Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11, NKJV)
Recently I was reminded of the words of early church father, Gregory of Nyssa, who noted that when praying the Lord’s Prayer, the only material thing we are permitted to ask for is bread. “Not herds or silken robes, not a prominent position, monuments or statues. Only bread.”
The Lord’s Prayer is not the only prayer we are permitted to pray; there is nothing wrong in asking God for virtually anything (through he may not give it), but the Lord’s Prayer is a template (measuring rod) that Jesus gave us to help us align lives by.
In other words, Jesus was not only teaching us how to pray but how to think and how to live. Thus, the number of things we are asking for on our prayer list is an indicator of our spiritual maturity (or lack thereof).
Bottom line, the more “stuff” we are asking for the more work that needs to be done on us!
- The ONE THING for today: Don’t make this day about getting more stuff; make it about being gratefully content.
Philippians 4:11-12 (NKJV)
Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
The ONE THING 