Click above to listen to Bread of Angels as you read. If you enjoy, consider purchasing the song, album download, or CD from iTunes or stantonlanier.com (where sheet music is also available). There is also a popular YouTube video you may enjoy – Official Bread of Angels Video.

Where do you need provision most right now?

Life has taught me there will be times when provision is needed, and I may have little or no control over the outcome. In 2010-2011 the melody Bread of Angels was born out of experiencing things only God could do with regard to providing. Sometimes I see clouds in the sky reminding me of angels and this song. Sometimes life experiences teach me to keep surrendering and trusting. See below for some memories where I was in need and God provided, followed by the verses that birthed the music for Bread of Angels…

• Relationally. I didn’t even know or expect this one, but just yesterday my family and I ran into very dear friends who live several states away. We were precisely in the same place in the same moment. What a great surprise and blessing it was to visit and catch up!

• Financially. During Music to Light the World’s first ten years, there have been moments every year when we are not sure where the money will come from. God never does it the same way, but has used generous donors, supporting customers, concert opportunities, music licensing, and more to provide just in time financially.

• Logistically. When A Thousand Years was released in 2011, I was invited to be interviewed on a Toronto-based television program that reached a large audience across Canada (the show would include a live performance of Bread of Angels). In my excitement, I totally forgot to have my passport ready for the trip (it was locked in a safety deposit box over the weekend and my departing flight was on Sunday evening). All I had was a photocopy of my passport and my apology for forgetting the real thing. It is a long story, but amazingly I made it through seven checkpoints in the U.S. and Canada during the trip. Every customs agent would ask me questions, shake their head in disbelief, and then decide to let me pass through, including a secured screening area where I was instructed to wait for processing.

Our needs for “manna” provision can also be physical, spiritual, emotional, or can involve other life circumstances. These needs and Psalm 78:25 are why I composed Bread of Angels. What memory or verse can remind you to trust God for provision today? “…He (God) rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; He sent them food in abundance.” – Psalm 78:24-25