This week, Joanna Moss and Andrew & Laura Kerr have been sharing their daily thoughts. Today, Mal Calladine chats with them about their experience. What does it mean to trust God to be an everyday provider?

“but deliver us from the evil one.” (NIV)

“but keep us safe from the Evil One.” (Good News)

Andrew Kerr writes:

Have you ever been somewhere and it just didn't feel right? Not that it smelt funny or you didn't like the curtains but that deep down your "Spidey sense" (perhaps better called your spiritual discernment) was tingling and you just had to leave? I've had that feeling couple of times before and it's on those occasions that I have been most aware of the spiritual battle that rages.

Thankfully we know what the outcome of the battle is. Jesus died, defeated death, and rose again.

And we know that we have a loving Father who protects us. As Laura reflected, God is a loving Shepherd who protects us like sheep in His fold.

But He's no snoozing shepherd. As Joanna reminded us as we discussed this section, the phrase "deliver" is often used when talking about being rescued in a battle. Being delivered from the enemy when caught in the midst of the chaos. Jesus is a warrior king fighting for us each day. He's the one dangling from a spiritual helicopter (metaphor gone too far?!), jumping down, saving us, and taking our place in the fight.

The battle is won but each day we remain dependent on God to deliver us. Sometimes it's a nudge to save us from ourselves. Sometimes it's a giant swipe at forces unseen. But it's not something we can do without Him. We need to trust God in the fight.

And that is what has struck all of us from the Lord’s Prayer: in order to honestly pray the Lord's Prayer you need to trust God. We need to trust that He will reveal his character more and more. Trust that He will bring creation to look ever more like His kingdom. Trust that He will provide for us. Trust that He has forgiven. Trust that He will guide us and fight for us. Because that's what we're asking Him to do. And by asking we are acknowledging that we can’t do those things and need Him for everything.

Where am I not trusting God and still trying to fight in my own strength?

For those of you who read the Lectio365 app devotionals, last Thursday's words summed it up well with the chorus of Van DeVenter's hymn:

All to Jesus I surrender
All to him I freely give
I will ever love and trust him
In his presence daily live
I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee, my blessed Saviour
I surrender all

“And lead us not into temptation” (NIV)

“Do not bring us to hard testing” (Good News)

Andrew Kerr writes:

I'm not great at resisting temptation. Mrs Doyle from Father Ted, with her encouragement to "Go on! Go on! Go on!”, would have me drinking tea and eating sandwiches until I keeled over.

What I am good at is trying to do it by myself. I’ll be alright. I’ll give it a go. What could do wrong? I can keep myself in line, surely?

But yet again all three of us were struck that Jesus' teaching on how to pray isn't a meek request. It isn't a prayer for God to strengthen us to resist temptation ourselves. It's a bold cry to the Creator of the world to lead us away from the things around us that distract us from Him.

There are so many temptations that surround us; so many things that could draw us away from God and the plans that He has for us. When life is going swimmingly perhaps it's easier to see where God wants us to go. Easier to have the headspace and time to sit and listen to His voice, hear His plan, and follow His way.

But, as Joanna noted, when things are harder and we are being pulled through the wringer of life, sometimes we reach for the easy option, the numbing balm, a quick fix, or perhaps something that others have suggested or done before us. We'll give it a go, as that seems the right way. "I got into this mess so I'll sort it myself.” I don’t have time for anything else.

Deep down though, I know that if I got into a mess, I'm rarely able to get out by myself. I need others to help me. What better person to help us back up than God who always knows what's best. It is, as Laura said, a collaborative process. The process is that we acknowledge we can’t do it and ask God to work in us!

So today I am going to take a deep breath and admit that I don't know how to sort myself out. I know that I get pulled in all sorts of directions. Sometimes I resist but perhaps sometimes I like the easy fix or the quick hit. God help me today to follow you. Help me not to be distracted. Thank you that your way is everlasting.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (NIV)

“Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.” (Good News)

Joanna Moss writes:

One of my favourite lines from our discussion on this verse came from the motto of previous school Laura had taught at. It was, ‘Every child, every day’ which was supposed to mean that every child was to be treated as if they had a clean slate each day. Every day was a new chance. And this is of course how God is with us, no matter what happens today He still sees us as white as snow, cleared of all debts, shiny and clean.

For all of us, as we reflected on forgiveness, we were struck by the immense grace of God’s forgiveness to us and the often limited and reluctant forgiveness we show to others. Laura spoke about how when we forgive someone, we demonstrate God’s own forgiveness of us. And that when we limit forgiveness, we hinder our own understanding of God’s forgiveness over us. For Andrew, he reflected on how totally undeserving we are of God’s forgiveness but yet we often still judge others and hold resentment against them, even after we have supposedly forgiven them.

Through this reflection, it has exposed to us our own struggles with forgiveness and in letting things go. But as we took this verse in the context of the whole prayer, we came back to the same thought of this being part of a daily practice. For each of us, as we try to intentionally pray this prayer daily, we can practice letting things go, laying things down and placing our hurts and judgements into God’s hands everyday – from the small annoyances to the big offences. With the hope that by practicing forgiveness regularly we can become better at the forgiving the bigger things, and in resting in God’s forgiveness and grace over us.

