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PRAYER ROOMS

Tuesdays (online only today)

• 7:30am: 
• 9am:

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. 

PRAYER ROOMS

Tuesdays (online only today)

• 7:30am: online
• 9am: online  

PRAYER GUIDE

After focusing our prayers upward, for God’s name to be hallowed, God’s Kingdom to come, and God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven, Jesus guides us to begin praying for our needs. The first of these prayers is “give us this day our daily bread.” 

It is noteworthy that Jesus instructs us to pray in the plural – “give us this day our daily bread.” He does not tell us to pray “give me this day my daily bread.” Rather, this is corporate. We are not merely petitioning God for the things we need personally, but Jesus is inviting us to lump ourselves in with others. “Give us this day…” 

Who, precisely, is the us to whom he is referring? 

The “us” is expansive, not merely an “us” that refers to me and my best friends, or me and my church. Obviously, it starts there, just as the universe started in one location at the Big Bang…but then it keeps expanding, as far as we and our hearts will allow. This “us” is designed to open our hearts to include the entire Church of God…and beyond that…the whole human family. 

Jesus began the Lord’s prayer with “our father,” to remind us that God is the head of a family, of which I am part, but which extends far beyond me. Now in this part of his prayer he instructs us to ask our Good Father for our daily bread. When we pray for daily bread for ourselves, and our families, and our friends, and our community, and our city, and our nation, and our world, our hearts are stretched and expanded to be more like the Father’s own heart who loves all His children and wants good things for them.

For Response and Prayer:

• Who do you normally pray for?
• This morning, ask the Holy Spirit who He wants to expand your prayers to include.
• Spend a few minutes today asking who is on God’s heart today, and who He would like to be on yours?
• Pray for the folks or groups of folks God brings to mind, for God to give them their daily bread…the things they need today.

PRAYER ROOMS

Tuesday (online only today)

• 9am: online 

Praying for our Nation

Today is the 4th of July. It is the day Americans remember and celebrate the founding of our nation. We often think of our civic duty as being military service, or voting, or jury duty. As believers, however, perhaps our most important civic duty is to pray. 

American Christians are dual citizens – citizens of the USA but also citizens of heaven. Our primary citizenship is in heaven. Our capital is not Washington, DC; it is the New Jerusalem. And while our savior and our loyalty is in heaven, we are called to pray that God’s Kingdom would come to earth, and to America, as it is in heaven. 

Today, on the 4th of July, let’s pray for our nation. Whether you are praying alone, or with others, there is power in praying together. Below are a collection of prayers from the Book of Common Prayer that can guide us in praying for our nation. The bold words are to be prayed in unison, and the italics are prayed by a leader. If you’re on your own, pray through all of them. Allow these prayers to guide your own prayers today for our nation, which turns 247 years old today. 

Leader: Almighty God, giver of all good things: We thank you for the natural majesty and beauty of this land. They restore us, though we often leave damage and destruction in return.

All: Heal us. 

We thank you for the great resources of this nation. They make us rich, though we often exploit them. Forgive us. We thank you for the men and women who have made this country strong. They are models for us, though we often fall short of them. 

Inspire us. 

We thank you for the torch of liberty which has been lit in this land. It has drawn people from every nation, though we have often hidden from its light. Enlighten us. We thank you for the faith we have inherited in all its rich variety. It sustains our life, though we have been faithless again and again. 

Renew us. 

Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work here begun. Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice, and to abolish poverty and crime. And hasten the day when all our people, with many voices in one united chorus, will glorify your holy Name. 

Amen. 

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth. 

Lord, keep this nation under your care. 

To the president and members of the cabinet, to governors of states, mayors of cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties. 

Give grace to your servants, O Lord. 

To senators and representatives, and those who make our laws in states, cities, and towns, give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations. 

Give grace to your servants, O Lord. 

To the judges and officers of our courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served. 

Give grace to your servants, O Lord. 

And finally, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society, and that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy name. 

For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen. 

Take a minute to listen to the Holy Spirit, and let the Spirit guide us today to pray for our nation and our common life. 

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will. Amen.

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace. Amen.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son. Look with compassion on the whole human family. Take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts, break down the walls that separate us, unite us in bonds of love, and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth, that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne. Amen.

Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech you that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought here out of many nations and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to your law, we may show forth your praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in you to fail.

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Taken from the Book of Common Prayer