How to Pray for What You Need

Praying for what we need is like going to a bakery.

There is nothing more mouth-watering than the aroma a knife releases as it cracks through the crust of a freshly baked loaf of bread.

When I lived in London, only one thing would get my husband and me out of bed on a Saturday morning — fresh bread.

Just around the corner from where we lived was a small bakery. The bell on the door clanged announcing our arrival. As we entered, we’d be enveloped into the warmth from the baking ovens and that smell. If we left it too late, the wooden racks of shelving would be bare and cold. If we timed it right, brown crusty loaves stood in a line behind the counter waiting to be purchased.

The loaf warmed our hands as we carried home. Once there, we’d cut huge chunks on the bread board and slap on large globs of butter, which instantly melted into the soft dough.

The shop baked bread daily. If I hadn’t needed to go to work from Monday to Friday, then I would have been down at the bakery every day. There is nothing like fresh bread. The next day, it doesn’t taste the same.

Asking for Our Daily Bread

When Jesus tells us to ask for our daily bread, it’s like going each day to the bread shop. We are to keep coming each morning to God asking him afresh for what we need for the day.

Often, our tendency is to ask not only what we need today, but for the week, for the month ahead, and even further into the future.

However, if God gives us what we need going forward then we have less need for God in the present. It’s a bit like having a bread-maker. We would become self-sufficient and not need the baker down the end of the street.

There’s a Proverb that says:  Give me neither poverty nor riches but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’

Tomorrow is secure.

So, when we pray we need to ask God,  “give me what I need today.” Then tomorrow morning, again we ask, “give me what I need today.”

We are to be continuous in our dependence on God, one day at a time. God wants us to enjoy what we receive from him each day.

We are to be continuous in our dependence on God, one day at a time. God wants us to enjoy what we receive from him each day.

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God knows we worry about tomorrow. And so Jesus reassures us, you are more valuable than you think. Tomorrow is secure.

I must admit, this is difficult to accept. I want to know everything is going to be okay the next day, the following week, or a year from now.

Pray continually.

Instead, we are encouraged to pray continually and be persistent in our asking.

Jesus’ example of praying for “our daily bread” doesn’t stop there. To make the point again, Jesus goes on to tell the story of a friend who needed bread at midnight. Jesus says even at the end of the day, ask for what you need today.

Be bold and pray for what you need.

It’s a lesson to not give up in asking. Be bold in asking God for what you need.

So when you’re still worrying at the end of the day and laying in bed unable to sleep, ask God to provide. Persist until you are overcome with peace.

This week, I’m also guest posting on Amy Carroll’s blog. Read How to Listen to that Difficult Person in Your Life, leave me a comment, and enter to win a copy of Tough to Love: How to Find Peace in Difficult Relationships.