Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Lord's Prayer - Our Daily Bread

Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6: 11

Do we want to interpret this physically or spiritually? Physically, God only gave bread to one group of people, as far as I can recall, and they had very limited resources, making them unable to make their own bread. More often, God gives us opportunities to earn our bread (or gives opportunities to go look for opportunities to earn bread). Yes, miracles do happen, often through charitable donations by Christlike people, but when it comes to getting enough bread to stay alive, we can't expect mana to fall from the sky for us unless we actually need it to.

But if we branch out from the "bread" concept, the fact that we're still alive is something of a miracle. The human heart is an amazing organ, and the fact that it doesn't wear up or shut down despite the daily strain it's under has got to be one of the great miracles of creation. The fact that we still have access to breathable air and drinkable water and opportunities to earn a living are all little miracles, without which, we wouldn't physically survive. God may not be dropping bread into our laps, but He's freely giving us so much of what we need to survive, and while I don't think He'll stop giving us those blessings if we forget to ask Him to keep it up, I think we should at least thank Him for the continued opportunity to be alive.

On the spiritual side, there are even more blessings that we need from God, one that we may need to ask for in order to receive (and for this part, I'm going to try very hard not to cross into the areas of "forgive us our debts" and "deliver us from evil." Those will come later).

Let's start with peace. We live in a complicated, stressful, high-strung, and emotional world. We're constantly being pushed and pulled in every direction, and some of us never seem to get a moment's rest. Yet, Christ offers us the gospel of peace. Through Him, we can have personal peace in this life, and a more full and eternal peace in the next (if we're righteous). Inner peace is a blessing given to the righteous men and women who ask for it, and it can help us endure the trials of life.

To help us navigate our way through the trials of life, we can request to have the guidance of the holy ghost. Everyone had the Light of Christ, or a conscience, to help them recognize right from wrong, but not all of our choices are that black and white. Sometimes when we come to a fork in the road and we have to make a choice, it's not a choice between right and wrong, but between right and left. Both paths seem equally good, and we don't know what the outcome of either path will be. When faced with such a decision, we need to either flip a coin or receive direct personal revelation through the holy spirit. God knows what the results of our choices will be, and He's willing to help guide us down the right paths, but often He requires us to ask for that blessing first.

I'm sure there are other little miracles included in our daily spiritual bread, and we just need to recognize them, give thanks for them, and ask God to let them continue. God loves to bless His children, especially those who thank Him for their blessings. By asking God to grant us our daily bread, we remind ourselves that all our blessings, from the food we eat to the peace we feel to life itself, are little gifts from God. I'm grateful for the many little gifts God gives me. I know that I wouldn't be here without them.

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