Give us each day our daily bread

Heavenly wind breathe into me

your life renewing love

and send me out, fresh made, today

to feed your hungry world with bread.

Give us each day our daily bread

This phrase of the Lord's prayer has a particular poignancy if you are a mother in a refugee camp with hungry children to feed, or a homeless disciple relying on the generosity of those you meet along the way.

 What does it mean for me, living in a particular part of the world where wondering where my next meal is coming from is never part of my daily anxieties? I think this petition is needed more in the affluent west, as we forget the one who is the giver of everything.

We need to be mindful of those who are still in need, those begging on the street and those reliant on food banks. Our request is in the plural, it is not just my daily bread but also my neighbour's. If a friend comes knocking at my door at midnight, will I get up, trampling over animals and children, to give him what he needs?

A story is told of Mother Theresa who heard one night of a poor mother with hungry children who had not eaten for days; so she went out with a bowl of rice sufficient for their needs. However as soon as the mother received her gift, she disappeared into the night to return with only half her rice. She remembered that her family was not the only one that was starving.   

We do well to remember that story as we recite the Lord's prayer.

Of course this phrase of the Lords prayer has deeper meaning than physical bread, although this must remain primary.

The author of the prayer was himself the bread which gives life to the world,  " Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst."

To His first Jewish hearers, the image would be rich in imagery from their own scriptures. Moses asked God to provide for the people who complained about their lack of food and were given bread from heaven, each family had enough to feed them the next day, but they always had to come back for the next day's supply, except on the Sabbath, when there was enough on Friday for the next day. 
The word for daily in the Greek, "epiousios", is found exclusively in the two gospel accounts of the Lord's prayer, so the exact meaning is difficult, but widely translated as an ample sufficiency, which we can trust our loving Father for each day. 
Jesus himself amplifies the phrase with his word picture of an earthly father giving good gifts to his children, so how much more will your loving heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask?
So let us "ask, seek and knock", so that we can become totally dependant on our Loving Father who will give us more than we can ask or imagine. Even the amazing gift of His Holy Spirit filling and flowing out of us to a needy, hungry world.