Saturday 25th May
Read Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray:
‘“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.” (NIVUK)
Halfway through the prayer turns from God’s concerns to the concerns of ourselves and others. The phrase we pray is almost lost on folk who regularly do a weekly shop! In Jesus’ time people literally earned enough in a day to feed themselves for a day. It was an farming, hand-to-mouth society for many, as illustrated in the parables. To pray for bread for today was to place your most pressing concern before God.
The incongruity of the request is lost today. We have spent time in prayer asking for the kingdom of the skies, where God’s rule is unchallenged, to be made manifest here on earth. For the King to be recognised as King. Hallowed and honoured and obeyed.
Then we ask for food. We ask for food from the King of the universe.
In one sense God is precisely the right person to approach for such a boon. The universe is His, bread is easy. Yet consider the nature of the relationship with the King to even dare ask for something so trivial. Every day. It is the kind of request a child expects of a parent. Every day.
‘Our Father in heaven, …’
