Listen to Article
Perhaps you, together with countless others, have tried (or continue) to use one of the many variations of the low/no carb diets that have gained significant attention over the past few decades. There actually is plenty of good sustenance out there without the carb-rich foods… but the bagel and the burger bun, the savory croissant and the cinnamon roll are certainly out. And yet, even if you are dedicated to “no carbs,” the 4th petition of The Lord’s Prayer is still very much for you:
Give us this day our daily bread.
Luther, in his large catechism, says of this simple little prayer: “Here we consider the poor bread basket — the needs of our body and our life on earth” (Tappert – Book of Concord; Large Catechism – p. 430). Far from the Christian forsaking a “no-carb” way of life, this is a simple prayer prayed by the Christian for anything and everything our poor, needy body requires for life and well-being on the earth. The prayer teaches us of our needs with the term “bread” serving to summarize every provision supplied by our gracious God — supplied to the righteous and the unrighteous just the same (Matthew 5:45).
But as we learn to see ourselves as “poor bread baskets,” we are driven to our Father, who is rich with gifts — “Everything,” in fact, “which we need for this body and life”:
food and drink, clothing and shoes, house, home, fields, cattle, money, goods, God-fearing spouse and children, faithful servants and good government, good weather, peace, health, order, honor, true friends, good neighbors, and the like. (Small Catechism, 4th Petition)
So rich is the Father with these “daily bread” gifts that Luther reminds us they are given “without our asking.” Even when we have often failed to petition for such gifts from our gift-rich Father, the daily bread has still poured forth. This prayer isn’t an application for gifts but acknowledgment of them and especially teaching us the Christian virtue of “thanksgiving” to our Father who is so abundant toward us with all that we need.
But the Devil is cunning and crafty. He knows us and how quick we are to turn gifts from God into trials and temptations for ourselves. In fact, the Devil shows us our flesh’s great vulnerability with “daily bread” when he tempts the famished flesh of Jesus in the wilderness: “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread” (Matthew 4:3). We are so easily and so often lured into living life, as Jesus says, “by bread alone.” We replace the Bread of Life — Jesus Himself and the Word and promises of God that gift Him to us — with our love for daily bread. Daily bread is like the manna that God caused to fall from heaven: it is sustenance for today, but it is spoilage for tomorrow.
Right on the heels of our prayer for “daily bread” is the petition our Lord gives to us that is bursting with the Bread of Life:
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Where daily bread gives for the well-being of the body for the day at hand, here in the forgiveness of sins is given The Bread of Life. Here is the Bread that delivers the day that never perishes, never spoils, never fades. The forgiveness of your sins, dear Christian, the Eternal Day. This is the gift from God that delivers Heaven itself. This Bread is so full of wealth and richness that it is the gift that keeps on giving. In Christ’s death and resurrection, we have received from the Lord’s hand “double (payment) for all our sins” (Isaiah 40:2). The Bread of forgiveness is so replete with Life for you and me that it is meant to be given out by us to those around us. It’s been said before that the Gospel — the good news of Jesus for sinners — is nothing more than one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread. When your pastor announces the forgiveness of your sins in Christ, that is nothing other than one beggar announcing to another where the living bread is. When your spouse says “I forgive you” or when you say the same to your mother or father, THE BREAD is being passed — the bread that delivers Life for the Eternal Day with God and all the saints. “Lord, give us this bread always!” (John 6:34).
The Fourth Petition
Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean?
God certainly gives daily bread without our prayer, even to all the wicked; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to acknowledge this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily bread?
Daily bread includes everything needed for this life, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, fields, cattle, money, goods, God-fearing spouse and children, faithful servants and rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, order, honor, true friends, good neighbors, and the like.
The Fifth Petition
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
What does this mean?
We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins, nor on their account deny our prayer; for we are not worthy of anything we ask, neither have we deserved it. But we pray that He would give us everything by grace, for we daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment; and we on our part will heartily forgive and readily do good to those who sin against us.
-Rev. Kyle Madson