My spiritual director has an adage that she repeats to me often: “Everything you need, you already have.” It can be a real pain when I am seeking something, but also a tremendous gift (one that I catch myself using on my own—darn the efficacy of spiritual direction!). It takes away my desire to find the “right answer” or exonerate myself because of a perceived lack; it challenges me to be open to what God has already given me.
The wisdom of that reminder from my spiritual director bubbles up in today’s reading. While it can be easy for us to gloss over the Our Father prayer—and tomes have been written just unpacking this powerful guidance from the Son on how to pray to the Father—I was struck in this reading by the punchy reminder of the middle line: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Jesus encourages us to ask God for what we need to get through today—nothing more, nothing less. We need not be bogged down by memories of the past or the worries of tomorrow; instead, we should stay focused on today, where we will never be alone in navigating whatever challenge the day brings.
The especially comforting truth is that God knows what we need before we ask—we don’t need to be long-winded or perfect, hoping that the more eloquent and verbose we are (like the pagans Jesus points to), the higher our success rate will be. This thinking relegates God to a divine casino game: if we yank the slot machine enough or put our chips on the right color combo, we will get a payout. But the truth is that God will not intervene like a divine puppet master once we have activated the right sequence; by the same token, no combination of words or actions can make God love us any more or any less. God knows us so lovingly and intimately that he already knows the deepest desires of our hearts and will never leave us to walk the journey alone.
Therefore, all we have to do is be present to the “now” of it all, taking it one step at a time, consuming the daily bread that God lovingly provides. Everything we need, we already have.
