The transformation of our prayer from “God, please grant us a silver bullet”, to “Lord, grant us the ability to see Your presence in the midst of our trying situation” is the indicator that we have accepted the burden of carrying the cross daily in following the Lord.
When we ask for eyes to see God in the present struggle, we have forgiven God for allowing this circumstance to befall us. (We are accepting the consequences of that injury) and we are acknowledging that our primary need is not to be shielded from hardship nor even evil, nor from brokenness, but to be fully in the presence of God where these exist. And where is God to be found? In suffering. That is His glory – He is the Compassionate God. (When Moses asked YHWH {the Old Testament name for God} to show him His glory, the first thing YHWH revealed about Him/Herself was, “I am Compassionate”.
When we begin asking God for eyes to see Him/Her in the present struggle, it quickly becomes evident that this is not a one and done request. It is not something that can be accumulated and stored up for a rainy day. It quickly becomes apparent that this needs to become a daily plea. And in some scenarios, it is a moment by moment plea.
We all want to store up that manna (bread that fell from heaven for the Israelites escaping enslavement in Egypt) – that sign of God’s presence and provision – so that we have enough to last us a few days, a week, a few weeks, or a few months. But the nature of manna is that it can’t be stored up. There is only enough manna that can be gathered to last a single day (or a weekend). This is the daily reminder that our sustenance comes from God. We don’t want to need daily reminders. We wish we could be inoculated for a week at a time, a month at a time. But Jesus reminds us in the Lord’s Prayer that our request is for DAILY bread. We need to see God’s presence in our struggle each and every day.
So the prayer request for daily bread really becomes a request for vision – to be granted the eyes to see and recognize God’s presence in the difficulty, the calamity, the injustice, the feeling of abandonment.
The request for food from the faithful follower of Jesus is really a request for healing from blindness. We don’t need to invite God into our struggle, we need to recognize how S/He has been there already and that we are choosing to join Her/Him in Her/His demonstration of love through Her/His compassion.