The Fourth Petition.
Which is the Fourth Petition?
Our Father who art in heaven, Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean?
God gives daily bread indeed without our prayer, also to all the wicked; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What, then, is meant by "daily bread"?
Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
1. For our daily bread our Lord bids us pray in this petition. By daily bread everything is meant that belongs to the support and wants of our body, everything we need to support our life. Our Catechism enumerates quite a number of such things. For all these things we pray as far as we need them for our daily bread. We do not pray for riches, for many comforts or luxuries, but for that which we need. We pray: "Give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full, and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." Prov. 30,8.9. The apostle says: "Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." 1 Tim. 6,8.
2. We pray for our daily bread. "God gives daily bread indeed without our prayer"; He gives it "also to all the wicked," who cannot and will not pray for it. "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Matt. 5,45. If God gives daily bread without our prayer, why, then, do we pray for it? "We pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it," that is, we pray that God may lead us to know that our daily bread, all we have and receive in this life, is His gracious gift. Wicked, unbelieving men do not acknowledge this. They believe that they are earning their daily bread by means of their labor or receiving it by other natural means. Christians also often forget that all their earthly goods are the gift of their Father in heaven. Therefore we pray that God would grant us to know that every good gift comes from above, from Him, our Father. "The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." Ps. 145,15.16. When we acknowledge this, we shall receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. Then our daily bread, all our earthly goods, will be a blessing to us, a blessing for both our body and our soul. Knowing that our daily bread is God's gift, we receive it with thanksgiving; therefore we pray before each meal and, having finished it, say grace.
3. Our Lord tells us to pray for our daily bread. It is true, our daily bread is the gift of our Father in heaven, but He will generally bestow this gift upon us by means of our labor. God wants us to work, and He will provide what we need for this life. The bread that we eat should be the bread that is honestly coming to us. "If any would not work, neither should he eat." 2 Thess. 3,10.—We do not say my, but our bread, because we include our neighbor in our prayer, asking God to give also him his daily bread. This reminds us of our duty willingly to help our neighbor whenever he is in need and want. Our Father in heaven very often gives us more than we need for our own support and the support of our family; He does this for the purpose that we may have to give to those that are in need. God, then, desires to give our neighbor his daily bread through us. "Deal thy bread to the hungry." Is. 58,7.