IN the days of Bible history, when the problems of human experience differed not essentially from those of later times, this divine message came, to the prophet Amos: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord."
At this present time, so momentous with the fulfillment of Scriptural prophecy, those with spiritual vision are correctly interpreting troubled, chaotic world conditions as giving evidence of the great spiritual hunger and thirst foreseen by the prophet. It is not alone in those lands where turmoil, strife, and poverty have prevailed, that famine and want have seemingly exacted a large toll. In material prosperity and abundance, those lacking the true knowledge of God have undergone spiritual starvation, manifested in sickness, sin, unhappiness, and woe. Only the bread from heaven, which Christ Jesus said "giveth life unto the world," can nourish, revive, and satisfy humanity's hunger for spirituality. Contrasting the heavenly manna with that which met the human needs of the Israelites at the time of their exodus from Egypt, he said, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
Through prayer mortals take their first steps towards the blessedness, light, and freedom which true Christianity holds for all. Multitudes in ever increasing number have received and are receiving an answer to the fervent supplication, "Give us this day our daily bread," through Christian Science, which has taught them how to pray with understanding. In giving the spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer on pages 16 and 17 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy interprets the petition for "our daily bread" in these words: "Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections."
