In Search Of A Better Tomorrow

Daily Devotional:  Time Alone With God – Prayer

by Pastor Phil Stout

Matthew 6:5-11

New International Version (NIV)

Prayer
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.

Consider: One of the things that continually impacts us about The Lord’s Prayer is the simplicity of it. The phrases are short, the requests succinct. After all, Jesus had just told us not to “keep on babbling” in our prayers (6:7), thinking that there is more power to them if we multiply the words. No, just the opposite is true. There is beauty and power in simplicity.

And could there possibly be a simpler request when it comes to our needs? “This is how you should pray…”

“Give us today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:9, 11)

That’s it? No begging? No deal making (“If you do this one thing for me, God, I promise I’ll…”)? No planting of financial “seeds” to convince God that you’re serious? Just “Give us today our daily bread”? What’s the catch?

Well, there’s no “catch,” but there is something that is required. For the last two weeks we’ve seen that a call to pray is also a call to act upon—to live out—the prayer we pray. When we begin the prayer with worship (6:9), we’re called to give ourselves to him completely. We’re called to cast down our idols. When we pray for his kingdom to come and his will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (6:10), we’re called to participate in the work of that kingdom—to be part of the answer to that prayer. So when we’re called to ask for our daily bread with a simple request, we’re also called to trust him with a simple faith.

No begging. No deal making. No threatening. No cajoling. No bribing. Just trust.

After all, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (6:8).

Pray: “Lord, this week as I consider my relationship to you in terms of my daily needs, teach me to trust you in ways I never have before. Teach me to rest on your promises. Teach me to cast my anxieties on you. I don’t want to dishonor you by refusing to believe that you really care for me and will supply all of my needs. Thank you that today you hear my simple prayer for daily bread.”