Luke 11:3 “Give us day by day our daily bread.”
Luke 11:3 is part of what we call the Lord’s Prayer but is the “Disciple’s Prayer” as the prayer Jesus taught was for the disciples! You may recall that in Luke 11:1, as He was praying, ONE of His DISCIPLES asked that He teach them to pray! What followed are some of the best instructions a person can ever learn concerning PRAYER! I suspect many of you can quote by memory but just in case this is what Jesus taught:
2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as [it is] in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”
When Jesus taught in Matthew 6 He had as the conclusion “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Our verse is considered the hinge verse of the “Lord’s Prayer” as it moves us from a time of adoration to God to now a time of asking for our needs. In verse 2 you find the word “YOUR” 3 times. In that verse, we adore and praise God. There is a spirit of submission as we want His kingdom and His will accomplished.
Having focused on the adoration of the Father and the agenda of heaven Jesus teaches to ASK for the things needed on EARTH, things the HEAVENLY FATHER provides. And the things we most need are the provision of daily bread, forgiveness, guidance, and protection.
In asking for day by day our daily bread Jesus is instructing us to ask for the MOST BASIC of needs. We need food and water to live. While we might consider this too small for our Father in heaven, I like to say that while there is NOTHING TOO BIG TO ASK of GOD, there is nothing TOO SMALL to ask of GOD! It is not petty to ask Him to provide the most basic of needs for your life. He is expecting you to ASK!
I also want you to consider that the prayer request here is a prayer of FAITH. He did not tell us to ask the Heavenly Father for a year’s supply of food. He teaches us to be DAILY RELIANT on Him.
In closing this devotion, I would like to share one of the greatest “TIPS” I have received for developing a strong walk with the Lord. Dr. Elmer Towns challenges us to pray the “Lord’s Prayer” as the first thing we do upon waking up. He taught us to let our first thoughts be of adoration to God and then ask Him to give us what we needed for the day! This tip has served me well and I believe it will serve you well!
Continue Strong asking your Heavenly Father for daily needs!
And remember to DATE THE WORD