The Lord’s Prayer · piece 19 of 26
The Fourth Request
From Luther’s Small Catechism, 1529
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Give us today our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)
What does this mean?
Truly, God gives daily bread to evil people, even without our prayer. But we pray in this request that He will help us realize this and receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What does "Daily bread" mean?
Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as: Food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money, possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors and other things like these.
In plain words
God gives food and daily needs to everyone, even to bad people, even without prayer. In this prayer you ask God to help you see that everything you have comes from God. You also ask for a thankful heart. “Daily bread” means everything you need for life, like food, clothes, a home, family, good government, peace, and health.
Our summary of Luther’s explanation, for reading after his words, not instead of them.
Where Jesus says it
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Matthew 5:45 Jesus says the Father sends sun and rain to both good and bad people.
Read Matthew 5:45
45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
Translated by Robert E. Smith for Project Wittenberg (revised 2004) and placed in the public domain by the translator. How we checked it, and the whole Catechism on one page