Saturday, November 11, 2017

November 12, 2017

"Give us today our daily bread." Matthew 6:11

Jesus was a Master Teacher because He had the knack of packing profound truths into simple statements.

A great example is The Lord's Prayer which Jesus could have nearly Tweeted since it's just 66 words long!

One way to unpack this prayer is distill it down into smaller prayers. I have identified four prayers contained in just this eleventh verse of Matthew 6. 

The first three are:

A prayer of gratitude
A prayer of contentment
A prayer of confidence

Today we will look at the fourth prayer which is a prayer of generosity.

Note the words "give US....OUR...."

Reflected in this request is the attitude of Kingdom people. We don't give to get we give to glorify. And when we do get, we give it away!

Kingdom people are not receptacles we are channels or conduit between God's resources and the world's needs.

How else can God meet human needs from Heaven's storehouse?

So, many people look at the heart-breaking poverty in our world and cry out to God, "Why?"

But God weeps in Heaven and cries out, "Who?"

One way you could pray this part of the Prayer is, "Give me today what I need to meet needs."

As I write this I think of this classic story that illustrates well what God desires from Kingdom people:

One day a man said to God, “God, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.”
God showed the man two doors. Inside the first one, in the middle of the room, was a large round table with a large pot of stew. It smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water, but the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, “You have seen Hell.”
Behind the second door, the room appeared exactly the same. There was the large round table with the large pot of wonderful stew that made the man’s mouth water. The people had the same long-handled spoons, but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The man said, “I don’t understand.”
God smiled. It is simple, he said, Love only requires one skill. These people learned early on to share and feed one another. While the greedy only think of themselves… [Author unknown]
"Give US today OUR daily bread" is, among other things, a prayer to deliver us from greed and create in us a generous nature!
Will you pray that prayer today?
There is a needy world depending on you!