Give us.--If we are to ask God to give us this day our daily bread, we must be dependent on Him for it. Although we are said to earn our bread, yet it is really God Who gives it to us. All the temporal goods that I possess come from Him. All that is required for the sustenance of life is His gift. He feeds me just as really as it I received each day from the hand of an angel what is necessary for my support. Grant to me, O Lord, a constant sense of my dependence on Thee, and a continual gratitude for Thy loving care.

Give us this day.--This petition is a practical admonition lest we, forgetting the warning of our Lord, be anxious about the morrow. As long as we do our duty, and use ordinary prudence, we need have no anxieties about the future. We must not shelter avarice and selfishness under the name of carefulness. Our Heavenly Father who cares for the fowls of the air, will not let His children want. Try to foster a strong confidence in His loving care, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added to you."

Give us this day our daily bread--We must not ask for luxuries, or expect them. "Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." God will give us what is necessary if we trust in Him, but He does not promise to provide what is superfluous. Beware of a discontented craving after earthly comforts which are not within our reach, or an envious feeling towards their possessors.