GIVE US THIS DAY…

Matt.6:9-11 – Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

• Your kingdom come.
  Your will be done,
  On earth as it is in heaven.
• Give us this day our daily bread.’

In many ways this prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, has been my daily bread for a long time. It is my go-to prayer and has been my daily bread for many years. I have been revisiting it again as I have been reading the classic book, WITH CHRIST IN THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER by Andrew Murray. I have been chewing on a few nuggets that became alive to me in Murray’s teaching on prayer. One of those is how Murray connected “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” with the prayer “give us this day our daily bread”. I had never paid much attention to this connection; what exactly causes these two phrases to be connected? Yielding my life to the will of God for my life and His kingdom is a guarantee of provision for my daily needs. I have the guarantee because the Lord always funds His kingdom purposes therefore it becomes quite easy to pray in faith. Here is how Murray describes it.

“Give us this day our daily bread. When the child has first yielded himself to the Father in the care of His name, His kingdom, and His will, he has full liberty to ask for his daily bread. A master cares for the food of his servant, a general for his soldiers, and a father for his child. Won’t the Father in heaven care for the child who has in prayer given himself up to His interests? We may indeed in full confidence say, “Father, I live for Your honor and Your work; I know You care for me.” Consecration to God and His will gives wonderful liberty in prayer for temporal things; the whole earthly life is given to the Father’s loving care.”

So what is God’s plan for your life? Draw near to Him and He will make it plain and your heart will have an unusual desire for that plan to be accomplished. The Lord began to unveil His plan for my life when I returned to my home town after attending Bible School many years ago. As I drove into the outskirts of New Orleans an excitement and desire to reach this city settled into my heart. He clearly told me He had called me to NOLA to be involved in a supernatural harvest of lost souls. That was almost 50 years ago and that fire is still burning. Oh, and by the way, it becomes easier and easier to pray about my daily bread as His kingdom plan unfolds.