top of page

Give Us Our Food Each Day

Will faith filly my belly? Jesus told His disciples to pray, “Give us each day the food we need.” On this podcast, we’ll be discussing what this prayer means and what its implications are for your life. Hopefully, we’ll be arousing your appetite for something more substantive than just calories.



According to recent data compiled by the United Nations, the average person in the world requires 1,828 calories of energy each and every day just to maintain what they label as a “normal, active, and healthy life.” That’s roughly equivalent to a loaf of bread and half a chicken. How does that compare to your daily diet? The United Nations also estimates that over 90% of the world’s population enjoys at least this amount of food every day. Some obviously enjoy way more than that. Some, unfortunately, suffer from a lot less.

 

But if we were to survey those 90% in the world who the United Nations says are sufficiently nourished, I think we might find that they’re actually hungry for more. Everybody is hungry for something more. Hungry for what? For more food? For nicer stuff? For more health and security? For more money? Most of us would probably say we need more than just 1,828 calories of food each day to maintain a “normal, active, and healthy life.”

 

That’s what makes Jesus’ teaching in Luke chapter 11 so much more difficult to appreciate. In this context, Jesus’ followers asked Him how to pray. In the past few podcasts, we’ve been looking at each component of the Lord’s model prayer. In this episode, we’ll be considering the prayer,

Give us each day, the food we need (NLT).

On the surface, the meaning is clear. Jesus is telling His followers that they should trust in God’s basic provision each day. Putting that into practice on the other hand, has deep implications for our daily life. For example, should I be striving for more than just my daily allowance? Or will trusting in God to provide satisfy my appetite? In other words, will faith fill my belly? The answer is yes! But in more ways than you might think. Hang in there with me, and we’ll discuss the implications for your life of trusting in God’s daily provision.

 

Podcast Intro

Hello everybody. This is the Relentlessly Knocking podcast. I’m Scott Ihle, and I’m the Executive Director of Logos Answers, and the missionary in residence at Woodstock church of Christ in Atlanta, GA. Jesus told His disciples that if they knock, the door would be opened for them. And on this podcast, we are knocking relentlessly and unapologetically as we try to discover the truth about God the Creator, the Anointed Son of God, Jesus, and their Spirit-inspired Word as found in the Bible.

 

God Provides Each Day

Before we take a look at the implications of this prayer for us today, let’s consider the original audience. When Jesus told His followers to pray, “Give us each day, the food we need” (NLT), it’s likely that each one of them had, at least in the back of their minds, a story from their law.

 

This story is found in Exodus chapter 16. God had just delivered His people from Egyptian slavery, and He is trying to teach them how to follow His laws. Interestingly enough, He hadn’t given them His laws yet. They were still traveling through the wilderness from Egypt on their way to Mt. Sinai to receive God’s Law. However, an opportunity arises for God to teach His people a core tenant of His law – daily dependence on Him. The situation was that the people started complaining because they didn’t have enough food. They were second guessing their decision to leave their lives as slaves in bountiful Egypt.

 

So, God demonstrates his care for the Israelites by providing them with food in the form of meat and bread every day. They went out in the morning and sweet wafers of bread covered the ground. They went out in the evening, and the ground was covered with quail. God gave them this great blessing of food every day.

 

The Bible says in Exodus chapter 16,

These are the LORD’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two [kilograms] for each person in your tent. So, the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed (16–18).

 

God’s provision for their needs demonstrated His power and His care for His people. Even today, when we pray, “Give us each day, the food we need,” we’re remembering that God can provide for us, and He wants to provide for us.

 

But, for the Israelites, there was a catch. God instructs them not to gather more than they need for one day at a time. For their Sabbath day of rest, they weren’t supposed to gather anything at all, but collect twice as much the day before. This was the other lesson the Israelites were supposed to learn about God’s law — trust in God’s provision one day at a time.

 

Despite this, some still disobeyed God and tried to hoard. But whenever they collected more than they needed for the day, they woke up and the food was covered with maggots and smelled horrible. On top of that, some people still tried to go out on the Sabbath day of rest and collect food. This frustrated God. He asked,

How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions?

 

Remember, this is before God gave the complete law and the ten commandments to the nation at Sinai. They only had the very basic instruction, don’t collect more than you need for one day at a time. Simple, right? God had just swallowed up the armies of Egypt in the Red Sea. His power over nature should have been unquestioned. Yet, they couldn’t follow God in this just one very simple idea — trust God to provide today, and desire nothing more.

