May 14, 2022 -- Exodus 16:4 -- Hearing one petition of the Lord's Prayer, as if for the first time

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
Exodus 16:4 ESV

The LORD’s Prayer has that simple line: “Give us this day our daily bread”. Do you recognize the echo from the Exodus, our passage today? Here is the background. The God of Power led His people out of Egypt. They hurried out of Egypt, thrust out of the land by the unwilling Pharaoh who’d been brought to his knees, bowed before the Sovereignty of the True King of the Land, the LORD of Glory. Even the people of the land threw the Israelites out. So there was no time to prepare provisions. They were in need. Our God was training His people to rely on Him then. No doubt Jesus drew on this memory of their history to teach them how to pray. 

Think of the context of our reading today. While the hundreds of thousands of Israelites marched through a dry and weary land where there was virtually no water or food, they had to rely on the LORD for their every need. There is a no doubt a sense that it is appropriate for the Israelites to look to God for daily bread. But do we, today, need it? Do we need to pray with such urgency?

Think how easy it is for a government to invoke an emergency and then seize bank accounts of some of her citizens. It has happened in Canada in the last few months. Consider what you have in your bank account or in your cupboard. Now, think of how Russia, in one day, moved into the two provinces of the Ukraine and suddenly the citizens there had to flee, leaving everything that seemed secure and evidence of plenty, leaving everything behind, just relieved to be alive. Now there are six million displaced Ukrainians. We do not know what the next moment will bring: an earthquake, a flood, fires. So we pray, give us this day, our daily bread. We are committing to our King every moment of our lives and all our circumstances, unaware of what He has in store for us, but trusting He will guard us in His great care and covenant love until we see him face to face.

Today’s prayer is the Lord’s prayer. The version I have chosen is sung by Susan Boyle. Pray along.

https://youtu.be/nGlPk7Vzy2M

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