From the devotional "The Upper Room"
OUR DAILY BREAD
Read Matthew 6:7-15
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
(lyrics to the song "Great is thy faithfulnes")
In stressful times we easily worry, even though worrying does absolutely no good. Furthermore, the Bible has many passages that encourage us not to worry but instead to trust in God. (See Matt. 6:25,37) A phrase from the Lord's Prayer recently helped me understand this better when we went through a stressful time as my father-in-law's health failed.
In those verses that Jesus taught us to pray, we state the words "Give us today our daily bread." It occurred to me that the prayer does not say, "Give me adequate bread," or "Never let me run out of bread." The emphasis is on Daily bread-enough for the day at hand, and that day only.
The clear message is that we are to renew our relationship and our trust in God every day. While times of anxiety will continue to occur for all of us, excessive worry separates us from God by focusing our energy on the problem instead of focusing on God. The principle of daily bread is about seeking and trusting God anew every day.
Prayer: "Our Father in heaven , hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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." Amen.
Like God's mercies, our trust can be "new every morning."
OUR DAILY BREAD
Read Matthew 6:7-15
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
(lyrics to the song "Great is thy faithfulnes")
In stressful times we easily worry, even though worrying does absolutely no good. Furthermore, the Bible has many passages that encourage us not to worry but instead to trust in God. (See Matt. 6:25,37) A phrase from the Lord's Prayer recently helped me understand this better when we went through a stressful time as my father-in-law's health failed.
In those verses that Jesus taught us to pray, we state the words "Give us today our daily bread." It occurred to me that the prayer does not say, "Give me adequate bread," or "Never let me run out of bread." The emphasis is on Daily bread-enough for the day at hand, and that day only.
The clear message is that we are to renew our relationship and our trust in God every day. While times of anxiety will continue to occur for all of us, excessive worry separates us from God by focusing our energy on the problem instead of focusing on God. The principle of daily bread is about seeking and trusting God anew every day.
Prayer: "Our Father in heaven , hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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." Amen.
Like God's mercies, our trust can be "new every morning."