 

Why does God want His people to only be concerned with our nourishment one day at a time?

 

Worrying beyond our daily necessities can distract us from what’s important.

First, let’s just admit to ourselves that this is a very common human challenge. In some respects, we like to think ahead. For example, my wife buys groceries for our family. And when she goes out, she buys food for the entire week and stocks the pantry. Is there anything wrong with that? I don’t think so. That’s just practical. But many times, people are so concerned about tomorrow, that they’re no longer practical. Sometimes, we can become entirely consumed by what we need, or what we think we need, tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year. All the while, we can become so distracted by what we want to do for the future, that we forget what God does for us today. God is the one who provides for our needs.

 

On top of that, if we become so consumed with providing for our own needs, we can neglect the things that God wants us to do for Him and for other people.

 

Jesus told a parable that reflects this principle well in Luke chapter 12. He tells of a wealthy man who has an abundant harvest. Now that can happen sometimes. God frequently blesses people with more than they need. That, in of itself, isn’t a problem. But the question is what should one do with their overabundance?

 

In the case of this rich landowner, he has a very successful farm. He could have increased the wages of his workers. He could have given some of his abundance to the poor and needy in the community. In effect, he could have invested in eternal life and a relationship with God. Instead, he chose to save for his own life and for his own pleasure. He decides to build bigger barns and spend the rest of his life living off the abundance.

God said to him, "You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?"

 

While not everyone has an overabundance of riches, this is actually a very common human challenge — being so concerned with what we need for the future that we neglect the present. Worrying beyond our daily necessities can distract us from what’s truly important.

 

Jesus goes on to say this in Luke chapter 12,

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?... Why do you have so little faith? And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs (22–30).

 

So, Jesus is telling His followers to trust in God to provide. In other words, faith in God does fill our bellies. Does that mean we don’t have to work hard? Of course not. Faith in the Bible is never described as slacking off from our responsibilities to work. It just means that as we work, as we seek what we need for each day, we don’t trust in our own efforts, but trust that it is ultimately the work of God to provide for us.

 

But faith fills our bellies in more than one way. Trusting in God to provide, and not worrying about our needs for tomorrow, frees up a lot of time and energy. We can use all that time and energy spent worrying about the future to instead focus on other things today. So, if God is taking care of our basic needs, what should we be focusing on today instead?

 

Our focus should be on righteousness in God’s Kingdom

Instead of focusing on gorging our bellies, or storing more grain in our barns, or growing the amount in our savings account at the bank, we should be focused on growing our accounts in heaven. Storing up treasure in heaven implies two things. First, we are loving God with every bit of our lives. Second, we are loving others as much as we love ourselves. That means that our attention moves away from providing for just ourselves, and it moves toward providing for others. Loving God with our entire lives means that our energies are directed toward growing in His righteous ways, and our thoughts are less consumed with our own selfish ways. We can become consumed and satisfied with reflecting on God’s rule in our lives. That brings a type of satisfaction that is unlike anything we can put in our bellies. Instead of just filling our bellies, we can fill our souls.

 

Jesus continues in Luke chapter 12 by making these recommendations to His followers,

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be (31–34).

 

This sounds like the kind of life and treasure that I want! I don’t want to spend my days worrying about getting more stuff. I want to spend my days serving in the kingdom of God. I want to give my energy to those around me who need to see God’s love, and I want to share with them in God’s provision.

 

That’s the implication of praying the prayer, “Give us each day, the food we need” (NLT). When we say this prayer, and we really reflect it in our lives, we are basically saying, “God. I trust you to provide for me today. Give me better than things to worry about today than just providing for my own future.”

 

In Jesus’s famous Sermon on the Mount, he said this,

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6, NET).

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will trust God to provide them with what they need. Their main concern is with doing right and being right with God in His kingdom.

 

Conclusion

How about you? Do you have trouble worrying about your needs beyond today? I know you do! We all do. But hopefully this lesson has been encouraging to you. Hopefully you can start praying the prayer, “[Father] give us each day, the food we need,” and hopefully you can start living this prayer more faithfully in your life by remembering that God provides, by putting your anxieties in His hands, and by focusing your energy on living today according to His righteous ways.


Related Posts

bottom of page