Learning how to pray is very important because learning how to pray is learning how to commune with God. For the past few days we have been looking at the pattern Jesus gave us to pray. We looked at the first three petitions on behalf of God namely Hallowed be Your Name, Your Kingdom Come and Your Will Be Done on Earth As it Is In Heaven. Today we move to the next petition that we make on our behalf.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11
Timothy Keller in his book Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God says "To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything."
The first two words of the prayer are "give us". It is very simple, yet conveyed in those two words are the very basic nature of Christianity. We, who are needy children, ask God, our Heavenly Father, to give us what we lack.
WE are indeed to ask, but we also need to recognize the place of asking in the overall scheme of the pattern of prayer that Jesus gives. Our requests come After Hallowing His Name, After God's Kingdom Requests and After we pray for God's will.
The first petition that rises from the heart of a child of God to the Father is the petition surrounding physical need. The concept of bread here is really a symbol for all of our physical needs, probably encompassing the three basic needs, food, clothing and shelter. Bread then sums up the physical need, the temporal need or the basic necessities of life.
We need to understand that "Give us this day our daily bread," is not simply the prayer of a beggar, though it could be a prayer of one who has nothing for the very next meal. But it is also the acknowledgement of all of us that it is God who is the source of every physical provision. For some people it might be, "Lord, I dont have something to eat for my next meal. I ask You to give me my daily bread that You may be glorified in the provision." For us it might be, "Lord, You have supplied so much, and I thank You and I acknowledge You as the source, and I ask You to continue to provide with such graciousness, that Your name may be glorified." So whether you do not have and you ask to receive or whether you have and you ask to continute to receive, the petition is the same. It recognizes God as the source.
I feel it's also important to note the grammatical "person" that is used in this verse. It is not the first person singular, "give me my daily bread", but plural, "give us this day our daily bread." This is significant. Even as we come to the place in the prayer where we are to ask for our needs, here, we are not to be selfish in our praying. We are to pray for our own needs, to be sure, but we are also to keep it plural, and make sure that we include the needs of others in our prayers as well.
We see a great example of including others in our prayers during the last hours of Jesus on the earth. In John 17 which we call as "The Lord's Prayer", or His "High Priestly Prayer", the prayer which He prayed when Jesus was about to go to the cross to suffer and die. At that crucial time this is what Jesus prayed for his followers:
John 17:9 - "I ask on their behalf"
John 17:11 - I ask You, Holy Father, keep them in Thy name..."
John 17:15 - Keep them from the evil one.
John 17:17 - sanctify them in the truth
John 17:18 - that they may all be one.
Throughout Jesus' last prayer, Jesus was unselfish in His prayers, praying for the needs of His followers.
Dear Friends, this Lenten Season just like Jesus, can we come to God on behalf of people who need Him, sprititually, physically, or in whatever way, and lift them up to Him in prayer. May God help us in this endeavour. God Bless you all.
Matthew 6:11
Timothy Keller in his book Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God says "To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything."
The first two words of the prayer are "give us". It is very simple, yet conveyed in those two words are the very basic nature of Christianity. We, who are needy children, ask God, our Heavenly Father, to give us what we lack.
WE are indeed to ask, but we also need to recognize the place of asking in the overall scheme of the pattern of prayer that Jesus gives. Our requests come After Hallowing His Name, After God's Kingdom Requests and After we pray for God's will.
The first petition that rises from the heart of a child of God to the Father is the petition surrounding physical need. The concept of bread here is really a symbol for all of our physical needs, probably encompassing the three basic needs, food, clothing and shelter. Bread then sums up the physical need, the temporal need or the basic necessities of life.
We need to understand that "Give us this day our daily bread," is not simply the prayer of a beggar, though it could be a prayer of one who has nothing for the very next meal. But it is also the acknowledgement of all of us that it is God who is the source of every physical provision. For some people it might be, "Lord, I dont have something to eat for my next meal. I ask You to give me my daily bread that You may be glorified in the provision." For us it might be, "Lord, You have supplied so much, and I thank You and I acknowledge You as the source, and I ask You to continue to provide with such graciousness, that Your name may be glorified." So whether you do not have and you ask to receive or whether you have and you ask to continute to receive, the petition is the same. It recognizes God as the source.
I feel it's also important to note the grammatical "person" that is used in this verse. It is not the first person singular, "give me my daily bread", but plural, "give us this day our daily bread." This is significant. Even as we come to the place in the prayer where we are to ask for our needs, here, we are not to be selfish in our praying. We are to pray for our own needs, to be sure, but we are also to keep it plural, and make sure that we include the needs of others in our prayers as well.
We see a great example of including others in our prayers during the last hours of Jesus on the earth. In John 17 which we call as "The Lord's Prayer", or His "High Priestly Prayer", the prayer which He prayed when Jesus was about to go to the cross to suffer and die. At that crucial time this is what Jesus prayed for his followers:
John 17:9 - "I ask on their behalf"
John 17:11 - I ask You, Holy Father, keep them in Thy name..."
John 17:15 - Keep them from the evil one.
John 17:17 - sanctify them in the truth
John 17:18 - that they may all be one.
Throughout Jesus' last prayer, Jesus was unselfish in His prayers, praying for the needs of His followers.
Dear Friends, this Lenten Season just like Jesus, can we come to God on behalf of people who need Him, sprititually, physically, or in whatever way, and lift them up to Him in prayer. May God help us in this endeavour. God Bless you all.
Amen. Lord help us not to be selfish in our prayers
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