Our Father And His Daily Bread
The Disciples' Prayer
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:6-11).
The disciples asked Jesus how to pray and this was the introductory portion of the model He gave them, and accordingly this could accurately be described as “The Disciples’ Prayer.”
But here’s the thing – Jesus gave them more than a prayer, more than a model. He gave them a mandate. He gave them a revelation.Because He always give more (and better) than what we can ask, think, or imagine.
First, we see a revelation in the opening words, “Our Father.” We take this for granted today, but this was a revelation, and a revelation that angered the religious Pharisees. “How dare He call God his Father” they often roared in indignation. But this was and is truth. And just as Jesus had, we too have an intimate heavenly Father, a perfect Father, who only knows how to give good and perfect gifts. The gift of salvation is only the starting point. Every good thing we have has come by His hand. John the Beloved received this revelation and recorded it for us.
Second, “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done.” This is what Jesus modeled in that dark garden when He declared, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” He submitted His will to the Father’s will and we are called to do the same, difficult as it is at times. We see now, in hindsight, His life foreshadowed what Paul would later pen in Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Paul had a revelation of the life Jesus lived. And he lived his life in accordance to the life Jesus modeled. The life Jesus lived in the flesh was by faith and through intimate relationship and oneness with His Father’s will for His life. Jesus lived in such accordance with His Father’s will, even to the point of being crucified. This is how Jesus lived His earthly life in the flesh - full surrender and death to any desires that would lead Him anywhere but the cross. His relationship with The Father exceeded all earthly boundaries and limitations.
And then we read “Give us this day our daily bread.” Our reminder today of the One who declared “I am the Bread of Life.” In essence and in a masterful way, Jesus reminds His disciples today of their need to seek Him daily. “Just give me Jesus!”- if you remember that exclamation from a number of years ago – it is the perfect response to the blueprint for prayer Jesus gave His disciples then and now. For our daily relationship with Him is our daily nourishment. He is our “Staff of Life” as bread is referred to. For in every culture there is a type of bread specific to that culture. And Jesus is for every nation. And Jesus also becomes our honey for our daily bread, if His written word has the proper place in our lives as the Psalmist wrote:
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (Psalm 119:103).
And when we understand the substance and depth and revelation of the prayer Jesus taught to the disciples, we come to understand this is not a prayer to recite; it is not a rote prayer. For we are admonished to be doers of the word, to live and express the word and the Living Eternal Word. It is a way of life we are called to live, not just pray. It is a holy life.
Mediative Verse:
Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8 NKJ).
(The word “good” can also be translated “sweet” and be equally accurate)
Drink deeply of the pleasures of this God. Experience for yourself the joyous mercies He gives t all who turn to hide themselves in Him (Psalm 34:8 TPT).