PRAYER ROOMS
Tuesdays (online only today)
PRAYER GUIDE
Last week, we focused on the “us” in this prayer, the community that this prayer implies and reminds us we are part of. We are praying, not just for ourselves, but for the us that expands to encompass the whole human community of which we are part.
This week, we focus on what we are asking for…daily bread. Bread was a staple in Jesus’ day. And it is a staple food in many communities today. To ask for daily bread is not like asking for daily prime rib or daily leg of lamb. It is not like asking for daily swordfish or daily lobster rolls. We are asking for our basic needs. For sustenance. Had Jesus lived in East Asia, perhaps he would have told us to pray for daily rice. Had he lived in Mexico, it could have been tortillas. Had he lived in Uganda, it might have been matoke (mashed plantains). Give us this day our daily bread means meet our basic needs. When we pray for bread we are not asking for a ferrari or even a tesla. We are asking for what we need.
The added layer for Jesus and his people, Israel, is that daily bread was a direct allusion to Israel’s history. In the wilderness, after their deliverance from Egypt and before their conquest of the Promised Land, God provided for Israel by giving them daily bread. God would cover the land with dew dried into bread each morning.
The lesson is that we can trust God to provide what we need for today. Next week, we will explore the daily element of the bread. But today, let’s sit with the idea that God wants to meet our needs, and he wants us to ask him for what we need. Jesus reminds us that because God is a good father, he will not give us a stone if we ask for bread. And so he wants us today and to confidently ask him for our real needs. He will answer us. And when tomorrow is today, he wants us to do the same thing then as well. And rather than extending our prayers endlessly into the future, he wants us to allow them to expand endlessly into the us we are praying for. God, give us our daily bread. Gives the basic needs to me, to my family and friends, and to the concentric circles of the human family that radiate out from me today.
God, bring people to mind today as I pray…and as you do…give me wisdom to know what they need today, and to ask you for these specific things on their behalf today. And when we ask for daily bread for ourselves and others every day, we will discover that our hearts have grown to become more like God’s own heart.
Finally, some of us struggle to ask God for things. We worry about bothering him. We worry he won’t care. If you had a child, and that child came to you hungry, asking for the basic necessities to keep them alive today, would you feel bothered? Would you ignore them? Would you overlook them or not care? And what if they came to you asking not for themself but for their little brother or sister, who was in need? Could you ignore them? And even if you could, you would be a being of pure love who loved the world so much you gave your only son to be the Living Bread that gave life to the world. Do you see? God cannot ignore your prayer for daily bread.
For prayer and reflection:
What do you really need today? Ask God boldly for these things.
Who does God bring to your mind from your family, friends, and loved ones? What do they really need today? Ask God boldly on their behalf.
What do your neighbors really need today?
What do your colleagues and coworkers really need today?
What does your city need today?
Now with the faith of a deeply loved child, go and ask your heavenly father for this bread today.
In Our Time 