The primary focus of the prayer that Jesus taught His followers was GOD HIMSELF, His majesty, His holiness, His power. Jesus taught that the star our thoughts should orbit, when we pray, is THE LORD HIMSELF. It is only after we meditate upon Him as our holy Father---only after we plead for the coming of His kingdom, and the fulfillment of His will on Earth, that Jesus asks us to turn our thoughts to ourselves, and our needs---and even then, we are to refer to our needs in the most simple and humble of ways: 'Give us this day our daily bread.'
This simple petition reminds us that our daily provision is from God. The skeptic or materialist might say that to work for your money, then shell it out on food from plants or animals, to store that food in your fridge, cook it on your stove, and serve it on your plates, and then, just before you complete this natural process, to pause, bow your head, and thank some invisible supernatural being for it, is the epitomy of ignorance and superstition. But when we pray 'Give us this day our daily bread,' we are declaring that we believe that all the 'natural events' that converge to bring us food are enabled to do so only because there is one who is above nature---one who superintends and supercedes nature. When we deny the self-evident truth that a world which demonstrates, everywhere we look, precise engineering and intelligent design, must have had, in fact, a precise engineer and an intelligent designer, we only demonstrate the stubbornness and foolishness of the human heart and mind.
With references to frozen beetles, talking flowers and prayer rugs, this message was called 'phenomenal' by one of our members. |
