Aloha Dearest Family,
Today we will begin by looking at what is known as The
Lord’s Prayer.
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which
art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-15)
This is probably the greatest prayer in the Bible. Not
that we should repeat, word for word, like a chant, but it serves as a model of
what prayer to God should look like. Within this prayer contains the verse that
will be the focus of today’s sharing.
“Give
us this day our daily bread.”
This
prayer is repeated in Luke 11 when one of his disciples asks Jesus to teach
them how to pray. One of the lines of the prayer is in verse 3, “Give us day
by day our daily bread.” This
verse refers back to the days of ancient Israel when the children spent over 40
years in the wilderness.
If
you remember, God brought His people out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, through
the wilderness to the promised land. The people were full of joy and confidence
that God was able to bring them through the Red Sea. There was much joy and
dancing. But three days into the wilderness, when they were thirsty, they
started to complain and grumble against Moses. God miraculously gave them water
to drink. A few days later, when they began to get hungry, they again started
to grumble against Moses. God then does the impossible and invents a new type
of food.
“Then
said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and
the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove
them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that
on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be
twice as much as they gather daily.” (Exodus
16:4 and 5)
No
one had ever seen anything like it before. In fact, the word Manna in
Hebrew, means “What is it?” To provide bread for His people, day by day,
God caused it to appear with the morning dew. Each family would gather just
enough for that day’s meals. If they gathered more than they needed and tried
to store some up for the next day, this portion would breed worms and start to
stink. Furthermore, since the 7th day was the Sabbath when no work
was to be done, they would be allowed to go out on the 6th and
collect a double portion to last through the next two days. This was surely the
original “wonder-bread.” In this way God was able to sustain Israel for 40
years in the wilderness. Through this time God would take care of the needs of
His people, such as what they would drink, what they would eat and what they
would wear (in 40 years their shoes and clothes never wore out. See Deuteronomy
29:5) God would provide, day after day, what they needed, and in turn His
people learned to trust that when they went out to gather their “daily bread’,
that it would be there. God never failed to provide for them in the entire 40
years. When they entered the promised land, the manna stopped.
When
Jesus prayed that God would give them their “daily bread’, in essence he was
asking God to once again take care of the needs of His people, day after day.
Later on, in the same sermon, Jesus taught them that their needs would be
supplied because God already knew what they needed.
“So
do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What
shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly
Father knows that you need them. (Matthew
6:31 and 32 NIV)
The
next verse provides the key to having God supply all of our needs.
“But
seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well.” (Verse 33NIV)
When
we put God first and seek after His righteousness, God promises that He will
take care of our needs. All we need to do is believe that He will be true to
His promises. Just as Israel had to trust that God would provide their daily
share of manna, we need to trust Him that He will supply our “day to day”
needs. And He will.
(Philippians
4:19)
No comments:
Post a Comment