” [Ps. 34:16 p.], let us know that all creatures above and below are ready to obey, that he may apply them to any use he pleases. From this we gather that his general providence not only flourishes among creatures so as to continue the order of nature, but is by his wonderful plan adapted to a definite and proper end.
A certain man has abundant wine and grain. Since he cannot enjoy a single morsel of bread apart from God’s continuing favor, his wine cellars and granaries will not hinder him from praying for his daily bread. Now if we should consider how many dangers at every moment threaten, fear itself will teach us that we at no single time may leave off praying.
Those who, relying upon God, have once for all cast out that anxiety about the care of the flesh, immediately expect from him greater things, even salvation and eternal life. It is, then, no light exercise of faith for us to hope for those things from God which otherwise cause us such anxiety. And we benefit greatly when we put off this faithlessness, which clings to the very bones of almost all men.
By this he shows it is by his power alone that life and strength are sustained, even though he administers it to us by physical means. So he commonly teaches us by the opposite example when he breaks, as often as he pleases, the strength of bread (and as he himself says, the staff) that those who eat may waste away with hunger [Lev. 26:26] and those who drink may be parched with thirst [cf. Ezek. 4:16–17; 14:13].
Indeed, not even an abundance of bread would benefit us in the slightest unless it were divinely turned into nourishment. Accordingly, this generosity of God is necessary no less for the rich than for the poor; for with full cellars and storehouses, men would faint with thirst and hunger unless they enjoyed their bread through his grace.83