Wednesday, February 24, 2021

The Disciple's Prayer

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'" Matthew 6:9-13

"And He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'"" Luke 11:2-4

What does this phrase, "Give us each/this day our daily bread," mean? Some preachers have explained that during the first century they did not know where their next meal was coming from and so they prayed that God would give them that next meal. This explanation is completely false!

The literal translation of this phrase is, "The bread of us belonging to the coming day, give us today," and, "The bread of us belonging to the coming day, give us daily." The Greek here is ton epiousion (τὸν ἐπιούσιον), which means "for the coming day, for the morrow." There is a future element here. The bread of the coming Kingdom, the bread that Jesus said He would not eat again until the Kingdom comes, give us this bread today. They are praying for His return. Remember the words from Jesus' Revelation to John? "Come, Lord Jesus."