Daily bread. I’m really beginning to understand this.
The account shows up in both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels:
In Luke, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus responds with the familiar words we know today as the Lord’s Prayer;
In Matthew, Jesus is telling His disciples how not to pray, saying that we should not “babble on … speaking the same words over and over.” He says:
8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! -Matthew 6:8
Trust, faith: these have been my lessons for months, years perhaps. Certainly for years because since I returned to school 4 years ago, I have been second-guessing where I would end up, as if I have the ability to see the future, or direct it. But, my Father knows exactly what I need even before I ask Him.
I know this because Jesus told me this. As He told His disciples. As He told you, dear reader.
So, when I pray for Him to give me my daily bread, I am not just asking Him to provide me sustenance for today and tomorrow, I am making a bold statement that I trust Him to provide everything I need, in accordance with His will, this day and every day. Making that admission, that confession of complete surrender to Him, frees me up to live — to really live — in Christ.
I get it. I get it — that kind of living, in Christ, is better, deeper, stronger, more meaningful, and more satisfying than any plans I could make and agonize over on my own. This is not a concept that a person living deeply in Christ could explain to a non-believer and be taken seriously.
“What? Don’t plan for the future? You must be an imbecile. How are you going to set financial goals, set aside for retirement, pay for college, braces, soccer equipment, gym memberships?”
But, my Father knows exactly what I need even before I ask him!
As for my own future, I am deciding right here and now not to fret about it.
God is taking care of me now. He gives me peace when there is calm and strength enough to withstand any storm. The evidence is clear; He is here with me this instant, ever faithful, never failing, so He will be here with me in every instant. I will not worry, for my God is with me.
So, let there be no worries in your heart either, dear reader. Take the plunge — surrender fully to God. His power to provide is awesome.