Chreia (G5532) is the straightforward word for need โ what is necessary, what is lacking, what must be supplied. It appears in one of the most quoted promises in Scripture: 'My God will meet all your needs [chreian] according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus' (Philippians 4:19). The word is disarmingly simple โ it just means need. But who meets it transforms everything.
John 2:25 says Jesus 'did not need [chreian] any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.' Matthew 6:8 says the Father knows our chreian before we ask. Acts 2:45 and 4:35 describe the early church distributing to each according to their chreian โ a community without unmet needs. Chreia grounds both prayer (bring God your needs) and community (meet one another's needs).