As we have been studying the Lord’s Prayer, it began with placing God in His rightful position. The prayer then turns to requesting God for our needs. What are those needs most urgent: life sustaining provision, forgiveness, and protection. Without these, we cannot survive. But with these, what are we really asking God for? Some would try to say, “Ok, God, I have rightly glorified you in my prayer first, so give me all I ask for”. But that would be wrong! In fact, if we think in that manner, we really haven’t understood or truly placed God on the throne. This is not some magical formula for getting what we want. Instead, it is recognizing His Place as Sovereign Lord over our life. If we truly do that, then our requests become very humble. Give us day by day our daily bread (Luke 11:3).
Asking God for Bread
I have often heard preachers say that this is where we are requesting our financial needs and wants. But I believe, this is much more. God knows our physical needs to survive as human beings. He, as our heavenly Father, also knows best. We are to come to Him asking God for our needs and desires. However, we are to do so with a heart that desires, Thy Will Be Done. What is the bread that I truly need to be asking God for? Is it not spiritual bread? What I really need is to be spiritually fed! I need to grow in my understanding of His Word, first and foremost.
Jesus went on to say, “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” (Luke 11:11-13).
The bread I am most in need of is Him. I need the overflowing of the Holy Spirit in my heart, front and center. It is the tendency of the human heart to forget that He is ever-present in the heart of the believer. We tend to push Him aside for the sake of our own human desires. Occupied with our human needs and busy lives, we forget these words. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6: 33). What Things?
Matthew 6: 25-34
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, take no thought, saying, “What shall we eat?” or, “What shall we drink?” or, “Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
So, The Question Remains:
What are you really asking God for? Are you asking Him to place Him on the throne of your life? Furthermore, are you seeking first to be fed with the bread of life? And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst (John 6:35). So, when you come to pray, are you asking God for the bread of life or for earthly bread?
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR?
If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior: I urge you to go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; Because, He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
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Previous Posts Concerning the Lord’s Prayer
Do You Mean It When You Pray Thy Will Be Done?
How to Live in Joyful Expectation of God’s Kingdom
How to Really Honor God: Hallowed Be Thy Name
What is the Significance of Having a Heavenly Father?
Do You Really Know God as Father?
How Important is the Lord’s Prayer?
POEMS
©Effie Darlene Barba, 2018
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Footnotes and Credits
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