Give us this day our daily bread

In my message on The Lord’s Prayer on Sunday, I talked about how it is good to ask God for what you need. This is what Jesus invites us to do when he includes, “Give us this day our daily bread (sustenance),” in the model prayer he provides in the Sermon on the Mount.

With several small groups studying prayer, some of you have been learning how to present your specific needs to God – and you’ve experienced God’s answers. So you may wonder why I mentioned that as I get older, “I’m praying with a little less specificity and a little more trust.”

To clarify, I am getting less specific in regards to my expectations of how God will answer my requests, even as I lift specific people and situations to God in my prayers. When I pray, I am aware that God can respond in one of several different ways: “Yes,” “No,” “Not yet,” or “I’ve got a better solution than you’ve ever imagined.” My desire is to be open to God’s better solutions rather than hinging my hopes on a particular outcome. Sometimes God’s solution is to change my mind (way of thinking) before he changes my circumstances.

So please understand that I’m not discouraging specific prayer requests. By all means, I encourage you to ask God for your specific needs. At the same time, though, I encourage you to be open to the creative and surprising ways God may answer you. Indeed, one spiritual discipline you may helpful is keeping a prayer journal. As you note your prayer requests and God’s responses, you will experience the creative, beautiful, and faithful ways God addresses your needs! What are some ways you’ve witnessed God answering your prayers?

-- Thomas