Matthew 6:11

Give us this day our daily bread

Luke 11:3

Give us each day our daily bread

Perhaps one of the hardest parts of the Lord’s Prayer is the petition to God to give us our daily bread. This petition brings with it several troubling questions that, as far as I know, may not have answers that satisfy everyone. Given that the earlier parts of this series have attempted to establish reasons to trust God and have faith Him, there’s not much else to say about why we can trust Him for provision. We’ve already decided that we honor Him because of His past actions and desire His will because we have faith in His future actions.

Matthew 6:10

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Luke 11:2

Your kingdom come.

There are many different wills in the world that we can desire. First and foremost, we can desire our own wills; I can decide that what I want is what is best for me to do. I can decide to follow the advice of those wiser than me, which is not always a bad idea. I can do what people around me do. Or I can desire that God’s will be done in the world and in my life. Why should we do that, beyond the simple answer of “because he’s God?”

Recorded in both Matthew and Luke, the Lord’s Prayer is the prayer given to the disciples by Jesus. In Matthew, the prayer is given as part of a larger teaching; in Luke, it is given in response to the disciples’ request that Jesus teach them how to pray. This prayer still unites Jesus’s disciples today. Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians all use it as part of their service. Every time they meet together, they pray the Lord’s Prayer together, as it was meant to be prayed. Notice that the Lord’s Prayer is not, “My Father” but “Our Father” – it’s meant to be prayed in community with other disciples of Christ.

My particular interest in the Lord’s Prayer comes from a saying of the Church – lex orandi, lex credendi, or as it is sometimes seen, lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi. The first phrase roughly means “As we pray, so we believe.” The second phrase takes it one step further to say, “As we pray, so we believe; as we believe, so we live.” The Church has always understood prayer to have a formative effect upon the person who prays. That’s why there are prayers that are meant to be said again and again and again, like the Rosary. Repetition of prayers molds our minds, so that we can train our souls to pray. Much like we train our bodies and form our muscle memory, so do we teach our souls how to pray, even when we don’t feel like it.