Matthew 6:11 Meaning and Explanation
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Jesus teaches us to ask God for what we need today, one day at a time.
The Context of Matthew 6:11
The fourth line of the Lord's Prayer, in the Sermon on the Mount. After praying for God's name, kingdom, and will, Jesus turns to our own simplest needs and shows that they belong in prayer too.
What Does Matthew 6:11 Mean?
After the great requests for God's kingdom and will, the prayer comes down to something small and daily: bread. Not a storehouse, not next year's supply, just enough for this day. Jesus teaches us to bring our plainest needs to God and to ask one day at a time. It echoes the wilderness, where God sent manna every morning and the people gathered only what that day required (Exodus 16:4). They could not hoard it; they had to trust again at dawn.
There is freedom in praying this way. We are not asked to carry tomorrow; we are invited to receive today from a Father's hand. And the One who taught us to ask for bread later called Himself the bread of life (John 6:35), the deeper food our souls cannot live without. He provides for the body and gives Himself for the heart, and He asks us to come back each day for both.
Matthew 6:11 in the Original Language
epiousios (ἐπιούσιος), 'daily' -- a rare word, likely 'for the coming day' or 'needful'; enough bread for now.
Where Matthew 6:11 Echoes in Scripture
The prayer recalls the manna of the wilderness, given fresh each morning: 'the people shall gather a certain rate every day' (Exodus 16:4). What could not be stored had to be trusted for daily.
How to Apply Matthew 6:11 Today
This short line frees us from carrying tomorrow all at once. We can bring God our real, ordinary needs and ask Him for just this day, trusting Him to meet us again at the next sunrise. The Father who feeds us bread also gives us His Son.