4 - LORD'S PRAYER - the Servant's PetitionsSample

01 – Our Hunger!

“Give us today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11, NIV)

This request in the Lord’s Prayer reminds us of our very real need for food. It shows that even hunger and the stomach have their God-given importance, even though we also recognize the greater weight of the heart and the mind. No prayer or spiritual act can ignore the value of daily work and the bread we bring to the table—food that is often not easy to obtain for the hungry. God designed us to gain our bread through labor, which involves time, sweat, tears, and even a measure of distance from direct communion with the Father.

In those moments, our attention turns to earthly concerns rather than heavenly ones. We are not focused on God’s cause—His holiness and His Kingdom—but on our own needs. And from this point in the prayer onward, the one who prays begins to lay their personal concerns before God. This part of the prayer embraces the whole human experience.

But notice that the bread Jesus teaches us to ask for is “ours,” not just “mine.” That changes everything. It shows us that God does not delight in prayers that only revolve around ourselves. Our vertical relationship with Him is always tied to our horizontal relationship with those around us. That’s why Jesus teaches us that, as we bring our needs before God, we must also remember the needs of our brothers and sisters. If we fail to do this, we disconnect ourselves from the spirit of fellowship that this prayer calls us into, and we end up living in selfishness.

Daily bread gained through dishonest means is not blessed by God. It may feed the body, but it does not nourish the soul.

Our most basic needs make us equals, and when those needs are met together, we are united as brothers and sisters.