You have taken the prayer our Lord gave and made it your own, seeking the kingdom first, bending your heart toward the Father. That in itself is a work of grace, for our natural bent is to seek all other things first and come to God with what is left. And yet, even as you frame those words, “Give us our daily bread… forgive us… lead us not,” I wonder if the questions rise within you: Will there be bread on the table tomorrow? Can a heart like mine really be forgiven? Will the evil one trip me up yet again? You are not strange to feel the weight of those petitions even while you pray them. The very act of asking can lay bare the need, and need can be a heavy thing.
But consider the Father to whom you pray. There are people in this world who mean well but do nothing, they say, “Be warmed and filled,” yet give no coat, no crust. Not so your God. His goodness is not a kind wish written on a cloud; it is a hand that knocks at your door, a voice that calls your name, a presence that sits beside you in the dark. The greatest proof of it is this: He spared not His own Son. In that one gift, all other gifts are wrapped up like loaves in a basket. If He gave you Jesus, will He stand back and let you starve? Your daily bread may come from an unlikely oven, on an ordinary plate, but it will come. The ravens may be bidden to carry it, or the cruse of oil may just keep flowing, but the Father who feeds the sparrows has not forgotten you. So when you ask for daily provision, do it with the confidence of a child who has seen his father provide a thousand times and knows he will do it again.
And then there is that tender, trembling petition: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Perhaps you look back and see seasons when you were prayerless, when you ran from His presence, when you held a cold grudge against another. The memory of it stings. But listen: the Lord’s mercy is not for the tidy and the worthy. It is for those who have no argument to bring. He does not say, “Be good enough and I will pardon you.” No, He blots out transgressions for His own sake. The debt is real, but He Himself has paid it and torn up the record. At the cross, the blood speaks better things than Abel’s, it does not cry for vengeance but for full and free forgiveness. And as that pardon washes over you, it loosens the grip of your own unforgiveness. The hand that takes you by the mercy-seat will also unclench your fingers from another’s throat. You will find, sometimes slowly but truly, that having been forgiven much, you can forgive.
Then comes the cry, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” You know the pull of the world, the whisper of the tempter, the foot that so easily slides toward the pit. There are days when you feel you are going down, down, as if a great weight were dragging you under. But Christ has met you in that very place. He is the one who entered the strong man’s house and bound him, who came to deliver us from the power of darkness. I have read of a poor pilgrim locked in Giant Despair’s dungeon, and the key in the lock turned “desperately hard”, but it turned. It turned! Christ has the key to your prison. Even in the furnace, you can believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. You are not going to die in this despair; you shall live, and declare the works of the Lord. So let faith rise and speak. When the enemy hisses that you will be overcome, answer him with the promise: “I shall not die, but live.” The Saviour who began a good work in you will carry it on through every dark bend.
And remember, the life He has given you needs food. You cannot live on yesterday’s bread. Come again to Christ, the living bread. Feed on His Word, on His love, on the quiet assurance that His kingdom is secure and you are in it. As you do, the other things, the daily bread, the peace, the strength to resist, will be added, not always in the way you expect, but in the way that is best. Your Father knows what you need before you ask.
Now, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. May you know the hand that was pierced holding yours through every trial, the voice that calmed the sea speaking peace to your soul, and the love that will never let you go. Amen.
"Pray then after this manner:
‘Our Father who is in Heaven,
Your Name be Honored!
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