Repeat Daily

In the Sixth Chapter of Matthew, Jesus instructs us on prayer. He begins by suggesting we retire to a quiet place. Shut out the echoes of 2023. Close the door on 2024 celebrations. He ends by emphasizing the need for forgiveness. That’s difficult in these times of political and geopolitical conflict. The central verses contain what we know as The Lord’s Prayer. Sandwiched in the middle is a petition for daily bread. Naively we might assume this request is about food.

Gregory of Nyssa a bishop in the early Christian church wrote this about the prayer:

 “Let us remember that the life in which we ought to be interested is ‘daily’ life. We can, each of us, only call the present time our own…. Our Lord tells us to pray for today, and so he prevents us from tormenting ourselves about tomorrow. It is as if [God] were to say to us: ‘[It is I] who gives you this day [and] will also give you what you need for this day. [It is I] who makes the sun to rise. [It is I] who scatters the darkness of night and reveals to you the rays of the sun.”

So while many people make elaborate resolutions, pledging they will somehow improve themselves, Bishop Gregory enjoins everyone to focus only on the present moment.

Poet Kathleen Norris expanded on this idea. “Each day brings with it not only the necessity of eating but the renewal of our love of and in God. That may sound like a simple thing, but it is not easy to maintain faith, hope or love in the everyday. I wonder if this is because human pride … can provide a convenient way to ignore our ordinary, daily, bodily needs.”

Let me digress.Exodus chapter 16 tells the story of the manna God used to feed the Israelites. It was a fine almost flaky substance like frost. In the desert God’s people had to collect manna before it melted in the sun. It resembled a coriander seed, only white. Once harvested it was ground and made into cakes and baked. But the key element was this…. They could eat only what they collected that morning. Any leftover, or excess, became wormy and stank the next day. Prayer is like manna. We must gather it in daily.

I spent a lot of time in 2023 thinking about prayer. I read what others had to say: Phillip Yancy, Eugene Peterson, Thomas Merton. Still my daily prayer life was a struggle. Anne Lamott urged me to be honest when I talked to God. “If you say to God, ‘I am exhausted and depressed beyond words…,’ that might be the most honest thing you’ve ever said. If you told me you had said to God, ‘It is all hopeless …, but I could use a hand,’ it would almost bring tears to my eyes, tears of pride in you, for the courage it takes to get real–really real” (from her book on prayer Help, Thanks, Wow).

I wondered why was it so difficult to be honest in prayer. I mean, God knows my shortcomings even better than I know them. Still, last year when I taught an adult education class on angry prayer, participants admitted they hesitated to call God out as Job had done. Why did you let this happen to me? And yet Jesus echoed that angry prayer. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I’ve gotten better at sharing my questions with God, but I’m still uncomfortable with honesty.

Is that the way you feel? What are you struggling with? What keeps you awake at night? What makes you anxious? What “bread” do you want to pray for?

Try this. Silence the world and take ten minutes to talk to God. Speak as if you were confiding to your most trusted friend. Hold nothing back, knowing this is just between you and God. Explain why you are troubled. List what are you thankful for. Release the anger you’ve kept trapped inside. Confess what you need. Be honest. Be brief.

Repeat daily.