Pastor's Desk
March 5 , 2006
JESUS GAVE TO his disciples the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern or a template prayer. It is good for us to pray this prayer often, mediating on every word and phrase. By spending time reflecting on these phrases we can expand upon this prayer expressing our worship, thanksgiving and petitions to God in relation to where we are at in our lives at any given time.
In this prayer we are invited to address God as our Father. The scriptures teach us that we can expect what is best for us from our loving heavenly Father. The first agenda item of the prayer is “Hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9) As we pray this it means first of all, that we hold God’s name and character in highest respect and honour, setting Him apart as Unique. Further we want to see that he is honoured everywhere. The second agenda item of the prayer is "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) This is a declaration that we agree that God should come to rule in our lives and everything that we touch. This involves our being submitted to him in obedience as well as calling on God to intervene in the various areas that concern us here on earth. The third agenda item on the prayer is "Give us today our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11)
The term, daily bread speaks to our physical needs, the basic necessities of life. When Jesus invites us to pray this prayer he is teaching us that God is our source. After God created man He said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." (Genesis 1:29) He has provided for the sustenance of human life and he will continue to provide. While the people of Israel were in the desert for forty years he provided manna for them on a daily basis. (Exodus 16:4) Moses explained the reason for this:"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 8:3) By asking God for our daily bread we will come to understand that everything comes from him—both physical sustenance and spiritual blessing. This prayer for daily bread may appear to have more relevance to those who are living from hand to mouth. But it is equally significant to those whose who do not have to think about how they will get their next meal because we all need to know that it came from the hand of our heavenly Father.
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Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
will also supply and increase your store of seed and
will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
This page was last updated on Friday, March 3, 2006