February 28 - March 6: Praying with Jesus for Our Needs

For most of these 40 days of prayer, we’re using the Lord’s Prayer as our guide. We’re continuing that this week with the third request in Jesus’ prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Here’s the full prayer that Jesus taught us:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9–13)

(If you need help knowing how to use this prayer guide, see our brief overview to our 40 days of prayer that has some tips on praying.)

Sunday February 28

Since Lent is associated with fasting, sorrow, and death, and since Sundays are associated with feasting, joy, and resurrection, Sundays have never been counted as part of Lent. In keeping with that, even this guide won’t give you an assignment on Sundays. Pray anyway! Pray in joy for the resurrection of Christ that guarantees our resurrection, and join us for worship. 10a every Sunday. 

Monday February 29

Give us this day our daily bread

Jesus is praying for basic needs, something even as basic as food. In doing so, He is declaring our dependence on God. Jesus knows that His Father is the great Giver of good gifts. He knows that His Father provides for all of His creation. That's why He depends on His Father for all the things that He needs as a human like us. And He invites us to do the same when we pray. He wants us to see our dependence on God as a good thing. He wants us to embrace it as the wonderful reality that it is.

Pray with Jesus for your needs today. Ask God to take care of you. Ask Him to provide for you. Ask Him to give you all that you need to worship Him today. Ask Him to provide you with what you need to seek His kingdom today. Thank Him that you get to depend on Him like this. Thank Him for being the great Giver that He is. Ask Him to help you trust Him as your Provider.

Tuesday March 1

Give us this day our daily bread

Jesus' prayer for our basic needs - something even as basic as food - seems to present a conundrum. It leaves us puzzled. How can we ask God for provision when we already have plenty? Most of us are not worried about if we'll have enough to eat today. So how can we legitimately pray for our basic needs like this when we already seem to have them so available to us?

Jesus' prayer reminds us of just how fragile we actually are. We are fragile, dependent creatures. We live in a culture that looks down on those who are dependent. We think our goal in life is to become independent. To remain dependent is a failure to us. But when we pray like Jesus we're reminded that everything we have comes from the hand of God. We are by our very nature dependent creatures, even if our circumstances don't seem to suggest that.

Ask God to provide for you today. Depend on Him. Ask God for the humility to see yourself as you really are - His dependent child. Ask Him for the humility to be okay with that - to celebrate that you get to rely on Him for what you need. Cry out to Him for what you need today. Ask God for things that are often taken for granted - even things like food. Ask Him to take care of you today.

Wednesday March 2

Give us this day our daily bread

In this simple request, Jesus' intimate relationship with His Father is revealed. Jesus knows that His Father is the Creator of all things. He knows that He is the great Provider who loves giving good gifts to His children. And He knows that He is the Sustainer - everything that exists does so only because God upholds it moment after moment after moment. Jesus knows His Father, and so He asks Him for what He needs as a human like us.

Ask God to reveal Himself to you like this. Ask Him to show you how magnificent of a Provider and a Sustainer He truly is. Ask Him to help you see how overflowing He is with goodness to take care of us every day the way that He does. Take a few minutes and slow down enough to look at His creation. Reflect on just how much your Father in heaven bountifully provides for His creation. Thank Him for being this way. Thank God for His grace all around you. Thank Him and praise Him for being the great Provider that He is.

Thursday March 3

Give us this day our daily bread

Jesus asks His Father to give us "our" daily bread. Our food is not ours alone. Food is something we share together in common with people all around us. Jesus' request for food reminds us that we are dependent on God who provides for us through all kinds of people we've never even met (i.e. farmers, bakers, delivery drivers, grocers, etc.). We are dependent on the people who work hard to make our food available to us. When we pray with Jesus for our daily bread, we're reminded of this. We're made aware of these people that we often never think about.

Thank God for providing for you through others' hard work. Take the time to think about these people. Thank God for them. Pray for them. Ask God to provide for them. Ask your Father to take care of them. When you thank God for your food, thank Him for these people who've contributed to what you're enjoying. Ask God for the ability to see these people - to be aware of them and care for them. Pray as a human in common with all other humans for our daily bread.

Friday March 4

Give us this day our daily bread

Jesus' prayer for our daily needs ought to awaken in us an awareness of the people around us who don't have what we do. There are people around us who don't have enough food for today, much less for tomorrow. Jesus' prayer reminds us that our bread is not ours alone. He reminds us that we belong to a common humanity - what belongs to us also legitimately belongs to our fellow humans. When we pray for our daily bread we're also praying for their daily bread. We're praying for God to provide for the hungry. And if we pray with Jesus like this with any kind of sincerity, then we should be willing to be used by God to be the answer to our own prayers.

Ask God to provide for the hungry people here in Houston. Ask God to open up your eyes so that you can see them. Pray for these people. Ask God to take care of them. Ask Him to remind you that you are just as needy as them. Ask God to stir up deep compassion in you for them. Ask Him to help you see them the way He does. Ask God for opportunities to be an answer to your own prayers for them.

Saturday March 5

Give us this day our daily bread

When we pray with Jesus for our basic needs, we're reminded just how dependent we are on God. We're also reminded just how much God has already provided for us. We are forgetful people. We quickly move on to our next need and quickly forget just how much God has already done for us. So much of our worry and anxiety in life is due to our forgetfulness. Jesus' prayer reminds us that we have a good Father who takes care of us. When we stop to remember all the numerous ways that God has provided for us day after day after day, it enables us to know Him and trust Him for our needs today. 

Thank God for all the ways that He's provided for you this past week. If you're having a hard time remembering, trying writing them down. Then expand to what He's done for you this past month. You'll be surprised at how much your Father in heaven has provided for you in ways you weren't even aware of. Remember what God has done for you. Remember all the ways that He has provided for you, even for your basic needs. And when you remember, thank Him and praise Him for being the gracious Provider that He is. Ask Him to help you trust Him for what you need today. And thank Him that He is trustworthy enough to depend on.