These verses of the Lord's prayer speak to us about total dependency upon God. Whether it is for physical or spiritual nourishment we are totally dependent upon God for our sustenance each day. Can we feed our physical bodies without the God-given provisions of earth, seed or rain? Can we sustain a Spirit-filled life without our Lord first providing the way and revealing himself to us??
Our Lord's gracious presence is available daily; we have only to ask him for our needs to be filled. The Israelites received manna from heaven while wandering in the desert; we too can ask for and receive the Lords daily provisions. Trust and believe that your God will provide when you ask and trust his work on your behalf.
Pondering this verse brings about questions of why there are those who have their needs met and those who go hungry or are homeless. When considering all scriptural instructions given to believers we might interpret this verse to mean, "Give us this day our daily bread so that we can share with other who are in need." (Matthew 25: 35-40) Jesus instructed believers to care for the poor, widows and orphans by sharing the provisions He has given to us. Believers are to show and lead the poor, oppressed, and unbelieving world to the Lords love and compassion so that they can know and depend on him themselves. This is our privilege and our duty.
As we move on to the Lords' words regarding forgiveness we bring along our dependency on God. Jesus instructs us to ask for the forgiveness of our debts AS we also forgive those who are indebted to us. Many scholars and translators interpret this verse to mean, 'forgive us our sin as we forgive those who sin against us'. This verse is very humbling to Christians and keeps us from believing that because we know the Father we are entitled to believe that we are better than others. We do not have the right to hold on to grievances we have with others because they don't "deserve" forgiveness or that we can keep someone coming back over and over to ask for forgiveness. Jesus very clearly instructs us that as we are willing to practice forgiveness then we will be forgiven. (Psalm 24: 1-6)
Jesus displayed true forgiveness to us when on the cross he prayed for his persecutors by asking the Father to forgive them. (Luke 23: 34) Do we dare hold on to grievances with others when our Lord chose to forgive those who crucified him? Our acceptance of Gods' work to reconcile us to him by Christs death on the cross is the provision that allows us to approach him. We can approach God in the righteousness of Christ because He provided the way for us to come to him forgiven and free of our debt of sin. (2 Corinthians 5: 18-21)
Our God is immense and full of light. Let's ask the Lord to provide our daily needs and forgive us of our unholy ways. Let's ask the Lord to help us see where we need to forgive and ask him to forgive us for holding on to grievances rather than act with compassion toward a world without hope.
Father - we seek you for our needs today. Help us to embrace you with our whole heart. We want to know and give forgiveness from you. Help us to acknowledge our dependence on you and share with others the hope that only comes from our relationship with you.
Blessings in your walk,
Carol
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