The Lord's Prayer

When we say: “Give us this day our daily bread,” the word “this day” signifies for the present time, in which we ask either for that competency of temporal blessings which I have spoken of before (” bread” being used to designate the whole of those blessings, because of its constituting so important a part of them), or the sacrament of believers, which is in this present time necessary, but necessary in order to obtain the felicity not of the present time, but of eternity.

44. Now comes the second part of the prayer, in which we descend to our own interests, not, indeed, that we are to lose sight of the glory of God (to which, as Paul declares, we must have respect even in meat and drink, 1 Cor. 10:31), and ask only what is expedient for ourselves; but the distinction, as we have already observed, is this: God claiming the three first petitions as specially his own, carries us entirely to himself, that in this way he may prove our piety. Next he permits us to look to our own advantage, but still on the condition, that when we ask anything for ourselves it must be in order that all the benefits which he confers may show forth his glory, there being nothing more incumbent on us than to live and die to him. By the first petition of the second part, GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD, we pray in general that God would give us all things which the body requires in this sublunary state, not only food and clothing, but everything which he knows will assist us to eat our bread in peace. In this way we briefly cast our care upon him, and commit ourselves to his providence, that he may feed, foster, and preserve us.…

But those who, trusting to God, have once cast away that anxiety about the flesh, immediately look to him for greater gifts, even salvation and eternal life. It is no slight exercise of faith, therefore, to hope in God for things which would otherwise give us so much concern; nor have we made little progress when we get quit of this unbelief, which cleaves, as it were, to our very bones. The speculations of some concerning supersubstantial bread seem to be very little accordant with our Savior’s meaning; for our prayer would be defective were we not to ascribe to God the nourishment even of this fading life….

We are enjoined to ask our bread, that we may be contented with the measure which our heavenly Father is pleased to dispense, and not strive to make gain by illicit arts. Meanwhile, we must hold that the title by which it is ours is donation, because, as Moses says (Lev. 26:20, Deut. 8:17), neither our industry, nor labour, nor hands, acquire any thing for us, unless the blessing of God be present; nay, not even would abundance of bread be of the least avail were it not divinely converted into nourishment. And hence this liberality of God is not less necessary to the rich than the poor, because, though their cellars and barns were full, they would be parched and pine with want did they not enjoy his favour along with their bread. The terms this day, or, as it is in another Evangelist, daily, and also the epithet daily, lay a restraint on our immoderate desire of fleeting good—a desire which we are extremely apt to indulge to excess, and from which other evils ensue: for when our supply is in richer abundance we ambitiously squander it in pleasure, luxury, ostentation, or other kinds of extravagance. Wherefore, we are only enjoined to ask as much as our necessity requires, and as it were for each day, confiding that our heavenly Father, who gives us the supply of to-day, will not fail us on the morrow….

When we ask God to give us, the meaning is, that the thing asked is simply and freely the gift of God, whatever be the quarter from which it comes to us, even when it seems to have been specially prepared by our own art and industry, and procured by our hands, since it is to his blessing alone that all our labors owe their success.

What is "daily bread"? It is our bread for one day.

Because he has told us to obey his commands in the same way angels do but also understands also that we are limited by our flesh, he does not require us to be free from our bodily passions. He knows that our bodily nature requires food. But note how even here he turns our attention to that which is spiritual. For we do not pray for riches, or delicacies, or for costly clothes, but only for bread. And specifically for our "daily" bread, that is only for the bread we need for one day.

And whats more he adds the expression "Give us this day;" so that we will not wear ourselves out worrying about tomorrow. For you do not know if you will even see tomorrow, so why do you submit to its cares?

“Give us this day our daily bread.” This may be understood in two ways, both spiritually and literally. First, Christ is the bread of life. This bread does not belong to all men, but only to those of us who call him “Our Father” because we understand and believe. Also it is “our” bread because we are in union with Christ’s body. So we ask that the Eucharist (the Lord’s Supper) should be given to us daily so that we may not, by the committing of some heinous sin, be prevented from partaking of the heavenly bread. That is to be separated from Christ's body.

As he himself says, He is the bread of life (John 6:58), so anyone who receives his body in the Eucharist is living, but anyone who is withheld from communion is separated from Christ’s body and is held at a distance from salvation (John 6:53). This is why we ask that our bread—that is, Christ—may be given to us daily, so that we may not depart from his sanctification and body. 

Second, the words may also be understood as asking only for our daily food and support since by faith we have renounced the world and rejected its riches and pomp. Just so we only ask for what is sufficient for today since we are prohibited from thinking about tomorrow. It is repugnant to seek to live long in this world since we ask that the kingdom of God should come quickly. And we should be content with what we have because the rich fall into temptations and lusts which drown men in sin and destruction.

72] Here, now, we consider the poor bread basket, the necessaries of our body and of the temporal life. It is a brief and simple word, but it has a very wide scope. For when you mention and pray for daily bread, you pray for everything that is necessary in order to have and enjoy daily bread and, on the other hand, against everything which interferes with it. Therefore you must open wide and extend your thoughts not only to the oven or the flour-bin, but to the distant field and the entire land, which bears and brings to us daily bread and every sort of sustenance. For if God did not cause it to grow, and bless and preserve it in the field, we could never take bread from the oven or have any to set upon the table. 73] To comprise it briefly, this petition includes everything that belongs to our entire life in the world, because on that account alone do we need daily bread.

The Fourth Petition. Give us this day our daily bread. What does this mean?--Answer. God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked men; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. What is meant by daily bread?--Answer. Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

"Give us this day our daily bread." -- In the three former petitions we have been praying for all mankind. We now pray more particularly for our own needs. Yet, even here, we are not directed to pray only for ourselves, but in this and all the following petitions we are directed to pray for the whole Church of Christ. 

By "bread" we may understand all things needful, whether for our souls or bodies. We here pray for the things pertaining to life and godliness. So we pray not only for physical bread but much more for the grace of God which is spiritual bread that grants everlasting life.

Many church Fathers understood this to also mean the sacramental bread of the Lord’s supper which was received daily and, until many in the church lost their love of it, believed to be the channel by which the Holy Spirit gave grace to our souls. 

The word we render “daily” has been differently explained by different commentators. But the most plain and natural sense of it seems to be this: That which is sufficient for this day; and so for each day.

We pray "Give us," for we do not claim to have any right, instead we ask this of God’s free mercy. We do not deserve the air we breathe, nor the fruit of the earth, nor the sun that shines upon us. We admit the only thing we deserve is hell. But God loves us freely; therefore, we ask him to give us our daily bread. We cannot procure it for ourselves, nor merit it from his hands.

Now, the goodness or the power of God is not a reason for us to be idle. He wills that we should be diligent in all things, and that we should act as if our success were the natural result of our own wisdom and strength. But then, as though we had done nothing, we are to depend on Him, the giver of every good and perfect gift.

We say "This day," because we are to take no thought for the morrow. This is why our wise Creator divided life into these little portions of time, so that we might look on every day as a fresh gift of God. Each day is like another life which we may devote to his glory. Every evening may be seen as the close of life beyond which we are to see nothing but eternity.