Our Daily Bread

How many times have I prayed it, that chewable petition of the Lord's Prayer:
"Give us this day, our daily bread."

I've normally been thankful for having received my daily bread whenever I want it.  Appreciative of the fact that I've never known what' real hunger feels like (weight-cutting hunger for wrestling doesn't count). Cognizant of the fact that there are people out there who are hungry and desiring that they would have enough.

But this week, I thought of what this prayer means for me in a new way.  When Jesus teaches me to pray to God for my daily bread, he is teaching me how to pray for less. Jesus is teaching me how to become faithful to God's will that I feed myself daily, and not try to store up bread, wealth, and things for years to come. For myself, who's actually always known what it means to have way more than enough, Jesus is teaching me to recognize that God's will be done by wilderness people gathering manna for a day, trusting in God that there will be more tomorrow.

So today, still surrounded by more than enough, I will pray for my daily bread.  Not just as a means for giving thanks for all God has given to me.  Rather, I will pray this prayer calling on God to transform me a little more each day, to lead me to trust in the will of God to live with less, rather than my own will, which says I need more.