Give Us This Day
Give us this day our daily bread… Up to this point in The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus has been laying a foundation–one that establishes our relationship to God and his creation. When we recite the beginning of the prayer, we are thus engaging in an act of grounding, reminding ourselves that at the core of our existence we remain rooted in Christ. (1)
With the foundation complete, Jesus moves on to what many of us think is the business of prayer: asking for things. But as we mentioned in Chapter 2, prayer isn’t about asking for special favors. In fact, it isn’t even about “asking” at all–since, as Jesus says, God already knows what we need before we ask him. (2) So what is prayer about? The simplest answer is that it is about gathering and release.
When we think about gathering and Christ, the first image that comes to mind is probably the shepherd. Many of us see Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” (3) gathering his lost flock back within the fold of his love. This image is popular because Jesus often used sheep and shepherds as metaphors when he taught. He described those who deliver the gospel of Christ as lambs among wolves, (4) and those without Christ’s guidance as sheep without a shepherd. (5) He also warned us of embracing false teachers who come in the guise of innocent sheep but have sinister hidden agendas. (6)
What we don’t usually think about when contemplating gathering is the story of the prodigal son. We talked earlier about how this parable reveals the will of God as a matter of choice. But when we turn our attention to the son, and view the story through his eyes, the parable reveals a different lesson–which is the wonderful thing about parables: like crystals, they reflect new light (insight) as we turn them…
This is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Testament Gospels). A faith book especially suited for Progressive Christianity workshops, Bible Study Groups, Unitarian Christians, and all who seek a richer life. The book’s SBNR (Spiritual But Not Religious) meditation is richly supported by over 200 Gospel book citations.
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To read the next excerpt from The Lord’s Prayer Book, please go to The Lord’s Prayer – Gathering Our Inheritance.
