Life + Faith

Tag: Jesus

  • Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread 2.0

    Last week I did a little explaining about the verse in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ (Matthew 6:11). And while it was accurate enough, there are further implications worth noting. The Lord’s Prayer gives us a terrific model for communing with God, I suppose that goes without saying considering it is our Lord who gives it to us! But as we scratch more deeply at how we might pray we learn, particularly in the realm of asking God for our needs, Jesus teaching us how to live.

    With this in mind, here are some further reflections that I pray go well with you.

    (1) Our needs include the physical and the spiritual.

    There are some in the Christian church who believe that this body we have here on earth is simply a temporary vessel. They minimise the body and the physical in our world and over-emphasise the spiritual or the life to come. At times this has led to people and groups toward asceticism and a drawing away from others toward cultic practices. At other times this has led to abuses and sacrifices of the body. Neither of these are particularly biblical, and contradict scripture and the example of Jesus. We notice that in the life and ministry of Jesus he is concerned not only for the spiritual condition of the people but also for their physical needs. 

    As James Montgomery Boice comments, 

    “We can see what God thinks of our human bodies, when we remember that he Himself in Jesus Christ took that body upon Him. It is not simply a soul salvation, it is whole salvation, the salvation of body, mind and spirit, at which Christianity aims.“

    (2) We are reminded to take it one day at a time.

    If you’ve ever heard a player or a coach of a sporting team be interviewed, then you’ll be familiar with the phrase, “we’re just taking it one game at a time”. For us believers, it is right to be taking life one day at a time.

    It is important to recognise that Jesus is teaching us to pray for each day and reminding us of our need for God. It is important to understand that our dependence on God and needs from God are given to us each day. Therefore, there is intentionality in coming to God daily in prayer as we recognise our needs and dependence on him. As we petition God, as we come before him with the requests that we have, the needs that we lift to him, we show our daily dependence on him.

    The whole act of prayer is an act of dependence. 

    (3) Our request for daily bread points us to our need for spiritual nourishment. 

    I presume you know that glorious taste of fresh bread. Sometimes there is nothing better than a fresh ham and salad roll for lunch. And who are we kidding, it’s always more than one when the rolls are at their freshest. 

    While it sounds odd to say that we need to feed on Christ, that we need to feed spiritually on God, the only other place in the entire Bible where a request to ‘give us bread’ is spoken by Jesus while he gives a sermon on spiritual bread in John 6. Jesus said, 

    “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.” They answered, “From now on give us this bread.’ Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:32–35) 

    In context, the people he was speaking to were thinking of physical bread, but Jesus turned them away from these physical things to himself as the One who could satisfy the far greater hunger of the soul.

    So, what does it mean to feed on Christ? 

    It means that he is the source of all our spiritual life and as we grow in him and come close to him we are nourished, contented, and satisfied in him alone. The hunger and yearning we feel within our hearts for our Creator is fulfilled through Christ as the bread of life. 

    As we hunger for achievement, or for love, or for happiness we recognise these are good in themselves when used as God intends. But at the heart of our faith, and at the heart of this prayer, is the realisation that it is only Christ who satisfies, it is only him who fulfils our deep hunger and need.

    This continues our series in the Lord’s Prayer. More posts can be found at the following:

  • Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread 1.0

    Well, I wonder whether you’ve ever signed a petition? 

    I suspect you know what petitions are. A petition is where you put your name down in support of something. Perhaps it is asking for policy change in government, for better conditions in the workplace, or for support behind a particular injustice in the world. Whatever it may be, and whether it is done online or on an actual piece of paper, petitions are a way of showing your support for a particular cause.

    There are also parts of everyday life where we petition others, where we ask people for something we would like or need. Perhaps it is a student petitioning their teacher for an extension in the assignment. Or a child petitioning a parent for ice-cream after dinner. And in a similar way, when we come to God in prayer and lift up our needs to him we petition him. We ask him for things. We ask him for our wants and needs. 

    In Matthew 6:11, in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus continues to teach his disciples about prayer through this particular phrase, ‘give us this day our daily bread’. And in similar fashion to previous posts (see below) it is worth reflecting a little on what Jesus is teaching us. 

