Give us each day the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Luke 11:3-4 (NLT)

Daily Bread – Teach Us How To Pray – Part 5

Go to PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7

Jesus subtly references a time, hundreds of years before, when the Israelites were wandering in the desert, hungry, homesick, and lost. God caused little cakes or bites of bread to appear every morning, and the people would collect just enough of it to feed them throughout one day. No more. No less. They called it Manna and they praised God for providing them with this “daily” bread.

This prayer is not individualistic. Jesus didn’t say,”this is how you pray: “give ME this day MY daily bread…” No, the whole prayer is ‘we’ not ‘me.’ Give us… all of us… our daily bread.

Sometimes I pray this prayer out of a sense of lack. “Give me what I need God.” When most of the things I think I need are, in reality, wants. I chuck fits and tantrums when I don’t have enough money to go to concerts or on overseas holidays.

I complain when I don’t have enough money to go the fancy restaurant down the road for dinner. I grumble when I can’t afford to buy (another) new outfit this week because I simply don’t have anything to wear.

Give US this day OUR daily bread.

Oxfam estimates that by 2020, 54% of the world's wealth will be owned by 1% of the population. 99% percent of the world’s population is left to share in the left-over 46%.

“The world produces 17% more food per person today than 30 years ago. But close to a billion people go to sleep hungry every night. The problem is that many people in the world don’t have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food. Hunger is not a random condition.” (Article by Oxfam – There Is Enough Food To Feed The World)

One in seven children worldwide (158 million) has to go to work every day so that they, and their families stay alive. (Unicef, Progress for Children.)

One billion people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water and about every 19 seconds, a mother loses a child to a water related illness (Unicef and Charity Water).

More than 43 million people worldwide are now forcibly displaced as a result of conflict and persecution. (United Nations.) And forcibly displaced is stating it nicely. They’re living in camps (although that term is generous), or on the run, vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation.

It’s estimated that over half of the world's population lives on less the $2USD a day. More than 50% of all the people alive right now. And 1% of the world's population own roughly 50% of the world's wealth. AND we have enough food to end world hunger, right here, right now.

Our towns and cities are the homes of the homeless, the abandoned, the lonely and the hungry, too.

Give US this day OUR daily bread.

Look, I get it. There’s more to it than just feeding everyone, right? There're wars and governments and policies and protocols; the right way to do things, and who was next in line, and who deserves it and who’s worked for it, and who do we deem worthy of a handout…

“…and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

I kinda get the idea that Jesus doesn’t care much for our bureaucracy. His kingdom is a little different than ours, after all.

Forgiveness, in this sense, is less about right and wrong and who says sorry first, and who takes the high road and forgives. It's more about leveling the playing field. Building bridges. Tearing down walls of division. Forgiving debts. Forgiving divisions. Opening borders. Grace. Mercy. Compassion.

Frederick Buechner said: “Go where your best prayers take you.”

And I think if you’re praying, “give US this day OUR daily bread,” the prayer will take you to sharing and caring and mending and feeding and being…

Prayers are lived into, more than spoken.

(SIDE NOTE: This is not meant to make anyone feel guilty or overwhelmed. But I do hope it awakens us to the reality of our world and its systems. And the reality of the power that we already have to change things one person at a time. Start reading stories. Open your heart to what's going on around you. Check out www.preemptivelove.org and www.thecompassioncollective.org – we've started by opening hearts to stories and lives, and giving to these organisations on a regular basis.)

Your turn… Leave us your comments below.

Go to Part 6 – I Pray Because »

[vcex_image_grid columns=”3″ pagination=”false” thumbnail_link=”custom_link” link_title_tag=”true” custom_links_target=”_blank” overlay_style=”title-category-visible” columns_gap=”5″ img_hover_style=”fade-out” image_ids=”20934,20935,20937″ custom_links=”https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1239768002?pt=118656308&ct=blog%20footer&mt=8,https://www.pktfuel.com/dailyemail,https://www.pktfuel.com/support” img_height=”350″]