Daily Bread

‘When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

‘Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

As we are three-part creatures — body, mind, and spirit — God knows that we have three basic needs:

1. Our daily bread — that which we need to survive physically. Not so little that we are forced to beg or steal, and not so much that we become complacent or ungrateful.

2. Forgiveness — that we need to mediate to others such that we do not become bitter and resentful, and mediated to us so we can be free from anxiety and fear.

3. Deliverance from evil — that we need to put first God, others, and the world around us, and have our being in the way of all that is holy, good, and true.

There is comfort in knowing that God knows what we need before we ask, but why then do we need to ask?

We can be a child of a parent and co-exist without ever speaking, but the very expression of our relationship is in our conversations over a slice of toast and a cup of tea at the breakfast table. We humans need to order and express our thoughts and feelings, and we do this in the form of a dialogue, and because we are in a relationship with our parent God, this dialogue of prayer is important to both God and us.

The content of our prayers matters too. When Jesus said not to be like the Gentiles who, "think that they will be heard because of their many words," he was talking about reciting empty platitudes, or going through the motions of praying. Your parent God does want to hear from you, and wants you to talk to them about what is on your heart and mind.

The Lord's Prayer gives us a framework on which to hang our heartfelt prayers. What do you need from God in terms of your daily bread? Who do you need to forgive and for what do you need to be forgiven? And in what ways are you putting yourself first and going down a path that is away from all that is holy, good, and true?

Loving God, who abides in heaven,
you are the Father and Mother of us all.
May your holiness be declared,
your justice be observed,
your will be embraced,
and your kingdom be established
on earth as in heaven.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
And from the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.