Luke 11:3

The third petition, the first one in the second group of petitions, deals with the disciples’ provisions. The parallel request in Matthew has the aorist tense indicating a simple act of giving (Matthew 6:11), but this one has the present tense suggesting a continuing daily provision. The ideas are complementary rather than contradictory.

Matthew’s prayer also has "today" stressing the present need whereas Luke’s prayer has "each day" pointing to the disciples’ continuing need for God’s supply. "Daily" (Gr. epiousion) not only means day by day but also carries the connotation of sufficient or necessary. [Note: Edwin M. Yamauchi, "The Daily Bread Motif in Antiquity," Westminster Theological Journal 28 (1965-66):147-56.] This idea may be primary in epiousion here since "each day" has already expressed the idea of God providing day by day.

"Bread" (Gr. artos) frequently represents food generally and probably does here too (cf. Luke 7:33; John 13:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:8). Thus it is improbable that Jesus meant that disciples should only request the barest necessities of life. The Jews in the wilderness learned to trust God for their food day by day (Exodus 16:4; Deuteronomy 8:6-10). People in Jesus’ day normally received their pay daily, so they understood this need too. It may be harder for us to remember that we are dependent on God for our daily sustenance since most of us do not live from hand to mouth so literally. Nevertheless we live in a state of continual dependence on God (cf. John 15:5). This petition should remind us of that.