The First Sunday in Lent A

The First Sunday in Lent A

These words demand a certain exclusiveness, an exclusiveness the devil seeks to break.  To worship the Lord establishes the Lord as the sole recipient of our thanks and praise, our service and obedience.  But wait, there’s even more:  to worship the Lord also means that we look exclusively to the Lord for all those things we depend upon, things like our daily bread.  The devil contends for this dependence.  The devil comes to Jesus in the wilderness, tempting Jesus away from his exclusive dependency upon the Lord his God.  The devil confronts Jesus, contending for the provision of his daily bread… contending for his protection… and contending for his patronage—his worship.  The devil comes to you, too.  He comes in the wilderness of your days, those times, and those places where the Word of God seems but a dim echo in your ears… when the sacraments belong to a past growing ever more distant.  The devil is unrelenting in his contention to break your exclusive dependency upon the Lord your God… your Father in heaven… for his provision… for his protection… and for his worship.

Prayers from one in constant susceptibility to the contention brought by the devil, the world, and his sinful self against his Lord’s exclusive claim upon his worship…

Heavenly Father, you provide my daily bread.  Grant that I so trust in you that I do not succumb to the temptations of the devil, the world, or my sinful self.

Heavenly Father, you provide my daily bread.  Grant that I trust your Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, to be my bread come down from heaven, so that he is daily bread for my life in the new creation.

Heavenly Father, you provide my daily bread.  Grant that I so live from the new creation in Jesus Christ that I can forgive my neighbors when they prove unhelpful in my quest for daily bread.

Heavenly Father, you provide my daily bread.  Grant me to trust your provision for my needs so that I do not steal, lie, or try to deceive as I deal with my neighbors to receive what you provide.

Heavenly Father, you provide my daily bread.  Grant to me such trust in you that I engage my callings dutifully, fulfill my vocations rightfully, and, in that interconnected web of callings and vocations, receive the bread I need for life in this world and the next.

Heavenly Father, you provide my daily bread.  Grant that same provision to the Institute of Lutheran Theology so that it would be fruitful in its mission.

Heavenly Father, you provide my daily bread.  Grant that the days of my baptism overflow with such provision so that out of that abundance generosity would overflow, blessing my neighbors with daily bread for this world and the next.

Into your hands, heavenly Father, I commit all for which I pray, coming to you in the name of your Son, my Lord Jesus.  Amen