We have needs every day, but we also need a daily reminder that God loves us and he wants us to depend on him for our everyday stuff.
Last year I joined the little gym, I started back to the gym slowly, you know so I didn’t pull a muscle that would have me sidelined for a week. I regularly walk at the Ney Center so we thought walking on a treadmill during the winter would be good. After starting slowly, I decided I was going to go to the gym every day, no matter what. And you know what I did. For one whole week I went to the gym every day. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the evening at least once after everyone was in bed I made my way to the gym to keep that commitment. And you know what happened the next week? I made it to the gym 3 days out of 7. After that I made it to the gym here and there. I bumped into Curt a few times and we talked while we walked and lifted weights. The sun came out, the snow melted and I walked at the Ney Center, Heidi and I walk around the neighborhood. But you know what, I haven’t exercised every day since that week at the gym.
There are things that I do every day. I eat something every day. I eat healthy one day and I eat pizza for all 3 meals the next day. I sleep every night. But my schedule is all over the place. I go to bed late, I wake up early. I’m practicing some new healthy habits like eating breakfast, vitamins, vegetables, yogurt with all those probiotics, and chamomile tea before I go to bed. And I emphasize the word "practice" because I haven’t done all of them daily in a while, but I’m learning.
So I have to admit, while I encourage you to pray the Lord’s Prayer every day, I don’t. I pray the Lord’s Prayer or a prayer inspired by the Lord’s Prayer, almost every day, but I don’t pray it every day. I miss days, and then I do it the next day, and you know what, that’s ok. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray and as we practice praying we learn to talk to God. So today as I encourage you to pray daily, to pray the Lord’s prayer daily, please hear me, there is no law in the Bible telling us to pray daily, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good habit. And when you miss a day, God isn’t waiting to hammer you, he is with you every day.
I don’t do anything daily well. I don’t do those daily challenges on FaceBook or Instagram very well. My friend Brandon nominated me to post a daily prayer on social media but I had to ask him if we could do 5 days instead of 10 because I’m not sure I can make a daily commitment for 10 days in a row. And even as I type those words I feel lame. How is that possible that I can’t seem to pray the Lord’s Prayer every day? I’m not anti-prayer, it’s something I want to do, so why can’t I keep on track? My short attention span is usually a result of my overwhelming self-centeredness, I have a tendency to do what I want when I want it and get more caught up in whatever flashes through my mind that doing the good things that God has planned out in advance that I might walk in them.
This is one of the areas that we know that God desires us to pray like this daily, everyday prayers for everyday stuff. Yes, God cares about our everyday stuff. We have everyday needs, that’s why we pray this prayer daily. We have needs every day, but we also need a daily reminder that God loves us and He wants us to depend on Him for our everyday stuff. Our everyday stuff that meets our everyday needs come from God. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” The more we recognize that all the good stuff comes from God and not from me and my hard work, the more we live in worship and thankfulness.
Luther in his Small catechism explains that what we mean when we ask God to provide our daily bread is really asking God to provide everything we need every day, “Everything required to satisfy our bodily needs, such as food & clothing, house & home, fields & flocks, money & property; a pious spouse & good children, godly & faithful rulers, good government; seasonable weather, peace & health, order & honor; true friends, faithful neighbors, and the like”
When we pray “Give us this day our daily bread” we are praying for so much more than bread. I mean, what’s bread without a little something to make a sandwich. But seriously, as we ask God for bread we are really asking God to provide all of our needs. We are more than a body, we need more than bread to live and function. We have bodily needs like appropriate food and clothing, house, and home. We need a job, income, we need more than physical stuff too, we need peace. I often ask people how they are doing? It’s a greeting but I am interested in knowing how you’re doing. How are you doing physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians 4:19-20)
As we pray for our daily bread we are not praying only for ourselves, not only for our family, not only for our church or our neighbors, but we are praying for all people. I pray that no people should have to live in fear. I pray that my neighbors be treated with love and respect. As we ask God to provide our daily needs our country is being torn apart. We need peace and healing that only God can provide. Give us this day the restoration of our daily relationships.
We are praying this prayer together and not solo, give US this day OUR daily bread. As we pray the Lord’s prayer daily, we daily recognize our need, we daily confess that we are not in this alone. We pray “our daily bread”
This is part of our prayer life, praying for OUR daily stuff in our day-to-day lives, our friends, and our family. You are not alone, by grace thru faith we are adopted into God’s family. So as we pray “Give us this day our daily bread” we pray together, fo you, for me, for your family, for your neighbors. As we pray together for each other and our neighbors, we are asking God to give us everyday stuff every day. Every day we have physical needs. Every Day we have mental needs. Every day we have emotional needs and every day we have spiritual needs.
