“Give us this day our daily bread . . . “

This simple prayer has become one I rely on when I don’t know what else to pray.

I used to think this was a greedy prayer, but the truth is, if we don’t go to God our Father to get our cup filled, we’ll go elsewhere — and nothing or no one else can fill His shoes! We end up needy or even addicted, striving to get our needs met through alternate means.

What happens on days when you feel you’re grasping for straws, tired & stressed out, or when your situation is painful or less-than-ideal? Where do you run to?

As a new mom, I’m experiencing this level of dependence firsthand. Lord, PLEASE give us the sleep we need [A prayer He’s been most willing to answer, thank You Jesus!]. Lord, please comfort her when I don’t know what to do or when she’s in the back seat of our car and I’m driving. 🙂 Lord, please protect her from circumstances & dangers beyond my control. Lord, please give us the wisdom we so greatly need as new parents. Lord…

Can God Satisfy Us?

Years ago as a newlywed, I sensed the Lord challenging me in this area. I felt like He said to me one day, “In Me, do you believe you can ever be satisfied?” 

My answer to this question would dictate my life… because if I truly believed that God intended for His kids to wander around with gaping unmet needs, denying themselves & ‘taking up their crosses’ only (without experiencing the overflow of His abundant provision on the other side of self-denial), then — as Beth Moore said — we’d be “strongholds waiting to happen”! After all, a vacuum creates a void that sucks whatever’s nearby into its vortex. There’s no such thing as empty space; it must be filled with something.

Such is the state of our hearts & souls. When we aren’t filled with His Spirit, we’re filled with our fleshly, needy, overindulgent selves.

So what is our solution? Going to Him DAILY with our needs — just like the Israelites sought manna {God’s perfect food} every day in the wilderness. He faithfully provided it every single day until their need for it dried up. Then He provided their food in other ways. When they tried to gather too much, the manna rotted & developed maggots.

As simple as it sounds, going to Him in daily dependence is a very humbling, frustrating process that matures us in such a basic way. Human nature wants to stockpile & know our provision is assured, but sometimes God wants us so near that He shows us our need for Him through our simple EVERY DAY needs. Maybe that’s why fasting is so potent spiritually — because it messes with one of our most basic needs long enough to expose where we go when the chips are down.

When we’re forced to return to Him time & time again to fill our bellies, we learn a new level of trust in Him. Maybe asking for “our daily bread” is the best way for us to…

Remember to connect with Him every day.
Know our true Source.
Go deeper with Him.
Grow in gratitude when He shows up day after day.
Experience Him as our Father and Jehovah Jireh {our Provider}.

It’s not always fun, but it’s so good. In this prayer, Jesus shows us we shouldn’t go chasing other idols, like the First Commandment tells us. Instead, we should chase Him and see all else fall into place in our lives. {This message is as much for me as anyone!!}.

Let’s not be afraid to GO TO HIM & ASK for what we truly need!!! Even (especially) if our need is intangible — wisdom, love, affirmation, encouragement, hope, faith, peace. Ask ask ask, and you shall receive! 

Come, Everyone Who Thirsts!

I’ll leave us with this Scripture from Isaiah 55:

Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to Me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
My steadfast, sure love for David….

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth;
it shall not return to Me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

-Isaiah 55