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Hey All,

Let’s recap a few things we have looked at over the first few weeks of the Jesus teaching us to pray in Mat 6:9-13.

God is Holy and he doesn’t need to hear it but we should continually praise his name.

Are our Actions supporting the Words we speak to others and to God on a daily basis?

When we pray: “Your Kingdom come”, we are affirming that God lives and reigns in our heart and mind that we want to see His kingdom extended throughout the world.

When we pray:“Your will be done”, we are praying that God will enable us to overcome the hardship and trials that the devil throws at us daily but through this our faith would be strengthened to do the work that the Holy Spirit has gifted and called us to do until the day we are called to heaven.

This week we press deeper into vs 11 “Give us this day our daily bread”.  In 1 Kings 17: 1-16 Elijah (the prophet) predicts to Israel that there will be a drought. No rain or dew will fall for the next several years until he speaks the word. God tells Elijah to head east past the river Jordan to the brook of Cherith and stay there. God sent Elijah bread and meat via ravens every morning and evening until the brook dried up. When the brook dried up God told Elijah to go to the city of Zarepath and find a widow woman who would take care of him. Elijah found the widow at the gate and asked for a jar of water and a loaf of bread but the woman responded she only had enough flour and oil for one remaining loaf for herself and her son. Elijah told the woman to do as he instructed because the Lord God of Israel would not let her flour or oil run out until the drought ended. The woman did as instructed and the vat of oil and barrel of flour did not run out for all the days Elijah stayed. As I read this story, I was reminded of how many times God has taken care of Brenda and I over the years. These answers to our needs have varied from financial, spiritual, physical and emotional when we were willing to get out of the way and accept God’s plan. I am not sure Elijah expected his daily sustenance to come from ravens and yet God took care of him next to the the brook. One more verse to call upon is Philippians 4:19 where it says “God will supply all our needs.”

What Role does the Government and Business play in our daily bread?

Another area often not thought about is the role of business or government plays in our daily lives.  I pray for the company I work for every week. I must admit I started this out of a period in time in Austin when we had lost the Dell contract and we were struggling every week to pay the bills and meet payroll. God saw the men and women I worked with through this time and we ultimately merged with another company to avoid closing the company. The stress in my life during that time was unbelievably high and yet God had a plan to deliver us. In 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says that “we should make it our ambition to lead a quiet life, attend to the business and the work of our hands so that we will behave properly with outsiders.” What a reassuring verse! If we will focus on what we have control of and deal with others appropriately, God will take care of all the rest!

Much like the how the business we work for can provide for our daily needs and we pray that God blesses these companies, the government can provide a stable and secure environment for us to live and prosper. This is not about elephants, donkeys or red versus blue. It’s about having a just and fair government that allows us to live a peaceful life. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 says that we should “pray for ALL that are in power that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life.” I must admit I don’t pray for our government as often as I should but I am thankful that we live in a country that allows us the freedom to worship our God without fear of retribution.

What Role does Satan play in our daily bread?

At times what we don’t think about is how Satan’s effect on this world has been at work since the Garden of Eden. Ultimately we know God’s reign is over everything but sin and evil still exist in the world. Let’s read Job 1: 1-14.  Here we see Job is a God fearing man turning away from evil. We also see in verse 7 that Satan is roaming the earth. To paraphrase a little more Satan believes that Job is only such a strong believer because God has protected and blessed him. Satan also said, that should Job lose his wealth or be tested that he would not be such a strong believer. God ultimately allows Satan to test Job in any way he chooses but not harm Job in any way. As we see through the rest of the book,  Job loses everything family, health, wealth, livestock and yet he still praises the Lord and God blessed him two fold.  I am not one to believe that everything bad in the world is because of Satan, but we know that Satan is alive and well causing problems in the world. Paul said that he was “strong in his weaknesses 2 Cor 12:9-10 bearing insults, persecution, difficulties and distress for Christ because when he was at his weakest then will he see the power of God.”

So to Wrap it up

1. Are we truly thankful for everything that God gives us to sustain our needs on a daily basis?
2. Are we remembering to pray for all the things that support our needs on a daily basis, our company, government, plants, rain, sunshine, friends or anything that leads to the end result?
3. Are we praying that wherever the devil is roaming today that God will knock him off his feet until Jesus ultimately returns again?

Romans 8:28. says that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him”. I now I don’t always understand how God is weaving this together when all I can see are negative things around me but those are the times that we need to focus on Him to lead us through!

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