God is transcendent and knows best how to deal with the daily needs of each believer. God is able to provide and continually ahead according to verse 3. Does this translate to gratitude toward God as we receive our daily sustenance? If we forget God, we do not demonstrate our trust and dependence on him.
Why do we pray for our daily bread? Living in America, we often think we do not depend daily on our sustenance because food is readily available. Jesus, as a man, also needed daily food just as we do, and he prayed to the Father for provision and gave thanks. In the same manner, we must pray and depend on the Father in humility. Praying for our daily bread implies several things as we are under the whole counsel of God in Scripture.
Everything belongs to the Lord; nothing is ours. Every problem occurs with rejecting God’s ownership and thinking certain things belong to us (Psa. 24:1; 1 Tim. 6:7; Psa. 34:10). It is foolishness to think that everything is provided and blessed by God, which makes us stewards of his provisions (Lk. 12:18-21). So, it is God’s gift to us that we have our daily bread because without God providing it, nothing is guaranteed.
Christians are pilgrims and merely sojourning through this world on our way to heaven. In our pilgrimage, there are a myriad of challenges believers face and go through. But through it all, we must have an attitude of needing our daily bread because this world is not our permanent residence. Prayer for sustaining our bodies to remove our worries and anxieties is all we need.
Praying for our daily bread is a sign of being a true Christian. Being poor in spirit is total dependence and faith in God regardless of our financial situation. Jesus practiced being poor in spirit (Lk. 22:42). As God’s people, their trust and reliance become directed only to the Father. Dependence on our efforts or anything through worldly means must be removed.
Prayer for our daily bread is for the brethren as much as it is for our own needs. Jesus did not pray only for himself, but he prayed for everyone’s needs. Even though we pray in this way for God to provide the daily needs of our fellow believers, it does not condone laziness. Prayer is trust and obedience. They are not exclusive. Diligence must be a characteristic of all Christians (2 Thess. 3:10). Jesus exemplified prayer and obedience as he always acted according to his prayers.
Prayer for our daily bread is a sign of obedience. Jesus said to pray daily, not weekly or monthly. As we pray daily to God, it is in a way to test God. And as God provides daily, he exemplifies his daily faithfulness. Jesus knows that the Father is faithful and he desires each believer to experience the blessings of his faithfulness. His omniscience and omnipotence are directly related to his faithfulness as he knows each one’s needs and he is able to fulfill those needs. Consequently, Christians who obey and experience God’s faithfulness daily become content with whatever he provides (Phil. 4:12-19).
Our daily bread belongs to God alone, so we are to pray continuously daily. Jesus commands us to pray in this way because God is our Shepherd and we are his sheep. Let us know our Shepherd more and grow in our dependence on him daily.
BIBLE COMMUNITY CHURCH 
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