“Give us this day our daily bread.”
Some of us take this line literally, thinking we are praying for something material, e.g., bread…food…something that we need to sustain our life. But what we are praying for is not material; it has a deeper meaning.
In the context of The Lord’s Prayer, our daily bread means divine grace. We are praying that we know His divine grace now…this day…from this moment on and forever.
Do we get it instantly? I haven’t. I can’t say if anyone else has. But it is my faith in God that makes me believe that when God does choose to reveal His divine grace, I will be able to receive it, because I have continually prepared myself.
What is stopping so many of us is that somehow we continually think we are not worthy of God’s grace, we are not good enough, or that we have so many character defects, impurities, etc.
I understand where this is coming from. It usually comes from organized religion, which I totally support because it has “freed” thousands and thousands of souls, but Jesus of Nazareth, like so many other incarnations of God said you reach God through Them, not some institution.
It has been pointed out to me that this seeming humility can actually be vanity. Why, you might ask? Because it is assuming that we can know God through our own efforts…our own will power.
“If I can make myself a better person, then God will reveal His divine grace to me.” Or when I rid myself of all these character defects/impurities, then God will reveal Himself to me, etc., etc.
This is all about the wrong “I.” It’s not about us. It is about us continually preparing ourselves through prayer, contemplation and meditation, and having faith, that “Thy will, not my will, be done.”
When God chooses to reveal Himself/Herself to us, He/She will.
Christ Himself said; “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…”
One might think that this, in and of itself, is grace. An Indian Swami (Swami Truriyananda) once said when asked about God’s grace;
“The Lord is not partial. His grace falls equal upon saint and sinner, just as rain falls on all land. But only the ground which is cultivated produces a good harvest.”
Jesus also said: Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh….lest coming suddenly he finds you sleeping.
So, every day we prepare ourselves (prayer, contemplation and meditation) for our daily bread, and when we do that, more and more throughout the day, we will think of God, see God all around us, and be prepared to receive Divine Grace.
Namaste
Ah-Man
Michael
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