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Joanna Moss writes:

When reflecting on this verse, it’s tricky to not immediately think about food. In a society where, for the most part, we live in an abundance of food, the need to depend on God to provide ‘our daily bread’ can get a bit lost behind…well, behind our piles of food. In the comfort of my own food security, I am prone to forget the grace of God’s provision over me as well as feel uncomfortable at the contrast of my plenty to others lack. For myself, Andrew and Laura, we recognise the tension of feeling blessed for what we do have, whilst also knowing that for many there isn’t enough.

As we thought on this, we were reminded that we are told to pray for ‘our daily bread’: the context of the Lord’s prayer is community. Andrew highlighted in our discussion that as we each wrestle with local and global inequality, this verse is a reminder to steward what we have been given carefully but also with generosity. To not hoard what we don’t need, but to see where we can be God’s hands and feet in providing daily bread in our own community.

Of course, this verse goes far beyond just our physical provision. In praying for ‘our daily bread’, there is an all-encompassing-ness to it as we are asking to receive everything we need for the day ahead - strength, wisdom, grace, patience, resilience, increased capacity, (fill in your blank here). That’s not to say that everyday suddenly becomes easy and stress-free, but more that in trusting God to provide what we need, we don’t have to fear scarcity, strive on alone or worry about having enough left over to survive tomorrow as well as today. We can trust that God will give us what we need for today and what we need for tomorrow too, but not until tomorrow. For me, there is freedom in that revelation but also a struggle. I am typically reluctant to ask for help and would rather rely on my own capabilities. But this verse reminds me that I can and should be daily asking God for what I need, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.

For Laura, she shared how she sees this outwork in her own life. When she starts the day trusting that God will give her everything she needs emotionally her day goes a lot better because she knows that God has given her everything she needs for it. Instead of relying on our own emotional capacity and resilience, she can work out of God’s.

In all this, I am made aware that I don’t truly trust that or live as though God can provide me with all I need for each day. As I try to get better at asking God daily for what I need, I want to also be mindful of the things or people I am relying on instead of God.

“your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (NIV)

“may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Good News)

“Set the world right; Do what’s best - as above, so below.” (The Message)

Laura Kerr writes:

The mere mention of God’s Kingdom got us talking about the areas of injustice and brokenness that we see in the world. We were immediately reminded of the places where the Kingdom is ’not yet’ visible. But it is the ’not yet’ phrase that we felt was important.

The fact that we know that the Kingdom of God is coming is an acknowledgement that there is a better future ahead. All too often I place my hopes in things that are fleeting and that rely on my own strength. However through Jesus, we know that there is an enduring hope.

Joanna liked how The Message translation phrases this part of the Lord’s Prayer as “Set the world right.” This is a cry out to God to see the world changed and made right by Him. By Him! Andrew noted that the wording is not ‘give us the strength to bring your kingdom’ but instead we are calling God to bring it. It is a reminder that by praying this we are bringing ourselves in alignment with His will.

It was this aspect of the prayer that particularly struck me, as it reminded me of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nethertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Isn’t it comforting that Jesus uses prayer to align His will to the Father's? It’s so countercultural. Instead of taking what we want and doing what we want, we are declaring God’s will be done.

We can be so perpetually short sighted! Often we only comprehend our own situations and desires. But by praying this prayer daily, we are rebelling against that and instead looking at the bigger picture with the hope we have through Christ. I want that revolution to happen in my own heart. I will continue reminding myself of my hope in Him and place His will before my own. I will deliberately look for the places where I can already see God’s Kingdom at work.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (New International Version)

“Our Father in heaven: may your holy name be honoured…” (Good News Bible)

Laura Kerr writes:

Our Father! Isn’t it amazing that we get to call the creator of all things our Father.

As the three of us delved deeper into exploring this, we found ourselves discussing the tension there is between knowing Him as our Father and acknowledging His holiness. Andrew noted that it’s like we can relate to Him on two very different ends of a scale. At one end, He’s the timeless creator, all knowing, holy, omnipresent God. But on the other end He is the Father in the story of the prodigal son, hitching up His cloak to run towards us and who we can run to.

This tension can be confusing as we try to work out how to relate to Him. But what we liked about the framing of the Lord's Prayer is that the declaration of ‘Father’ comes first. It reminded me of a talk from The Gold course (shameless plug there) that included the phrase “He’s a Father that happens to be creator/healer/Lord of all.” It feels like there is the same kind of ordering here. By praying in this way we are starting from a place of declaring this Father-child relationship. It is after we have reminded ourselves of this secure identity that we can begin to explore His characteristics.

Joanna also pointed out the relevance of it being Our Father. In the same way that in the Old Testament, God declare his relationship as the Father of Israel, Jesus teaches us this prayer in which we as a community can declare this filial relationship with Him. It emphasises the fact that we are part of a family.

So what will I take away from this? Well, I feel challenged to start each of my prayers by first reminding and affirming my identity as His child. For it is from the security of knowing His Fatherly love that I can begin to pray His names (El Shaddai - God Almighty, Jehovah Raah - Shepherd, Jehovah Rapha - Healer, Jehovah Jireh - Provider) and characteristics over the situations around me.