Sunday, August 2, 2026 — Matthew 14:13-21
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
We become mesmerized by the miracle accounts recorded in the gospels. The things that Jesus did are not common, everyday events. And yet there is a common thread that runs through a majority of the miracles. We typically overlook the common events because we’ve come to expect a certain response in Jesus’ actions. It’s not unusual to note that Jesus prays. But we neglect to acknowledge his posture. It wasn’t unusual for a person to stand before God and pray. What we often miss is that “he looked up to heaven” and gave thanks. Perhaps in looking up, he acknowledged that his God was above him — not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense; in a moral sense; in an authoritarian sense. He looked up as a child often looks up to his parent for support, provision, comfort, help, and deliverance. He looked up, perhaps in full expectation of receiving by thanksgiving exactly what he was preparing to pray to his God to deliver. The reasons he looked up aren’t stated anywhere in the performance of the miracle of the 2 little fish and 5 loaves of bread. And maybe there’s no logical explanation. It could be much ado about nothing. But I invite us to consider what is a human response to our expectations. We often look up when we want people to know the sincerity of our request. We look up when we are hopeful and expectant that we will receive what we’re asking for. We look up when we want someone to acknowledge us.
Maybe all of these factors are important as we consider what it means for us to look up to God in prayer when we pray. It does invite us to enter into a spirit of earnestness, expectation and hope. It does invite us to consider that God will acknowledge us as much or maybe more than when we bow our heads. And yes, bowing our heads is a physical act of humility. But perhaps God is more concerned about how humble we are in spirit. Maybe Jesus was relying on God’s word that said:
“But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
That’s something we could all aspire to — spiritual humility. It then might inspire us all to look up to God.
- On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest level of spiritual humility, how do you rate your level of spiritual humility when you pray?
- When you pray, do you consider the state of your spirit, whether you bow, kneel, or stand?
Todays Prayer
Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God who answers prayer, fill me with the spiritual humility and reverence to look up to you in prayer. Receive my prayers knowing that I come before you in prayer as humbly as I know how.
