October 31
Q. 104. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. In the fourth petition, which is, “Give us this day our daily bread”, we pray that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them.
Reflection:
In the fourth petition, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray to God for daily bread. Bread was a staple in the diet of the ancient times. It also was a symbol of God's provision for His people throughout the Old Testament. In the wilderness, when His people were without anything to eat, God sent down manna from heaven.
But daily bread does not merely refer to the "doughy good" made of sugar, flour, and milk. It also includes everything needed in this life such as food, water, shelter, clothing, home, property, work, income, government, weather, health, safety, friends, education, medication, electricity and etc. To pray for daily bread is to ask God to provide for our physical needs and to sustain us daily.
Sometimes Christians can feel guilty or shameful about asking God for material needs. We think that we should only be praying for God's interest that His name be honored, His kingdom come, and His will be done. However, the fourth petition reminds us that God is not indifferent to our material needs but rather interested in meeting all of them.
So what does election day have to do with praying for our daily bread? Again, in the fourth petition, God is inviting us to make supplication to Him not only for the most basic needs of life (i.e. food and clothing) but also those things that are indirectly related to acquiring those needs. That is when we pray the fourth petition, we are also praying that God would grant the means for that provision, yes, even political ones. So take for example the undocumented brother or sister in distress struggling to provide financially for their family due to lack of legal status in the country. For them, praying for daily bread may include also asking God to make a way for them to obtain authorization to work legally through some type of immigration reform. It may include asking God for better access to quality education, affordable healthcare, employment opportunities, and those things are bound up with our physical welfare and our ability to serve God. It will also inevitably lead us to pray that the sovereign God would direct history in such a way that the next president to sit in the oval office would be the kind of leader who would seek to implement policies that help meet the basic needs of the people whom they represent.
Second, the fourth petition is a communal prayer. Notice, Jesus does not say "give me my daily bread" but "give us our daily bread." Christians belong to the family of God. We sit around our Father's table. And the precious saint that you sit next to you on the pew every Sunday may presently be in need or distress. Their needs may not necessarily appear significant and urgent to you. But Jesus in the fourth petition is calling you to count their needs as if they are as significant and urgent as your own. He is calling us to compassion, humility, empathy and measure as we beseech God on their behalf. He is calling you and me to pray for our bread. One commentator states, "Every time we pray this prayer from our heart, we are affirming our solidarity with our brothers and sisters." On judgement day, we will need to give an account for all the fourth petition prayers and compassionate acts we made on behalf of our brothers and sisters. To the men and women who did nothing to meet the needs of those who were hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, homeless, and imprisoned, to those who did not commit themselves to pray and to be part of God’s answer to prayer for them, Jesus will say, "Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Mat 25:45-46) Let this sober warning lead us to pray the fourth petition as Jesus intended it, that is not with our own political interests in focus but instead, selflessly seeking the interest of others.
Finally, the fourth petition is a dependence prayer. That is why Jesus says to pray for daily bread. Praying for daily bread reminds us we are utterly dependent on him from day to day. It reminds us that our hope not just in eternity but also in the present life does not ultimately lie in the one who is confirmed as the next supreme court judge or in who is elected to sit in the oval office for the next four years. Our lives are in His hands. In a few days, we will find out who becomes the next president. In light of the outcome, some of us will rejoice for our country. Others of us will lament and despair. New City, no matter who wins, we as his people shall never lose heart! We have a king who truly and deeply cares for all our needs and even extends an invitation to cry out to Him with those needs. So whether they are trivial or great, let's never cease to bring them before Him.
Elder Soo Bin Lee