You likely pay more for bread today than at any other time in your life. The same could be said for meat, milk, eggs and many other staples. Prices for these commodities are approaching double what you paid in the pre-pandemic world. Walking the grocery aisle is an anxious experience for many. Putting bread on the table is getting harder. It makes you wonder: How hard will it get?

However, God actually tells us not to worry about this question.

Note Jesus Christ’s own words: “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:30-32).

God knows every detail about our lives. A price hike, a disrupted supply chain, a surge in inflation, or whatever challenge we face is no problem for the God who lifts the sun into the sky every day. However, His diligence to supply our needs is conditional upon what motivates us every day.

Jesus’s next words were, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (verses 33-34).

Consider how God feels about those who are Kingdom-oriented in their thinking, living and planning. God is perfect, absolutely true to His word. He promises to supply the needs of those who seek His Kingdom first. That doesn’t mean a cushy life of ease. Oftentimes He tests and tries us, makes us wait on His promises, and helps us to see wants and needs the way He sees them (e.g. James 1:2-4).

Are you seeking God’s Kingdom first? Examine your daily prayers as a gauge. Earlier in Matthew 6, Christ taught His disciples how to pray. “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (verses 9-10).

This Kingdom-focus should be evident in our prayers and prioritized correctly. Once it is, then Christ instructs us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (verse 11). God knows our needs, but He still expects us to ask Him to provide.

This is crucial: Jesus instructs us to ask God for our daily bread. He said to take no thought for tomorrow (verse 34). You need not be anxious about the affordability of bread tomorrow—as long as you’re seeking the Kingdom first today.

Let me give you an example. In the late 1920s, God called Herbert W. Armstrong into His service. After suffering several severe business reversals, along with the onset of the Great Depression, the Armstrongs entered a period of poverty that lasted 28 years! They sought the Kingdom of God first and learned to rely on God for their daily needs. This taught them how to rely on God to carry out the Work of God that He called them to accomplish.

Beginning in 1933, Mr. Armstrong broadcast weekly on radio. On his show, the World Tomorrow, he preached the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God. By 1942, an opportunity opened for daily broadcasts. But this transition to daily production meant a staggering increase in expenses. Mr. Armstrong knew this was an incredible opportunity, but did not know from where the money would come. Each week of programming had to be paid for in advance. He called the Church office and was informed that the balance in the bank at that moment was the exact amount of one week’s daily broadcasting.

“Well, even if it was our last dollar, God had supplied today’s need for this colossal opportunity He had opened to us! Jesus’s sample prayer teaches us to ask, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ … God had opened now the biggest door so far. He had supplied the immediate need of that particular day” (Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong).

He wrote the check, and daily broadcasting began. Mr. Armstrong didn’t worry about the following week, or any week thereafter. “I decided that was God’s problem and responsibility.”

There was an immediate substantial boost in response from listeners. And even though Mr. Armstrong never asked for contributions on the air, there was also an increase in financial support!

“On the day the second week’s advance payment for radio time was due,” Mr. Armstrong wrote, “I telephoned our office …. The money for the second week’s broadcasting was in the bank! And, a week later, there was enough for the third—and then the fourth, and on and on! God continued, week by week, to supply the need!”

Examples such as this demonstrate God’s faithfulness and care. These experiences are vital to remember, because life will get more difficult. New challenges and unexpected obstacles will interfere with daily living. But we have God promises! Seek first the Kingdom, and our daily needs will be supplied. And as life gets harder, the aching need for God’s Kingdom will grow ever stronger. That need, too, God will one day soon fill!