The Prayer That Turns The World Upside DownSample

     The first lines of the Lord’s Prayer paint an awesome portrait of God. In light   of these truths, Jesus’ subsequent turn to consider our own needs—“ Give us this day our daily bread”—serves as a clear and unmistakable reminder that we are merely creatures; God is the creator. We are needy; God is the provider.

 

    God has designed humans to be dependent. From the moment of birth, we rely   on the kindness of others to meet our needs. We need our parents to feed us, dress us, and even train us to sleep. Even as we grow older, we remain tremendously needy. We depend on others for relationships. We need communities in which to live and work. We depend on the government for safety and security. In other words, there is no such thing as the “self-made man.” We have no sufficiency in and of ourselves, and we delude ourselves by believing we can be truly independent of others. Luther once reminisced that our physical needs remind us that we are but creatures composed of dirt. Our lives are frail, fragile, and wholly dependent on the goodness of God.

 

    The petition “give us this day our daily bread” reminds us of our dependence on God for even the most fundamental needs of life. The contrast with the depiction of God given earlier in the prayer is striking. He is glorious, hallowed, in heaven, and omnipotent. We, on the other hand, are incapable of even getting basic sustenance without his help. In these words, then, Jesus teaches us to exalt God while humbling ourselves. The radical God-centeredness of the prayer continues. Man’s pride has no place before the throne of God.