Message #11 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
"Jesus' Teaching on Prayer"

by Kaye Johns

When Jesus gives the model prayer, it is important to consider the sequence of His teaching: We’re to go into our room, shut the door and pray to our Father [Matthew 6:6], first by offering prayers of worship and surrender [Matthew 6:9-10] to establish communion with Him. Then, Jesus tells us, we are to ask for what we need: "Give us this day our daily bread." [Matthew 6:11] We are to ask for daily bread, for the essentials of life.

When we pray early in the morning, we open the door to praying without ceasing--as we move through the busyness of the day asking confidently that our basic needs be met. We send up "daily bread" prayers as needed, knowing our prayers honor the Lord because we have already affirmed our love relationship with Him.

Praying for daily bread indicates that we’re to pray about even the most ordinary things. Nothing is too small or unimportant to take to the Lord. Yet asking for physical or material needs is given its proper perspective: that is not all we are to pray for. When we do ask, our requests come as only one part of a prayer life that follows a pattern of daily worship and surrender. God wants us to ask--He welcomes our asking--but He expects our prayers to include much more.

Pray with me now -- Almighty God, how we thank You for the privilege of praying to You as our Father, One Who provides what we need when we ask. In Jesus’s name, amen.

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