Heart of a Friend
The Heart of a Friend podcast was born out of a desire to share some of the most important things learned from a lifetime of experience. It is hosted by Andy Wiegand. Andy retired in 2017 after 40 years of pastoral ministry. He and his wife now reside in Columbus, Ohio. They have raised six children and are now very happy to be grandparents.
Andy grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received his education at Harvard University (B.A. ’73) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div. ’78). In his retirement Andy devotes time to charitable work, visits with friends and family, exercises and continues to do a lot of reading and thinking about life.
Heart of a Friend
Ep. 16 | Teach Us To Pray | Part 5 | Isn't Kroger Enough?
Highlights: Isn’t Kroger Enough? (Part 5)
“Give us this day our daily bread…” Do we really need this part of the Lord’s Prayer? We regard our food as less of a necessity and more like a hobby. Yes, we eat to live but more and more we live to eat. Isn’t this prayer an artifact from a by-gone era of scarcity?
John Stott cites Martin Luther, “Luther had the wisdom to see that “bread” was a symbol for “everything necessary for the preservation this life, like food, a healthy body, good weather, house, home, wife, children, good government and peace.” So, this prayer encompasses a much broader range of needs. We’re asking for more than just bread or food. Perhaps an accurate paraphrase might be: “Lord, provide for all our daily needs.”
Isn’t it selfish to pray for ourselves? This isn’t the first thing we are told to pray for. The first things we are told to pray are kingdom related. The Lord’s Prayer does give priority to things outside ourselves…BUT, what Dad or Mom worthy of the name does not want their children to come to them with their needs? Furthermore, we are instructed to pray this way.
Isn’t it unspiritual to pray for material things? Our physical needs are important to God. It’s why Jesus healed the sick. It’s why he fed the 5000. Yes, how we worship matters to God, but so does what we eat, how we rest and whether we exercise. God created us to be amphibious! Creatures that would inhabit two worlds - the spiritual and the physical, the invisible and the visible. [ They say the dust in the air comes from mainly two sources: it’s part earth and part disintegrated asteroids. So being made from dust - we are a combination of dirt and star-dust! ] We are dual-natured.
Can’t this kind of prayer be abused? On the one hand, It can encourage irresponsibility and laziness. We have a responsibility to work. “God feeds the birds, but he doesn’t bring the food to their nests.” (Martin Luther) Don’t use this prayer as a pretext for sloth. On the other hand, it can encourage self-indulgent materialism. This is a modest request. There is no justification here or anywhere else in the Bible for thinking that it’s God’s plan for the followers of Jesus to be fabulously rich. The “prosperity gospel” is the unfortunate product of our greed, consumerism and a sloppy, self-serving and twisted theology. We don’t need gourmet cuisine - just bread.
So, is this part of the Lord’s Prayer really necessary? This question is not a surprise to God. (Deuteronomy 8:6-18) We’re not the first to ask it. Don’t forget…behind Kroger, behind Columbia Gas, etc. is God! The ability to create and sustain all the systems that support our lives is a gift from God! Kroger is not enough!
Three important things happen inside me when I pray this:
1. I’m humbled - This prayer is a declaration of dependence. “My head is in the dirt.”
2. I move closer to contentment - This prayer is a modest request. “The person who is poor is not the person who has too little but the one who always craves more.” (Chinese fortune cookie)
3. I am motivated to help with the needs of others. This prayer uses the plural. It’s a prayer not just for me, but for others as well. We are “rich Christians in an age of hunger.” “Don’t refuse to do something just because you can’t do everything.” (Bob Pierce - World Vision co-founder)