“Give us this day our daily bread”
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6, 7)
What are you worried about today? Are there things that you are anxious about? Today we want to notice that the model prayer Jesus has given us is a “daily” prayer. You don’t pray for your daily bread weekly…or monthly…or occasionally. I believe this is an important lesson that Jesus is teaching here. The discipline of prayer is a regular communion with your heavenly Father.
You see we were not created for anxiety. We were created to experience the “peace” of God each and every day. When we neglect briinging our cares to the Lord we are inviting anxiety into our lives. For many of us we reserve praying for the big things in our lives. When there is a crisis or a problem we go to Him…and we should. However, when it comes to the day to day routine we are, for some reason, content to handle things ourselves. Unfortunately, this can often produce stress in our lives and have negative effects spiritually, emotionally, and physically. We feel we should be able to handle the small stuff on our own and we forfeit the “peace of God” which has been made available to us.
Prayer is meant to be daily! Give us this day our DAILY bread! “But God doesn’t care about me and the little things in my life.” Peter said,
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6, 7)
God cares for you and desires fellowship with you every day. This is a relationship that is based on a love that is hard to comprehend. He loves you and He wants you to depend upon Him for everything. He does not want you to worry today. He did not make you to do it on your own. In the sermon on the mount Jesus gave this guidance,
“But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33, 34).
Today, as you pray through the Lord’s prayer trust Him to take care of the small stuff too.