By David ReayFriday 18 Mar 2016LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Matthew 6:11
11 Give us this day our daily bread. (NRSV)
One of the more significant points about prayer is to be learnt not so much by this phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, but the fact that it occurs towards the end of the prayer. So much of our praying is asking God for things. While this is legitimate and even commanded, it becomes a problem when we make petition the main or even only sort of prayer we pray.
If prayer becomes a shopping list of demands, a means by which we get what we reckon we want or need, then we have lost the essence of prayer. It becomes a transaction rather than a relationship or dialogue. It becomes centred on us and not the God to whom we pray.
This model prayer rightly includes petition, but it does so only after acknowledgement of who God is and the priority of his rule being lived out in the world. Only as we realise just who we are praying to can we confidently bring our petitions to him.
Note that the petition has us praying for what we need, trusting God will provide it. Our desires may or may not be granted, though we can share those with him. Note also that we ask each day for what we need. We don’t just bring our lives to him in a weekly ‘bulk’ prayer. Day by day we express our utter dependence on him. We come to him not just on special occasions but on every occasion.
Blessings
David Reay