Contemplative Bible Reading

The phrase “daily bread” is one of the best known in the Bible. The best know use of it is in what we call the Lord’s prayer (here from Matthew 6:11).

Matthew 6:9-13 (New International Version) 9 “This, then, is how you should pray: ” ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Below is another use of daily bread. This one is from Proverbs 30.

Proverbs 30:7-9 (New International Version) 7 “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD ?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

What is daily bread? A literal interpretation is that amount of food I need to survive a day. I think this comes to about 2,000 calories for an adult male.

Using this interpretation, I don’t know if I want to pray Proverbs 30:8. Do I want God to only give me the food that I need for today? I would really like to have more than that. I guess that most of us would like to have more than that. A little spending money on the side seems reasonable to me.

Let’s try another interpretation of daily bread. One thought I have heard is that daily bread is the ability to live through whatever happens today. This fits the passage from Matthew a little better than that from the Proverbs.

Consider this idea: instead of praying, “God, give me a raise tomorrow when I meet with my boss,” pray “God, whatever the outcome of my meeting with my boss, give me the love, strength, patience, knowledge, the whatever I need to make it through the day and remain a faithful Christian.”

Instead of praying, “God, give me a clean bill of health when I talk to my doctor tomorrow,” pray “God, whatever the doctor tells me tomorrow, give me what I need to remember my blessings and treat the news as a way to love and serve You and my fellow man.”