Thoughts on The Lord's Prayer: Daily Bread

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

If we have been in church for more than a few years, we know the Lord’s Prayer by heart and often recite it by rote.  Lately I’ve been thinking about the different parts in the prayer and I wanted to share my thoughts on the part in the prayer where we say “Give us this day our daily bread”.   

Most of us in Australia, have several days’ worth of food in our pantries or freezers so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to ask God to give us food for today, when we already have enough for today, tomorrow and into next week in the cupboard. 

I reckon asking God for ‘daily bread’ means asking God to spend time with us, to hang out and to share life with us.    And I also reckon that is what God wants too, or otherwise he wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble to put those lines in the Lord’s Prayer.  Right through the Bible God talks about his desire to spend time with us and to lavish his love upon us. 

When you spend time with God every day, it changes how you view church.  Church no longer means an hour or so a week focusing on God but instead, our gathering turns into a celebration of the past week with our God and encouragement for the week ahead, to keep on keeping on, to continue meeting with God and enjoying being in his presence.

What do you think?

Declarations

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has delivered from the hand of the adversary

Psalm 107:1, 2 (AMP)

I’ve been thinking a lot about declarations of late and how there is power in the words we speak.

To declare means:

• To make known formally or officially
• To state emphatically or authoritatively; affirm.
• To reveal or make manifest; show.

The words you speak are powerful; remember God spoke this whole world into existence by His Word.  Since we are created in His image, we have the power and authority to make declarations over our own lives.

Each week in church, we stand and repeat The Nicene Creed.  This Creed is a declaration of what we believe spiritually as a congregation.

On Sundays, when I take communion, I go back to my seat with the wafer in my hand and I make my own declaration to my Jesus.  This is a powerful reminder to keep my eyes on my saviour and all he has done for me.  It is also a reminder to me of where I stand in the sight of my Father God.

This is my own personal declaration:

“By your stripes I am healed,

By your blood, I am washed clean,

By your broken body, I am made whole,

By the crown of thorns you wore, I now wear a crown of salvation,

By your nakedness, I am clothed with a robe of righteousness,

And by your sacrifice and your substitutionary death on the cross, I can boldly stand before my Daddy God.  

Thank you Jesus for all you have done for me.”

What do you think of declarations?  Do you have your own? 

Harry the Asbestos Inspector

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  John 3:16,17

This week we had our church buildings inspected by a fellow named Harry, under instructions by the Newcastle Diocese.  Harry was looking for asbestos and other hazardous material, and in doing so, he spent a fair bit of time checking many places we normally don’t even bother to think about.  Harry has almost finished his work here in our parish and will soon write a report and tell us what needs fixing and if anything needs to be removed or replaced.  

This got me thinking.  We can be so used to the things around us that we don’t notice any flaws or deteriorations.   But it’s not just our physical surroundings that need the occasional inspection, we need to inspect our thought patterns from time to time and see if they line up with God’s truth.  

It’s easy to get obsessed with the idea that if we do better and try harder and obey all the “rules” we will get in good with God and he will like us a bit more than the times when we are not doing so well.  

There is nothing you can do today to make God love you more, and there’s nothing you can do to make Him love you any less… Beloved, it’s not enough that you know that God loves everyone. You need to know and believe that He loves you, and let that revelation burn in your heart, especially when you fail.  

God’s character is unchanging because he is unchanging.  We all have days where our emotions feel like they are on a roller coaster car but God thoughts towards us are always steady and always filled with love.

God loves you because his character is love. 

Sand between my toes

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I am awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18 (NIV)

Hubby and I decided to go to the beach this week, since summer has visited us early this year.  After a quick dip in the cool water, I sat on my beach towel and looked down at the sand between my toes.  

The grains of sand on my feet reminded me of the verses in Psalm 139 which says our Father God thinks good thoughts towards us all the time.  He doesn’t just think about us some of the time, or the times when we are in church or when we’ve been extra ‘good’ but all the time.  

I then lay down on the towel and listened to the waves pounding on the shore. I began to think about how waves are always heading towards the beach even when the tide is going out.  The waves never stop coming, even if don’t see or hear them they continue to land on the beach.  The relentless motion of the waves heading towards the beach is reminiscent of God’s love for us.  His love never stops coming, no matter if we are awake or asleep, if we are working or playing, if we are thinking of God or thinking about ourselves, His love never stops.  Our Daddy God loves us relentlessly and with a passion all the time.

The idea that God is always with me, always loving me and always thinking good thoughts about me, even when I am not thinking about Him is nothing short of mind blowing.  Don’t you agree?

This is Love

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.1  John 4:10-12

This past week saw widespread devastation around the area of Australia where I live, due to bush fires.  As I write this post, many fires still burn across NSW.  It’s been a tough week for residents in fire affected areas and a tough week for fire fighters.  Most of our fire fighters are from the RFS, the Rural Fire Service and are volunteers.  Without the heroic efforts of these firefighters, I’m sure more homes would have been destroyed and lives lost.  These courageous men and women have given up their own time for people they don’t know and who they may never meet.  

I know of one young man who was out fighting the fires in Salt Ash until 3am, managed a quick sleep before leaving for school to sit the first of his Higher School Certificate (HSC) exams. (The HSC is the highest award in secondary education in New South Wales. To be eligible for the award, students must complete Years 11 and 12, satisfy HSC course requirements and sit for the statewide HSC examinations.  The results of these exams determine the students elligibility to enter certain university courses or some job positions after school).  This young man could have been studying and worrying about his future, but instead, he spent the day and night protecting the property of strangers.  No one would have thought badly of him if he had ignored the call from the RFS but instead, was prepared before the alarm was raised.

This young man giving time so generously, made me think of the generosity of Jesus.

Jesus came to this world to show His love for us.  Jesus didn’t give a little of himself, he gave 100% of himself for those who may never acknowledge Him or may even claim to hate Him.   He knew this even when He was on the last journey to Jerusalem.  Jesus was well aware of the cross before Him but it didn’t slow Him down  one bit.  And he gave of himself generously for our past, our present and our future.  

I reckon the selfless acts of these firefighters should inspire us show love to those we don’t know and to do kindness for those who can never repay us.   Even if it costs us time, energy or money, even if we don’t know them, even if they are our enemy, because that is precisely what Jesus did for each and every one of us.