    First, when Jesus says, ‘give us this day our daily bread’ he is talking about depending on God daily. 

    As Christians we recognise that we are living a day at a time. It sounds cliche, but we do not know when we will die, and we do not know what will happen tomorrow. 

    This requires us to depend on God. 

    When we depend on ourselves or on others then we will be let down, but with God we have a solid foundation. A God who rules and reigns, and who is always faithful and dependable. And so a mark of a follower of Jesus is their dependence on him for their needs. We come with a posture of dependence on him. 

    To depend on God is to fully trust in his care for us. That despite our circumstances–in happiness or in hardship–we continue to have a posture of dependence on God.

    As Leon Morris writes in his commentary on Matthew about this verse, 

    The prayer encourages a continuing dependence on God; it does not countenance a situation in which the disciple asks God for a supply for a lengthy period, after which prayer he can go on for some time in forgetfulness of God. He depends on God constantly, and this dependence is expressed in this prayer.

    Dependence on God is not simply a once off occurrence. It is something that is required of us daily. It is a practice, a discipline, to continually depend on God. 

    Yet, there is also a cautionary reflection here worth noting. 

    When we are comfortable. When we have everything we need. When we don’t need to depend on God for as much as we used to then it is common to let this dependence slide. We must be careful not to fall into this trap, not to change our posture from one of dependence to independence. 

    Second, when Jesus says, ‘give us this day our daily bread’ he is talking about asking for our needs.

    Whenever we pray we are generally asking God for something. And this gets to the heart of petition. Petition is that word that defines prayer as asking God for stuff. Stuff that may include inner comfort and strength, to physical needs like food or finances, to wisdom and discernment. 

    And don’t hear me saying this is necessarily wrong. God encourages us to come to him with everything, and in all things. 

    In fact, as I’ve read over this Lord’s Prayer I’ve noticed just how much asking there is of God. In fact, everything from v10-13 is really a prayer of petition. We find ourselves asking for: 

    1. his kingdom to come, 
    2. his will to be done, 
    3. our daily bread, 
    4. our debts to be forgiven, 
    5. not to be led into temptation, and
    6. to be delivered from evil. 

    By my reckoning there are six requests, six items of petition to God in this prayer. 

    And when Jesus specifically prays the petition of ‘give us this day our daily bread’ he wishes us to pray for the needs that we have, the needs necessary for life. 

    Martin Luther, the great Reformer of the 16th century wrote that this use of ‘bread’ was symbolic of ‘everything necessary for the preservation of this life, like food, a healthy body, good weather, house, home, husband or wife, children, good government and peace’. In essence Luther was saying these are the necessities of life, rather than the luxuries, of which a couple here and there may be debatable.

    Whatever the case, here in Matthew 6:11, in this petition given to us by our Lord, we find an aspect of our prayer life that involves asking for our needs.

    This continues our series in the Lord’s Prayer. More posts can be found at the following:

  • Your Kingdom Come

    Well, it seems I’m in a little series about the Lord’s Prayer. The last couple of posts have been about the start of the Lord’s Prayer, a prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples in Matthew 6:9-13. You may well be familiar with it. I figure I might as well continue with it too. So, this week we come to the next phrase of this prayer, ‘Your kingdom come’ (Matthew 6:10)

    Over 10 years ago I was impacted by a song related to this theme. The song, which can be found here, is conveniently titled, Let Your Kingdom Come and was released in 2003. I thought at the time, and still think now, it’s a great congregational song for any church. And it upholds the truths of scripture, the sentiment of this verse, and calls for God to continue to make his presence felt in this world. The lyrics go:

    Your glorious cause, O God
    Engages our hearts
    May Jesus Christ be known
    Wherever we are
    We ask not for ourselves, but for Your renown
    The cross has saved us so we pray

    Your kingdom come
    Let Your kingdom come
    Let Your will be done
    So that everyone might know Your Name
    Let Your song be heard everywhere on earth
    Till Your sovereign work on earth is done
    Let Your kingdom come

    Give us Your strength, O God
    And courage to speak
    Perform Your wondrous deeds
    Through those who are weak
    Lord use us as You want, whatever the test
    By grace we’ll preach Your gospel
    Till our dying breath

    When I pray this prayer that Jesus teaches, and if I ponder these words, ‘Your kingdom come…’, then I am struck by the tension that is within it. For in praying for God’s kingdom to come we are recognising that it isn’t all here yet–it being ‘God’s kingdom’.

