Adding a Prayer

I having been praying the 10:2b prayer now consistently since the conference. After this past Sunday night's gathering, I am adding a prayer to that one. I am adding, "Give me Jesus." Of course you know I am not just adding those words, but that is the easiest way of putting it.

We had someone share at our gathering share with us some thoughts they had concerning a section of the Lord's Prayer as recorded by Luke. The part of the prayer mentioned was this:
"Give us each day our daily bread." (10:3, NIV)

Another passage that was read alongside of this one was John 6:32-34.

"Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

Now, understanding from context, these people who asked Jesus to "give us this bread" were thinking in terms of physical bread (after all, He just fed a multitude miraculously). But the request is remarkably similar to the request that Jesus offered in the example prayer He taught. Follow the thread here and Jesus responds to their request by saying,
"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (6:35, NIV)

Now, if we are to pray, Lord, give us this day our daily bread, are we asking for just physical food and our daily needs to be met? Looking at the above verses, it would be wiser to be asking for more of Jesus. He is the Bread of Life. He will satisfy the longings of our lives and our hearts.

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." (Deut. 8:3, NIV)

If Jesus is the Word (John 1:1, 14), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), and the Truth (John 14:6), wouldn't it make more sense to pray, "Give us this day Jesus" rather than Wonder bread with peanut butter? If we were to pray this every day, what a difference it would make.

Let me share one last thought. The Lord's prayer in Luke 11 and Matt. 6 is in the plural. Community is all through the prayer as Jesus teaches, "Give us," "Forgive us," "Lead us," and "Deliver us." If the community of believers would together ask for more of Jesus in their midst, think of what Jesus could do in and through them.

Hopefully these thoughts will encourage you to ask for more of Jesus in your daily walk and in the gatherings you share in with other disciples of Jesus.