Kneeling in prayer during my 4am adoration hour I was looking at a depiction of the slain lamb with the blood pouring out and suddenly thought about the intertwining meaning that passes through the Old Testament Exodus with lambs blood on door posts to mark the children of God who would be saved from the plagues, to the Passover meal with the pure lamb sacrifice and on into the New Testament of Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb saving us with the outpouring of his blood.
I thought about the hundreds of years it took for the entire story to unfold and how it is still being told. Which led me to contemplate the Lord’s people and what kind of spiritual struggles they must have endured on a daily basis, especially those who were left for 40 years in the desert waiting on the Lord.
“Manna,” the thought whispered by as I continued to stare at the depiction of the slain lamb. “Daily Bread.” God gave his people in the desert daily bread to survive. That is all they had to sustain their belief that the Lord would come and deliver them from their circumstances – this mysterious daily bread.
Teach us to pray, the disciples had inquired of Jesus in the New Testament.
The Lord’s Prayer.
“This is how you are to pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors;
and do not subject us to the final test,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
Matthew 6:9-13
It was a simple revelation… one I’ve heard before, learned about in Mass, in Bible studies, etc however, kneeling in prayer this very morning it gave me the meaning and or encouragement I needed today.
God has always instructed us to live day by day.
Not to ‘worry’ about tomorrow. “I see this clearly, Lord,” I wrote in my journal, “thank you for not showing me what is to come because instead of seeing the blessings and joy I would fear and dread the sorrow and hurt. Looking and despairing for tomorrow paralyzes my purpose for today. Help me to live out my life daily.”
May I remember this lesson every time I pray the Lord’s prayer. From age to age His instruction has never changed.
Blessings
Shannon