Today is Tuesday and in this season, we take time to explore noonday moments in the Bible, as we look to meet God in the middle of our own days.
I choose now to pause – asking the Spirit to re-centre my scattered mind, asking the Father to lavish on me his endless love, and asking Jesus to interrupt my agenda with his own.
As I enter prayer now, I join my voice with that of saints across the globe and throughout history, praying as Jesus taught us:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts
As we forgive those indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, the power,
and the glory, both now and forever.
Amen.
This prayer of Jesus has guided the midday prayers of God’s people dating all the way back to the Church’s origins. It teaches me a way of prayer in two distinct parts: the first gets me in on God’s world, the second gets God in on my world.
Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime…
Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”
But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”
Gathering in the middle of the day with hunger on their minds, Jesus informs his disciples that their daily bread is more than just food. Doing God’s will by loving others and sharing the gospel aren’t just good things to do. They are essential to their spiritual nourishment, energy, and life.
Lord, In the middle of my everyday life of jobs and bills and commitments, it’s easy to forget that you have called me to partner in your great work of salvation. I remind myself of that reality now.
Thank you for the privilege of being part of your kingdom. In the same way that only food will satisfy me when I am hungry, let me experience the deep joy, satisfaction and fulfillment that comes from doing your will today.
Morning, noon, and night
I cry out in my distress,
and the LORD hears my voice.
Lord, help me to look up from my own needs and interests in order to serve others – showing and telling them of your love. Let me, as Jesus did, join you as you pursue all those around me with your love.
Gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and rich in mercy. As I enter the day’s second half, may I go filled to overflowing with the love of the Father, may I lay my life down in the sacrificial love of the Son, and may I be spurred on in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.