Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Friday, September 4, 2015
Centering on Bread of Life
Today, I’m departing a bit from the spirit of Centering Prayer. (Yes, already.) I intended for each day in the month of September to choose a name of God found in the Bible. The Name I’ve chosen for today is a phrase. (I’ve got to ask people more familiar with Centering Prayer. I think that’s okay, but I’m not sure.)
In any case, the phrase for today? My Name of God for today is Bread of Life.
This Name of God seemed so fitting for today. This Sunday is the first Sunday of the month. And, in the church I serve as pastor, Communion is observed on the first week of the month. Bread of Life? Jesus. Jesus? Bread of Life.
Initially, I didn’t have problems entering a prayer space. I am usually finding this aspect of prayer straightforward. However—keeping my mind centered on the word for the day? That’s where the difficult part comes in. Today was more difficult than usual.
I knew that Jesus said “I am the bread of life” in the Gospel of John. (I knew that straight off. I didn’t need to look that up.) Although I couldn’t remember all the specifics about the passage, I had some context on which to base my meditation. Yeah, frequent non-Bible related thoughts came up.
However, one Bible-related—even bread-related—thought came up a few times during my prayer. Manna. God gave the people of Israel manna in the wilderness. God gave us Jesus, the Bread of Life, to us in our wilderness.
What an awesome thought!
As I prepare for and look forward to Communion Sunday this weekend, I can keep that thought prayerfully in my mind and heart. Thanks, God! Thanks for the marvelous connection. Thank You for the opportunity to celebrate Communion with this congregation. And, thanks for Jesus, the Bread of Life.
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