In His Name Devotionals
RECEIVING GOD’S PROVISIONS
In His Name Devotionals
RECEIVING GOD’S PROVISIONS
“Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)
In American, praying for daily bread hardly seems necessary. Most people need to pray for self-control to avoid overeating. But Matthew 6:11 is not 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.
Sad to say, however, many people today have reduced prayer to a means of self-fulfillment. A woman recently said, “I don’t think you understand the true resource we have in prayer. You should read this book.” The book she referred to repeatedly emphasized your right as a Christians to demand things from God. But that misses the point of prayer altogether, which is to glorify God (John 14:13). You are to give God the privilege of revealing His glory by meeting your needs in whatever way He chooses. If you demand things of Him, you are likely to become frustrated. To question Him when you do not get what you want is a serious sin.
Some petitionary prayers 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 Holy Scriptures point out, is omniscient and omnipotent, the sovereign ruler of the universe. For a Christian to pray as if God was a puppet whose string can be yanked with prayer seems not only potentially superstitious but blasphemous as well. When prayer is sold as a device for eliciting health, success, and other favors from a celestial vending machine, you should ask yourself, “What is really being merchandised?” Is this faith or is it faith’s counterfeit, a glib caricature of true Christianity?
As a Christian, you should guard your prayers. Always aware of the enormous privilege you have, approaching the infinite God, receiving His gracious provisions. Yet, you should always do so with His glory as your highest goal.
