Day 35 – Our daily bread
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever.
Amen
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: A bread roll
Talk about how you have experienced God’s provision in your lives.
Thank God for being our Father and Provider.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down – Numbers 11:8-9.
God’s goodness and provision do not take away our responsibility to work, but God also does not expect of us to work like slaves from sunrise to sunset, year in and year out. For this kind of lifestyle will make us live too fast, and we will not have time for God and those we love.
God asks us to collect manna for today, and to leave tomorrow’s portion for tomorrow. It will be there, ready for us to pick up. God gives us everything we need (work, bread, clothes, etc) and we don’t have to worry about it.
Doubt creeps in when we start to fret over whether we’ll have enough tomorrow to survive. And doubt wins when we let this fear overrun our lives and give us direction, instead of the grace of God.
It is a sign of unbelief in God to work as if everything we need to survive comes from us. God is the Provider, and He does it in natural (and sometimes supernatural) ways.
God provides. When we live near God and remember how dependent we are on Him for our lives, we cannot do anything but see Him everywhere. The daily heavenly manna reminds us of this.
Lord, I choose today to live slower so that I can see how You provide for me. Amen.
Liturgy for life
See the ordinary things you do in and around the house as signs of God’s care.
Silence my hunger, Lord
Share a story about a time when you were very hungry. How does it feel to be hungry? Which emotions would you associate with being hungry? Do you think people are happy or unhappy when they are hungry?
To be hungry means that you are aware that something is amiss. You’re missing something. It is an experience that we’re all familiar with. True hunger changes how we act. It is something that we seek and most of us won’t stop until that hunger is satisfied and our stomachs are filled.
God cares for us in times of hunger. Not just physical hunger, but also when we need Him emotionally. Put a slice of bread in the middle of the table when you all eat together today. Before you eat, break off a piece of bread for each person and remind one another that God cares for us. God quiets our hunger. When things are well and we feel like we’re living in the land of milk and honey, but also when the world feels like a desert.
Remember how God has provided for you in the past 35 days, and know that He will protect you and provide for you also in the times ahead.
Children’s activity
Play with your children.
Wow! 21 Days of isolation. 21 Days in which we’re only allowed to be in our homes (or gardens) and can only go out for the most essential things like food and medicine. It can be a little rough! All the things we usually do during the day, like school, sport, church … are not happening anymore. It can really confuse you and maybe even bore you a little. These daily readings will help you to spend some time with Jesus every day in a creative and fun way. You can do these readings and activities by yourself, with your siblings, or with your entire family. Ask one of the grownups to post your activity on Facebook so that others can enjoy it with you. Tag it with #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
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When the Israelites fled Egypt and spent 40 years in the desert, God took care of them every single day. God made sure that they had enough food and water in the desert. However, God also asked them to collect enough food for only one day at a time, except on the sixth day. Then they had to gather double the amount of food so that they could rest on the seventh day and still have enough food. God calls us to work diligently, but God also knows how important it is for us to rest.
– What do you like to do when you need to rest and relax?
– Why do you think it’s important to God that we should rest?
Activity
Help someone in your home to rest a little bit longer today. Maybe you can rub Mom’s or Dad’s feet while they are watching TV. Or maybe you can pour your brother or sister a glass of ice-cold cool drink.
Make yourself a delicious sandwich. While eating it, make a list of the ways in which God provides for you. You can write it down in words or draw pictures of it.
Picture this
– What does “enough” look like to you? Enough food, enough clothes, but also enough space, safety, friends, love, security, quiet time, free time, family time, and so on.
– Think about times when it felt like you didn’t have enough, or weren’t enough. Which emotions does this evoke?
– What does it look and feel like to have enough?
– Illustrate “enough” by using any form of art that you would like to: dance, photography, videography, music, poetry, drawing, painting or a short story.
Record it and share it with us on social media with the hashtag #countdowndoodles
Thank you’s and testimonies
Share your testimony with us! Use the online form below.
Bedtime story
Bedtime story by storyteller Ewald van Rensburg