Daily Bread

   During the late sixties in Vermont, a pastor friend caused an enormous stir one Sunday morning. At the beginning of the Morning Worship Service, he announced that they would no longer recite the Lord’s Prayer. His reason for such a bold action, the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer had become nothing more than a cold, formal, unthinking practice. References were made to the vain repetitions of the heathen and images of people holding on to their beads and reciting prayers as some form of magic cure-all.
   Now I must confess, I agreed with him. What value was there in just reciting a form prayer? I too had images in my mind of people grasping their beads and vainly reciting their prayers. God’s people needed to get it right. Prayer is not about saying or repeating words but about one’s ability to express the desires of his heart.
   Oh, yes, the Lord’s Prayer is a good model to follow. As a model, it contains everything we needed to be concerned about in capsule form. My perspective robbed me of the simplicity of daily prayer and the benefits that came from short specific prayers.
   I found myself concerned more about form than substance. My focus wasn’t on the content of my prayers or the condition of the heart but way one doesn’t pray. To me real prayer was more than reciting someone else’s words, even if they came from the lips of Jesus.
   My preoccupation with the dangers in reciting a prayer that wasn’t my very own, led me to feel that God wasn’t concerned about the little things in my life – the daily bread issues. In my mind I knew better but it didn’t stop me from feeling this way. It all began in Bible College with my roommate, Joe Schultz, who seldom worked. Whether it was due to laziness, inability or lack of opportunity, I don’t know. I worked everyday, went to school and played sports. When the time came to pay my school bill, I was always a dollar or two short. As I tried to figure out how to make ends meet, Joe would walk into the room and announce, “Praise the Lord.” “I went to my mailbox today and there was a check to cover my school bill.” Frankly, after two semesters, I began to wonder what was wrong with me, with my faith. I worked hard but there never was one, not one little tiny check in my mailbox.
   For the next twenty years, I went to my mailbox in three different states and three different pastorates, and still not one single check. Now bills were starting to pile up and it was necessary to apply for a loan. We needed $1500. The bank approved the loan. On the day I was suppose sign the papers, a change in schedule made it impossible for me to get to the bank.
The next morning, as I was about to leave my office for the bank, a group of ladies came to the church to get ready for their regular nursing home ministry. One of the ladies came in my office and simply handed me a note. After she left I opened the note and read, “Thank you for the blessing your ministry has been.” Inside was a check for $150. My first thought was to thank the Lord for it. After I did, I looked at it again and to my amazement I realized the $150 was really $1500. It was the exact amount of the loan.
   I have learned that God does supply our daily bread for each of His children but not always the same way. Looking back over my Bible College days, I realize now that the God who provided my roommate with a check, provide me with a job to pay my school bill. Now forty years later, I can say with absolute honesty, God has never failed to provide my daily needs. I have come to realize it’s not about checks in the mail but about God’s faithfulness and the manifold ways He chooses to demonstrate His faithfulness.
   Now, when I pray “give us this day our daily bread,” it’s about what is in my heart, not just repeating words. I know in my mind and feel in my heart that God does care about my daily needs. I don’t presuppose about how God will fulfill my request. I just look for His wonderful surprises and constantly say thank you.