A Kingdom Prayer -- Give us our daily bread
| Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew6:9-13) |
The baker bakes just enough bread for each day because any excess will be stale and will not be good or enjoyable. Secondly, the baker faithfully supplies the bread without fail because he knows that the whole community depends on that bread. Thirdly, the baker chooses the best ingredients so that the bread provides the nutritional needs of the people.
The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of faith, faith in God alone to supply us our daily portion. God is the ultimate supplier of our bread, our needs as individuals and as a church. Yet many times we prefer to be supplied from the bakeries of the world and to end up having too much cake in our possession, only to find that when they are not God given or God directed, the cakes cause us unwellness. Or we hoard bread in the form of possessions, positions, programs, people and their promises, because we fail to operate "by faith alone." We end up seeking salvation for our sorry situations in these excesses, yet we teach our children that any food taken in excess will give you a tummy ache.
The Kingdom of God is like the church which goes about its daily mission in the faith that God supplies what they need in the right portions and at the right time. The church that is not greedy for fast food success, or pop-star popularity, or politics style control.
It is a church whose modus operandi is one of a faith-based peace of mind, faith-based drivenness and a faith-based dependence on God. That is what Jesus meant by, "Give us today our daily bread." It is a humble yet confident request for security, God given security. Based on "faith alone."
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Lydia Neshangwe, minister at St Andrew's Presbyterian in Bulawayo, married to Paul and mum to two boys, and seeker of wholeness for all.
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