Daily Bread May 23

Your Kingdom Come
Karin Peter, president of seventy


Our Father in heaven ,hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. -Matthew 6:10

I was asked by my son to bless my new grandson. This presented me with a dilemma: I have never blessed a baby before. I am always the “holder.” This is for a lot of reasons but mainly because, I will confess, I’m uncomfortable praying aloud. I always volunteer my spouse. “He has a gift of prayer,” I tell people. And he does.

But just because I am not good at it doesn’t mean I am absolved from praying. Perhaps I need to learn more about prayer, just as the disciples needed instruction on prayer (Luke 11:1-13).

Father,

\xc2\xb7 Respected one who has far-reaching generosity, compassion, and care

Hallowed be your name.

\xc2\xb7 One whose very name is too holy to be spoken aloud

Your Kingdom come.

\xc2\xb7 May your divine rule, your way of living, your way of peace, healing, and liberation, be made real.

Give us each day our daily bread.

\xc2\xb7 Sustain us. Give us what we need to survive today and keep us from wanting more than our share while others are without.

And forgive us our sins
For we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

\xc2\xb7 Hold us accountable to be forgiving in theory and in practice. Ensure I will not care for money more than I care about my right relationship with you.

And do not bring us to the time of trial.

\xc2\xb7 Do not let us fall away or give up due to oppression, lack of faith, our own greed, or need for control.

This less familiar version of the Lord’s Prayer is more than a lesson on prayer; it is a lesson on what it is to be a disciple who lives, in mind, body, and spirit, the ways of the Peaceable kingdom. So, to be honest, I struggle with living the ways of the kingdom just as I struggle with public prayer. But even in the midst of my human frailties I hear this refrain echo in my being: “The kingdom is near to you, the kingdom is near to you, the kingdom is near to you…”

And the kingdom is near to me, to us; it is as near as our spiritual condition and our active, compassionate, radical, grace-filled discipleship.

Prayer Phrase

“The glory of God is the human person fully alive” (St. Irenaeus).

Spiritual Practice

Fully Alive

Enter a time of prayer and hold St. Irenaeus’ quote in your heart. How do your mind, body, heart, and soul work together for your aliveness in God each day? What does it mean in your life and ministry that God desires for each of us to be fully alive?

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

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