Thursday, September 15, 2011

Luke 11:3 ~ "Give us this day our daily bread."

These words of Messiah are so well known in the Lord's Prayer. Yet much of the attitude behind this phrase may be lost on one who simply recites it from habit. This short sentence, has such great depth and far more meaning to it than asking for food.

Very few people realize that what Messiah was repeating was a scripture found in Proverbs. This simple phrase already had much attitude adjustment packed into it if we read it in context of a more Hebrew perceptive (which is always more deep reaching with idioms and colloquialisms than a Greek translation can convey).

Look at the attitude that the writer of this Proverb desired for the Lord to create in him because of his petition for 'daily bread':

Prov 38: 7-9
(7)
"Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die:
(8) Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. (9) Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

It was not a 'give me' prayer to expect provision, but a 'grant me', 'allow it' prayer that he wanted his heart right with the Holy One. Not only that but that he would be strong enough to be a righteous enough testimony to His Name.

Now when we pray or hear the words "Give us this day our daily bread" may the phrase also contain a request for an attitude adjustment.