A Family Prayer...Give us this day our daily bread Prayer is Give US and not Give ME. There is a story of a man who had a dream which was a parable of hell and heaven. He first went to hell; and there he saw everyone sitting at a table with plenty of delicious food in front of them. But yet, they were all skinny and sick and miserable. He discovered that they couldnt eat the food that was set before them, because they all had four-foot long spoons attached to their hands. And of course when you have a four-foot spoon tied to your hand its impossible to eat whats in front of you. Then in his dream this man went up to heaven and there he saw the same delicious food on the table; and the people sitting around the table in heaven also had these four-foot long spoons attached to their hands. But here they were all healthy and strong. And he asked one of them, How are you all so healthy and strong? And the man replied, Well, you see, I realize that I cant feed myself. So I stretch out my hand and feed someone sitting further down the table, and someone else further up the table feeds me with his spoon; and in this way everyone of us gets enough to eat. And so this man went back to hell, in his dream, and told the people there, Heres the way for all of you to eat. Each of you should allow someone else to eat out of your plate and feed someone else further down the table. But they all gave him the same reply. I wont let anyone eat from my plate, each of them said, for how can I know that someone else will allow me to eat from his plate! Its that kind of `dog in the manger selfishness that is characteristic of hell and of all who finally go there. All theyre interested in is their OWN daily bread. The one who puts God first in his life will find that he cant put himself second. We are members of a family sitting around our Fathers table; and the Father doesnt want any selfish children at His table who grab all the dishes for themselves without considering whether others at the table have enough to eat. Such behaviour is bad manners even for the unconverted. How much more for a Christian! Remember what Jesus said about the day of judgment. When He sits on His throne to judge the people, He will tell many of them, You saw Me hungry, but you never fed Me. You saw Me naked but you never clothed Me. You knew I was sick but you never visited Me. And they will say, Lord, when was this? We never saw You naked or hungry. And the Lord will reply, I live in those who are born again; and when you saw that brother of Mine in need, you did not recognize that it was I who was in need. It was I who was hungry and thirsty (Matt. 25:31-46). This is one of the fundamental differences between heaven and hell. Hell is full of sin, full of self-centredness. Each man lives for himself, with no room for God or for others. In heaven, its the other way around. God is first and others are next. If you dont have a concern for your brothers and sisters in Christ, you cant pray this prayer, for your daily bread. There was a time in Abrahams life, when he had waited twenty-five years to get a son through Sarah and he still hadnt received that child. He had prayed and prayed. No answer had come. Then when he was in Gerar, He noticed that God had judged the people there, by making their wives barren. Abraham immediately prayed for those women that God would give them children (Gen. 20:17). Remember that Abrahams prayers for his own wife had still not been answered. God heard Abrahams prayer and gave children to those barren women. But did God stop there? No. He gave Sarah her promised son at that time too (Gen. 21:1). As Abraham prayed for other people, God met his own need as well! Those who think of God first and others next, get Gods best. The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, (Job 42:10). That is Gods way. This petition concerning our physical needs, is sandwiched between two other petitions. On one side is, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and on the other, Forgive us our sins just as weve forgiven others whove sinned against us. Are you eager to do the will of God and to forgive others who have harmed you? Or are you like the little child who when given a cream biscuit, wanted to eat only the cream between the two biscuits? Are you interested only in your material needs being met - Give us our daily bread - neglecting the petitions before and after it? So we see Christians at two extremes. Some are so super-spiritual that they feel its wrong to pray for material things. Others pray concerning their physical and material needs alone. Blessed are those who understand the balance that Jesus taught.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 15:00:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015