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GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

When was the last time you were hungry?  To be honest, I’m a little hungry right now as I write this, but I want you to think of the last time you were really, genuinely hungry.  Now let me throw this in … When is the last time you were genuinely hungry and did not know where your next meal was coming from?  I dare say very few of us reading this, if any, could identify with that circumstance.  So let’s break this particular part of The Lord’s Prayer down a bit.  When we ask for “bread” we are asking for:

All Of Our Physical Needs to Be Met

That means food, yes, but also clothes, shelter, warmth, health, medicine, rest … the basic needs that God has always promised us.  And there is another key thought of this prayer that we often miss…God is always the source of everything we need.

God … Abba … created the vegetation, the animals, the rain, the sun, and … man.  He is the Giver of all we need.  The phrase, “Give us,” insures that we recognize and remember that God’s provision has already been promised to us … and already provided for us.  “This day,” reminds us not to gaze or want beyond today.

Each day of this week’s repeated reading of The Lord’s Prayer, we have offered these short articles to encourage you to look at this example of how we ought to pray in a different and more focused way.  The words are so very familiar to most, if not all of us.  How long has it been since any of us took such small bites and counted each chew, breaking the truths down to their life-giving core nutrients?  Jesus gave this to us as an example of how to pray … this is our guide, our outline to effective prayer.

We hope you continue to read with fresh eyes, and taste with renewed and refreshed receptors.