    We live in a world that is broken and sinful and, at times, downright horrendous. But we also live in a world where there is joy, happiness, and satisfaction. We live in a world that is in tension all the time. Whether it be through personal relationships or the environment and creation groaning, or whether it be the internal nature of our soul and attitudes. We are living in tension and learning to constantly live in tension our whole lives.

    The theologians among us may be familiar with the term ‘Now and not yet’. This is a phrase that describes just this–the tension of living between two worlds. The kingdom of earth and the kingdom of heaven. For what we do recognise as believers is that God has entered the world in the form of his Son, Jesus Christ. And through entering this world he has begun the redemption and restoration of his kingdom. And yet, not all is well. Sin still reigns, brokenness still exists, and pain is still present. We continue to wait for the glorious reconciliation of all things.

    2 Corinthians 5:1-8 reflects some of this when Paul writes,

    For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

    So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.

    To bring in a sporting analogy, we are playing away. We are playing our games away from our home stadium and our home city. And so while we recognise this tension we live in, this playing away from home, we also know that God is here with us. Through his Spirit he is present in our lives and in this world and at work in it. And so we strive to serve him, by his grace we strive to know him more and make him known to others in this world.

    If you pray, ‘Let your kingdom come’ this week, may you be aware that he is with you in the tension that you live in. And may you call on him for the comfort and grace that you require this week.

    This continues our series in the Lord’s Prayer. More posts can be found at the following:

  • Hallowed Be Your Name

    When we are aware of someone’s name then we are aware of who they are.

    A name defines us.

    Some parents put time and meaning into the names they choose for their children, others don’t think too hard but come up with a name they like . But a name defines who we are. It represents us. It identifies who we are. Further, with time and experience, our name may become synonymous with particular things; with a particular family, with a particular place (if we’ve lived there a while), with a particular industry or workplace or organisation, and perhaps even a particular character trait.

    I mean, think about the last few months here in Melbourne, how many times have you heard the Karen used in the media? Right now Karen is the name that represents someone who is an obnoxious, entitled, complainer.

    But of course, this doesn’t rightly represent all Karen’s. We feel sorry for those people who are actually named Karen and are very nice people. Not all Karen’s are complainers, just like not all Wally’s are wasteful with water.

    As we survey scripture we find there are over 100 names for God, many describing and revealing the character and person of God. In Matthew 6:9, continuing on from last week’s post, Jesus teaches us to honour the name of God, to hallow it, to recognise it as holy.

    As we come to our Father in prayer we are to recognise that we are coming before God in all his majesty, holiness, righteousness, and beauty. We are children of the One who is all-powerful, all-glorious, all-excellent, and all-holy. And yet in prayer we are able to come before him and enjoy and adore him.

    With this in mind, what then does it mean to adore God? I often feel we have inadequate words when we try to describe our adoration toward God.

    You see when we adore something in human terms we have our heads affirming our adoration, our hearts yearning toward that which we adore, and our hands open to act toward that which we adore.

    We think, we feel, and we act in adoration.

    There is a head, heart, and hands aspect to this.

    If we adore our particular football team we will watch the games, go to the games, buy a membership, debate others about how superior our team is, wear the scarf, and think often about our team and the players.

    When we adore a person we will think about them, we will talk to them, we may have a photo of them on the wall, we will seek out the best for them–we want to be with them.

    In prayer, as we show our adoration toward God, we come to him through relationship but we also come to him for who he is. We are drawn to God because of his greatness, his magnificence, his excellencies, his works for us and our world.

    It can be stated rather crassly that the adoration component to prayer is simply repeating back to God how good he is. But I think this misses the point. We may well be telling God how good he is when we pray in adoration, but we do so because we recognise that God is God and we are not.

    We are, after all, in a relationship with the God of the universe who has done things we cannot comprehend or understand, and whose character is displayed and told to us through his scriptures. Psalm 8 is a good example of adoration toward God, and we would do well to pray this Psalm as a prayer ourselves. It reads,

    1 Lord, our Lord,
    how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!
    You have covered the heavens with your majesty.

