A reflection on Luke 11:1–4 for Wednesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time.
The disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. They have been traveling with him, listening to him, watching what he does, and they still request more help. After years of going to Mass and saying our prayers, we can also wonder if we know how to pray at all. This Gospel reminds us that we are in good company.
Jesus gives them a brief prayer. In Luke’s version of the prayer, it begins simply with “Father.” Before we ask for anything, we need to be aware of our relationship with God. Some of us find the word “Father” word comforting. Others have had fathers who were absent, frightening, or difficult to please. This might be an opportunity to trust in the tenderness Jesus implies when he teaches us to address God this way.
Then comes a request most of us can understand: give us our daily bread. This covers the mouths to feed, bills to pay, and people depending on us. Jesus reminds us to remember those needs in prayer. We can pray as we are. We can come hungry, worried about the future, or unsure how we will manage what are struggling with right now.
But there is a small word in this prayer that deserves our attention: us. Give us our daily bread. Even when we pray alone, we are asking with and for others. Sometimes we forget about the others when our own concerns are at the front of our thoughts. I know exactly what my family needs. But I might know very little about the family living two streets away, or the person who cleans the building where I work.
Praying these words more deliberately might make us more aware of them. Does that family have enough food? Can my employee afford to miss a shift when she is sick? What happens to children when the rent takes almost all of the paycheck? I don’t have the resources to take care of every need. Still, when we ask God to feed us, it seems worth considering whether something given to us could help feed someone else.
Jesus also teaches us to ask for forgiveness. This part of the prayer also involves other people. We lay our own failures before God. And we think about the people whose failures have cost us something. Sometimes that is easier to say with my words than to feel in my heart. I can be very willing to forgive until a specific name or face comes to mind.
Prayer is a time to be honest with God. Forgiveness can be a long term project, especially where the wound is deep. Forgiveness does not require us to return to a dangerous situation or to give someone another opportunity to hurt us. A good starting place is to ask for help with the bitterness that has become so heavy to carry. We might also need the courage to admit that someone else is waiting for an apology from us.
By the end of this short prayer, we have asked for bread, mercy, and help when we are tested. These are ordinary needs, and we will need them for our entire lives. Say the familiar words a little more slowly today. Think about the people we worry about, the people we struggle to forgive, and the people whose hunger we have barely noticed. Jesus has given us words generous enough to cover them all.
Journaling Questions
- Who comes to mind when I pray, “Give us each day our daily bread”? Who might I be overlooking?
- Which part of this prayer is hardest for me to mean today?
- Is there someone I need to ask for forgiveness, or a hurt I need God’s help to carry?