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Lord’s Prayer, Part 3
(This study is part of our prayer journey with Ikon Community. Previous posts: Our Father / Your Kingdom Come)
Today we continue our week of focusing on the Lord’s Prayer by heading into the third petition of the prayer, found in Matthew 6:11:
“Give us today our daily bread.”
As we pray for God’s name to be hallowed and for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, we pray this simple petition; that God would grant us our “daily bread,” which refers to everything we need for day-t0-day life. It’s an image that hearkens back to God’s provision for the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings, providing manna to eat and sustaining their clothing so it didn’t wear out.
It’s a very simple request that we would be given what we need to continue to join with God in bringing his kingdom on earth.
This is the way children do it, isn’t it? If I discovered that my children were saving up scraps of leftover food in their beds, just in case we ran out, I’d have reason to be alarmed. A child in a healthy family trusts her parents to provide day by day. My children don’t fret over how much food is in the cupboards or monitor our supply of milk. They don’t ask for a box of crackers so they can spread them out over a week; they simply ask for a snack when they are hungry. This is as it should be.
Jesus teaches us to pray in the same way: asking for the things we need for today. Food and clothing, yes, but also for spiritual strength, emotional stability, grace to make it through another moment. Graham Cooke says there’s no such thing as good days or bad days, only days of grace. Sometimes you receive grace to enjoy the day. Other times you receive grace to endure the day. But either way, we pray for and receive the “daily bread” of God’s provision and grace day by day.
Prayer Exercise
Spend some time slowly reading through Philippians 4:6-7:“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Then, turn your attention and focus to God. Still yourself and become aware of his presence with you. Then work through the following exercise, based on an old Quaker prayer exercise:
- Start with your palms facing up, and let those things you are worrying about come into your mind.
- One by one, speak out those worries and imagine them filling up in your hands.
- Then, turn your hands over so your palms are facing down, releasing those situations and worries into God’s hands.
- Then present your requests to God – ask God for “daily bread” for each situation, each worry.
- After you have released your worries and prayed for provision, wait for the promised peace of God and rest in his presence.