    2 From the mouths of infants and nursing babies,
    you have established a stronghold
    on account of your adversaries
    in order to silence the enemy and the avenger.
    3 When I observe your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars,
    which you set in place,
    4 what is a human being that you remember him,
    a son of man that you look after him?
    5 You made him little less than God
    and crowned him with glory and honour.
    6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under his feet:
    7 all the sheep and oxen,
    as well as the animals in the wild,
    8 the birds of the sky,
    and the fish of the sea
    that pass through the currents of the seas.

    9 Lord, our Lord,
    how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!

    The whole Psalm resounds not only in praise for what God has done, but recognises the greatness of God. How majestic is your name in all the earth! It is a true Psalm of adoration toward God.

    Jesus teaches us in the Lord’s Prayer that to begin prayer in adoration is prayer that highlights God’s goodness and greatness. It honours God’s name as holy. May we do this in our prayers during this time.

    This continues our series in the Lord’s Prayer. More posts can be found at the following:

  • Our Father In Heaven

    In the Anglican tradition, the Book of Common Prayer defines adoration as ‘…the lifting up of the heart and mind to God, asking nothing but to enjoy God’s presence.’

    I’m not sure about you but I find that hard. 

    Prayer is often hard, and I don’t think many believers, whether they are new in the faith or those who are more mature in their faith, think they’re very good at it anyway. I know in different seasons my prayer life changes, it goes up and down, but it can also take on a different shape. Sometimes it is through a list, other times I write them out by hand, other times I pray while doing a particular task–like doing the dishes or vacuuming. 

    But when we pray in adoration we turn our hearts and minds not only to the things of God, but to God himself. As we commune with God through prayer we do so in relationship with him.

    In this COVID season, as much good there is that comes from text messages, phone calls, family gatherings over Zoom, and FaceTime calls with loved ones, nothing replaces the actual physical presence of being together with those we love and cherish. I’m sure you’ve felt this in recent months. Our relationships and friendships are still in existence during this time, we can still catch up with each other, but there is something missing when we aren’t in each other’s presence. Likewise, our relationship with God is made all the more when through prayer we come and enjoy being with him. 

    As Jesus teaches about prayer in Matthew 6:9 he begins by pointing us toward adoration. Adoration in the context of relationship. 

    At the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer this is described as a familial relationship between God and his children–“Our Father who is in heaven”. It’s not quite as close as ‘Dear Daddy’, but it certainly has a familiarity, a relational tone, that shows a deep and abiding relationship between us and God. 

    Through the scriptures God reveals to us that he is a father to his children. The Old Testament portrays God as a father to his people–Israel–in Exodus 3-4; Psalm 2; Psalm 103; and Hosea 11 to name a few. In the New Testament we find that God the Father is, of course, the unique father to his Son, Jesus Christ. And the writers of the New Testament show the intimacy we, as the corporate people of God, have with God as we are considered his children, his sons and daughters. As 1 John 3:1 reminds us, 

    “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God…” 

    For those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus, we know that the Creator of everything is not a father; he’s our Father. As children we are able to commune and relate to God as one who is our Father. 

    Jesus teaches us about prayer as someone who is in perfect relationship with God the Father. Through his perfect and acceptable sacrifice for us on the cross we are able to step into the presence of God as his children. Through the blood of Jesus we have access to the Father, and we come to him as such in prayerful adoration. The relationship we have with God is one that is intimate and personal–a point we can never emphasise too much. 

    It is important to recognise that not all earthly fathers live up to our expectations. Earthly fathers are not perfect; they fail us, they fail God, they fail themselves. Yet, whatever our relationship with our earthly father, it does not compare to the perfect love and care shown by God the Father toward us, his sons and daughters. 

    Galatians 4:6-8 reminds us powerfully about our identity because of God’s love and care toward us,

    “Because you are his sons [and daughters], God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.“

    As Jesus begins this model prayer for us, and as he teaches us a way to pray, he begins by stating the unbelievable truth that we are in relationship with God–the Creator God of the universe–who we are able to call ‘our heavenly father’. 

    This begins our series in the Lord’s Prayer. More posts can be found at the following: