* Our Daily Bread--attitude reveals heart

"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11).

In America, praying for our daily bread hardly seems necessary. Most people need to pray for self-control to avoid excesses! But Matthew 6:11 isn't talking about food only. It is a statement of dependency on God and an acknowledgment that He alone provides all of life's basic necessities.

This passage of Scripture does not teach us to reduce prayer to a means of self-fulfillment. Today there are some dangerous streams of teaching that emphasize our right as Christians to demand things of God. But that misses the point of prayer altogether, which is to glorify God (John 14:13).

We are to give God the privilege of revealing His glory by meeting our needs in whatever way He chooses. If we demand things of Him, we are likely to become frustrated or to question Him when we don't get what we want. That's a serious sin!

Sometimes petitionary prayers (prayers of request) seem not only to lack faith in the inherent goodness of God but also to elevate humankind to a position of control over God. God, the Scriptures remind us, is omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipotent (all-powerful), the sovereign (all-control) ruler of the universe. For Christians to pray as if God were a puppet whose strings they yank with their prayers seems not only potentially superstitious but blasphemous as well.

The God of the bible--
the one true God
cannot be manipulated!

"When prayer is sold as a device for eliciting health, success, and other favors from a celestial vending machine, we may wonder what is really being merchandised. Is this faith or is it faith's counterfeit, a glib caricature of true Christianity?"

Guard your prayers! Always be aware of the enormous privilege you have to approach the infinite God and receive His gracious provisions. Yet always do so with His glory as your highest goal.

It has been said, “We came to Jesus on our knees, and we need to stay on our knees.” This simple phrase might possibly be the hardest to achieve. We still have a sinful hangover in this life that battles against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (cf. Ephesians 6:12)

When a follower of Jesus understands the spiritual battle we are in, there is a dependency on God, seriousness about life, and a strong heart desire that says, “…Thy kingdom done, Thy will be done.”

Suggestions for Prayer:

Read Proverbs 30:8-9. What attitude toward God do those verses convey? Is that your attitude in prayer?

For Further Study:

Read Matthew 6:19-34 and James 4:3. How might you respond to someone who says Christians have the right to demand favors from God?