Day Twenty-One

“Give us today our daily bread...”

This morning I got up and after my morning trip to the gym, came home and took Jack out for breakfast. He has a chart at home which has a scale from 10-1 on it and clipped to it are two clothes pegs with his and Harry’s names respectively written upon them. Every time he succeeds at something that challenges him (for Jack it’s usually eating his supper, for Harry it generally has to do with potty training) his peg moves up one place on the chart. And whenever they are particularly naughty, or disobedient their peg moves down a place on the chart (along with whatever other discipline is appropriate for the infraction). Last night, for the first time, Jack had his peg moved to space number 1, so this morning he got his reward.

He chose breakfast out with Daddy. That alone was enough to make my day.

When we got to the golden arches for breakfast I told Jack that he could order anything he wanted off the menu and he decided that he wanted a muffin and a hot chocolate. Unfortunately when we showed up the only muffins they had left were coffee cake and bran – I tried to encourage Jack to order something else (hotcakes perhaps?) but he was undeterred and wanted a muffin. So I chose what I thought for a five year old would be the lesser of two evils and got him a bran muffin, ordered a coffee for myself (there was no way I was sabotaging my diet for McDonalds breakfast!) and we sat down to eat.

As I had feared, Jack took one bite of that muffin and spit it out on the tray. There was no way that a bran muffin was a fitting reward for a boy who had worked so hard to get to space number 1 so I went back into the line-up and bought him a Cinapart – which he thoroughly enjoyed. But having prayed the Lord’s Prayer again not long earlier – the whole scene got me thinking.

As Jack happily tucked into his breakfast I thought about what it means to ask God for our daily bread in the context of my reality (and I would imagine the reality of anyone reading this). I had just taken my 5 year old to a restaurant and told him that he could have anything his heart desired – what do I need God for? He didn’t like what he ordered (there was nothing wrong with it – just not to his tastes) so I went and purchased him something else. Why am I bothering God with this petition?

I understand that in certain parts of the world, the required sustenance for a day’s nutrition does not come except for the grace of God – that in those places and those cultures asking God for their daily bread is not an empty request but a soul wrenching plea – but what about in mine?

I live in one of the most affluent parts of one of the most affluent countries in the world. My community is full of people who often have more money than they know what to do with and even the lower income earners are quite well off when compared to people even in other parts of Canada. People in my community are not poor because of a lack of earning power – they are poor because the disparity between the reasonably well off and the excessively rich drives up the cost of everything.  For all the wealth in my community it can be hard to convince someone that they really need God for anything – let alone their “daily bread”.

And I’m no different. When I pray to God for provision I’m almost exclusively praying for the extras of life. I’m not coming to him in desperate need – I’m coming to him because I want more than I can afford with my already ample resources. So how do I come to this prayer with integrity?

Well first I need to come with thankfulness. I need to recognise that in praying this petition, that I’m already experiencing the reality of the answer to my prayers. I need to come with the understanding – not just intellectual – but a deep soul understanding that the daily bread I’m enjoying comes from God and not by my own workings or merit. And secondly I need to recognise that Jesus doesn’t invite us to ask for any more than our daily needs in this prayer.

I was at a Lenten lunch service today where a friend and colleague of mine delivered a message on this petition (when God wants to teach you something he comes at you from many different angles). She based her message around Exodus 16:1-20 – the story of the manna and quail. Her message drove home to me once more what God had already been talking about – this prayer can be about more than just having our needs met – it is a warning against over consumption.

As I have been paraphrasing the Lord’s Prayer in my personal times with the Lord this Lenten season I have been elaborating on certain petitions to contextualize it for my own life. When I come to the request for my daily bread I usually add the proviso – “but Lord – don’t let me have more than I need. I don’t want to be a glutton on bread.” I pray this because I’m on a diet and I know how easy it is to go overboard. But as I have been praying that I feel like the Lord has been teaching me that praying for my daily bread is about asking for those limitations and guards to be placed in more parts of my life than my lunchbox. To ask God for provision is to ask to understand what it is that I need and by extension, what it is that I don’t need. To not comprehend this half of the petition (implicit though it is) is to be asking the Lord for jars filled with smelly, rotten, maggot infested leftovers rather than the life-giving manna he has offered us.

So I’m asking the Lord to give me less when I pray. To give me only what I need because on my own I’m week and I lack the conviction or resolve to deny myself on my own. I’m asking for my daily bread and nothing more. And perhaps if God can develop in me that kind of heart, when the days of feasting and plenty come in my life (and they come regularly – that’s the advantage of being a part of a church) I can enjoy them with a clear conscience, a thankful heart and an appreciation for how wonderful they are.

For today – the cheap part of me couldn’t let a perfectly good muffin go to waste. If Jack wasn’t going to eat it, I would. I’m not sure yet if that was provision or excess. Either way it tasted good.

God bless you today and happy Lenting.