Manna. The bible describes manna as a white flaky substance that looked like coriander seeds, and tasted like wafers made with honey. Manna was the heavenly food that God provided for the Israelites during their forty-year sojourn through the wilderness. God spoke manna into being, and for 6 days/week, this food from heaven never failed to appear with the morning dew. Manna sustained the Israelites for decades, providing them with all the nutrition they needed on their pilgrimage to Canaan, their promised land.

Manna was physical evidence of the word of God that was manifest daily for the Israelites. They literally lived and survived on the words that had proceeded from the mouth of God- fresh manna almost every morning. That was the lesson of manna for the Israelites: that their daily survival depended on God’s word being activated as physical food (manna) to feed them.

Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 

Deuteronomy 8:3 NLT

You see, in the desert, God cautioned the Israelites not to save manna overnight but to expect a new batch everyday (except for day 6 where they would have to take extra to account for not working on the sabbath). Those who did not believe God’s word stocked up and the next day the manna became maggot-ridden. Those who also went out to gather manna on the sabbath were sorely disappointed. The Israelites had to rely on the very word that came out of the mouth of God. Any deviation from those words led to epic disappointments in their daily sustenance.

Fast-forward to the New Testament and we see Jesus teaching the disciples to pray. He taught them to pray thus:

Our Father 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.

Matthew 6: 9-11 NLT

This statement would have resonated with the disciples who would have been familiar with the story of their ancestors eating manna in the desert. Jesus was teaching the disciples that just as the Israelites depended on God then for their daily bread (manna), so were they to depend on God for their daily sustenance. Manna was not about physical food only; it was about learning to trust in the word of God as what sustains life.

When we pray, “give us this day our daily bread,” we should not only be concerned about our physical and material needs. We need to be asking God for his life giving word, our manna, for the day. We ought to be praying, “God, what word do I need to survive the day?” We should be connecting to the source of life, which is the word of God. Jesus reminds us that the words he spoke (and continues to speak over us) are spirit and they are life (John 6:63 KJV).

So instead of only making a barrage of requests to God to meet our physical and material needs, would you consider thinking of your daily bread as a life-sustaining word from God? If so, then next time when you pray, ask God to give you a word for the day: one that would not only nourish your body but will also feed your soul. Perhaps you might want to pray:

My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!

Psalm 119:25 ESV

Now lets take this a little deeper. John 1:1 tells us in no uncertain terms that Jesus is the word of God personified. And if Jesus is God’s word, then He is the manna I have been talking about so far. Jesus is the life sustaining word we need on a daily basis. Jesus Himself confirmed this to over 5000 people who had just witnessed Him perform an epic miracle of providing food for them. They said:

Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 

John 6:31-35 NIV

Jesus is our Manna and our daily bread. So when Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray “give us today our daily bread,” He was essentially saying to them just ask for more of him. Earlier I challenged you to pray for a word from God everyday. Well, if you are unsure how to pray for this, then just pray for more of Jesus everyday. He is the word of God, and your daily bread of life.

I encourage you to pray “give us our daily bread” every day throughout the month of March and see how God answers that prayer. I can guarantee that you notice a difference in your month: You will experience more of Jesus!

Yours truly.