Matthew 6:5-15
Verse 11 Give us today our daily bread.
Having prayed for His will to be done, Jesus showed us how we should pray for the day to day needs of life. One of our basic needs in life is nourishment and bread has been the most basic of food groups since early in the history of man. But Jesus isn’t talking about just bread, He is referring to all our basic needs. And this isn’t a simple request for the basics, He wanted us to understand the deeper meaning of asking for the basics.
Too often in life we are sure we can provide the basics for ourselves, we don’t need Him to do the little stuff for us. It is this tendency towards independence or self-sufficiency which interferes with our seeing and knowing God as provider. The less we depend on Him about the little stuff, the more we start depending on ourselves for the big stuff.
It isn’t wrong to want to care for our needs and work to pay for them, but when we start thinking we are doing it all on our own power we start taking away from Him what is rightly His. He is the one who gave us the ability to work and gave us the talents and special abilities to do all He has created us to do, shouldn’t He get the credit for what we do? If He has provided the way for us to make the money to buy the basic needs in life, it only seems right that we give Him the credit for providing us with those basic provisions.
Knowing they come from Him should have us asking Him for them. If we just take Him and His provision for granted, He will continue to provide those things we are in need of but we will miss the relationship He offers with His provision. He doesn’t just want to provide the basics of life for us, He has so much more in store for us when we walk with Him.
His focus is not limited to the things of this world and so His provisions aren’t primarily for this life either. He has provided a way of salvation for us as a means of providing for our eternity. He is making a place for us, providing us with a new body and life everlasting. He has plans and never leaves us to provide for ourselves on our own power, but He does want us to ask Him, to seek His provisions.
Making It Personal
Do you ask God to provide in your life or do you focus on providing for yourself? Where do you need to seek His provision in your life? How often do you ask God to provide through you?
Making It Personal Kids
What are some of the things God provides for you? How does He provide those things? Can He use you to provide anything for someone else?
Closing Prayer
Father, we repent not seeing You as the provider of all things. Give us eyes to see how You provide for our every need and hearts which remember to give You thanks. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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