Bless UsDo you pray the Lord’s prayer often? When I attended a denominational church it was part of our Sunday morning service. Now that I attend a nondenominational church we do not say it routinely, however, I love it. Whether spoken or sung, the words are soothing to my heart.

Yesterday, at our prayer meeting we prayed through the Lord’s prayer and my mind camped on one part of it for the day.

Give us this day our daily bread.” [Matthew 6:11]

I’ve always understood that to mean more than just food, but rather give us what we need for the day.

As I pondered it all day, the Lord brought to mind when He literally gave the Israelites daily bread. It was during their time of Exodus, when they were in the desert for 40 years. He sent them manna, daily bread.

If you look up the word manna in the book of Google, you’ll find,

man·na

ˈmanə/

noun

  1. (in the Bible) the substance miraculously supplied as food to the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. 16).
    • an unexpected or gratuitous benefit.
      “the cakes were manna from heaven“

    • (in Christian contexts) spiritual nourishment, especially the Eucharist.

I went to Exodus 16, where manna first appears in the Word. God tells Moses that He will provide bread from heaven in Exodus 16:4, but He was clear in His instructions.

  1. Each day gather just enough for that day [verses 16-18].
  2. On the sixth day of the week, they were to gather twice as much so they wouldn’t have to gather on the Sabbath [verse 5].
  3. Moses told them NOT to keep the leftovers [verse 19].

That seems pretty basic, right? Take what you need for you and your family. Use it and then get rid of anything you have left. Don’t hoard it. Fully rely on the Lord.

Not surprisingly, some of the Israelites ignored Moses and chose to keep some of the manna overnight. What they found in the morning was gross. Maggots and a terrible stench greeted them [verses 19-20].

Today we pray for the Lord to give us our daily bread. We don’t go out in the yard and gather up food like the Israelites. We pray for the Lord to provide for us what we need and He is faithful to do so, whether we’re in a desert in life or sitting comfortably in an air conditioned home.

There are so questions we need to think through though:

  1. Do we give away the excess of our time, our resources, and our blessings?
  2. Or do we hoard them, hoping to keep them for ourselves only to find they’re full of maggots and stinking?

Whatever God gives you, isn’t intended for just you. It never was. In His economy we are blessed by God to be a blessing. We use what we need but also share, even when there doesn’t appear to be excess. That’s how we fully rely on God.

What has God given to you today that is intended to not only bless you, but to be shared with others?