Give Us Today What We Need

Only two places in the New Testament does the original language use the word “daily”. Once in Matthew 6 and once in Luke 11, both are the Lord’s prayer. I like to think of the principle of this part of the prayer is that God will deliver or supply my daily needs, whatever those needs might be.

I’m reminded in this part of the prayer, I am called to have a commitment to dependence upon God. I am acknowledging God owns everything and I am simply managing what he’s given me. James, the half-brother of Jesus tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Heavenly Lights.

And Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6, after his prayer, worry about anything is holding on to something that belongs in God’s hands. But we’d rather be paralyzed by the potential of what might happen tomorrow rather than enjoy what God has given today. Life has a way of distracting us and causing us to focus on unnecessary frustrations.

But Jesus reminds us that God knows best. His plans are larger than my plans. God will give you what He knows you need today. Just depend on him.

Equally, we are called to a commitment of contentment. In his prayer, we are not praying for what we need for the next thirty years but what we need today. We will be content to ask for what we need right now.

Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6:6-8, “…true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.” When we are happy for God to provide what we need, it moves us to satisfaction. When we are satisfied, we worry less and less about what we don’t have and are simply grateful for what we do have.

In John 6, Jesus called himself the Bread of Life. His prayer states, “give us today our daily bread”. Knowing that Jesus is the bread, my hope is that you and I will pray for Jesus to consume our lives. Truly, Jesus is the only thing that satisfies. He IS the Bread of Life. So take him in. Focus yourself on having Jesus as a part of your life so you’ll never go hungry or thirsty. In Jesus, we don’t really need anything else. In him, we’ll have the best life we could ever hope for. Blessings on the journey.

Who are you?

I’ve had moments of pause. Moments when I thought, “Why am I here?” or “What am I doing?” I have had to rethink and reformulate where I was going and who I wanted to become because I didn’t like who I’d become. I’ve recognized along the way, I did not have the right systems and habits set in my life so that they would lead me to a place I was proud to be.

As I looked at other people whom I admired and respected, I recognized that behind the scenes, they were doing things no one else saw that moved them in the direction they wanted to go. After all, successful people do consistently what most of us do occasionally.

Most of us want to do well but there are some things that create an unsuccessful attempt to be the people we are hoping to live like. One of those things is that we tend to focus on the “what” rather than the “how. James Clear says in his book, Atomic Habits, “Winners and losers generally have the same goals. Goals don’t determine success. Systems determine success. You don’t rise the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.”

So think through it a moment: you want to be a better friend but you don’t consider all the small things needed to accomplish that. You want to lose 20 pounds but haven't considered the need to change eating habits and working out.

We also don’t see progress fast enough so we don’t think those small things matter in life. We wrongly conclude small good decisions don’t much matter so we give up on the small habits that will eventually make us successful.

The truth is, life is the sum total of all the small decisions you and I make every day. Rarely does one decision wreck our life. But those small, everyday habits…those small daily disciplines give you the edge to become the person you want to be. It’s the things that no one sees that bring results everyone wants.

So, who do you want to become? I’d love to be a real solid man of God…a Proverbs 31 woman…a Godly spouse…an incredible parent to my kids…financially free…radically generous with my resources…physically fit…a bold witness for Jesus at work and in my neighborhood. See, our identity shapes our actions and when we discover who we are, it changes everything.

Paul tells us in Romans 6 that in Christ, we are redeemed, forgiven, new, adopted, children of the Most High God and that we can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength. See, a healthy identity creates the positive habits that bring us closer to God and closer to the person we really want to become.

As you create those positive, Godly habits one by one, know God will empower you to accomplish and become more like his Son, Jesus, everyday. Blessings on the journey.