Give Us This Day (07/21/2026)

“Give us this day our daily bread.” I would wager that most of you have known that line like I have since childhood. It is buried in the center of the prayer we say more than any other. And sometimes I think we miss its importance. I know I did for the longest time. That was until a wise woman pointed out its centrality to my life – calling me to set down my anxieties about the future and acknowledge the LORD as the source of my existence and sustainer of my life.  

“Give us this day our daily bread” reminds me now every time I utter it of my essential dependence upon the LORD and my trust in Him. And it also reminds me of the need to be in frequent communication with my LORD – like at least daily! Daily I need to come to the LORD in all humility yet with faith, buoyed by the hope of He who has promised and has kept His promise, and filled with the love that I know sustains me. Every day is a new day. Every day new blessings come.  Every day I not only need sustenance, I need grace, I need the LORD’s love.

I am reminded of the Exodus story in the bible and the LORD’s gift of manna. The LORD was trying to teach the people, His people, about trusting and about relying upon Him. They were slow to catch on and complained frequently. But in time, they realized not only the need to rely upon Him but also that He kept His promises. The manna lesson wasn’t just for those on that 40-year trek, it was also for all of us who have come afterwards. Trust in the LORD daily.

So, as we continue on our journeys in faith, let us be people who daily turn to the LORD humbly imploring the LORD for what we need for the journey. Let us seek not only our physical sustenance but our spiritual sustenance. And let us daily grow in our confidence in our all-loving LORD who want what’s best for us more than we do for ourselves.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.