Give Us Daily Bread
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
– Matthew 6:25-27
What do you NEED? It is a different question than: What do you WANT? God doesn’t give us life to be filled with fear and anxiety. God wants us to thrive, not simply survive. When Jesus taught the disciples to ask for daily bread, he was encouraging them to bring their ordinary requests and needs to God – trusting that God would provide. It also reminds us to give thanks to God for all we have… to acknowledge that God is the one who gives us our food every single day. Sometimes we treat prayer like a Christmas wish list of all the things our heart desires, rather than the actual needs of our body, mind, and spirit.
Each section of the Lord’s Prayer aligns with the key themes of Lent: repentance, dependence, provision, forgiveness, and spiritual strength. This week we focus on our desires. Lent is a time to reflect on our priorities and make changes in our behavior. How is God calling us to give up some unhealthy habits or behaviors? How is God calling us to help meet the physical needs or spiritual needs or emotional needs of the people around us? Do we truly trust God to provide for our daily needs? Or are we consumed with ensuring our comfort and future stability
Jesus taught us not to worry about our life, what we will eat, or what we will wear. God knows we need those things and God will provide them. Thank you, Lord, for our daily bread. Please join us this season of Lent for a weekly prayer service each Wednesday at 6:30pm in the Main Sanctuary as we practice each portion of the Lord’s Prayer together.
PRAYER
One: We are invited to ask for daily bread. For ourselves and the people around us. For the people in places where droughts, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis have kept farmers from producing enough food.
All: Lord, in your mercy, feed those who are hungry, whether they are within walking distance of us or half-way around the globe. May we who have more than enough be more than aware, may we be generous and compassionate as you are with us. Lead us into the lives of the hungry, lost and left behind, that we might offer them a meal and the Bread of Life… We lift our hearts to you, giving you glory, honor and praise. And we give you every need, every desire, every dream in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
