Becoming Like Jesus: PrayerSample

Bread From Heaven

In the Old Testament, after God freed the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt, He led them into the wilderness for a period of forty years. During this time, God was forming them into a nation that would be devoted to Him and committed to His plans to bless the whole world.

Along the way, He showed them that a true king provides for their people. How? By bringing them bread from heaven. This bread was called manna. It was God’s tangible way of showing His people the kind of king He was. A king who cared for His people.

When we pray prayers of petition, we are asking God, who is our good and gracious king, to do for us what He did for His people in the wilderness: give us what we need.

So today, let’s allow the example of what God did for His people in the wilderness to give us the confidence to bring our requests to Him.

Pray…

Lord, you are a good and gracious king. You know what we need and you want us to ask for it. Because you want a relationship with us. Help me to remember your faithfulness in the past. Give me the courage to bring my requests to you today. Every step of the way, build my faith for the future. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Read…

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they will gather food, and when they prepare it, there will be twice as much as usual.” Exodus 16:4-5 NLT

Consider…

God is our King, and like a good king, He provides for His people. He asks us to trust in Him as our provider. But, how often do we try to take things into our own hands? Even during the Exodus, the people tried to take more food than they needed, because even though they saw God would meet their needs that day, they didn’t trust He would do it again tomorrow. What if God only gives us what we need for today because He wants us to keep coming back to Him tomorrow?

Where have you seen God answer your prayers in the past? How did that build your faith in the moment? After that happened, how much easier was it for you to trust God in other ways? How long did that last? Has that increased faith stuck with you, or have you seen it start to decrease?

Practice…

Pray to God by asking for what you need. He is in the business of giving His people what they need. He’s done it before, and He’ll do it again. Trust Him today. And when tomorrow arrives, trust Him again.

As you do, imagine you are talking to God face-to-face. Because, at its most basic level, that’s really what prayer is: talking to God.

When you’re ready, pray to your Father using Jesus’ words, “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy… give us today the food we need…” Matthew 6:9,11 NLT

Listen…

Create space to experience God’s presence by getting quiet, getting alone, and asking Him to speak. Start by setting a timer for five minutes.

Next, ask God to speak to you.

When you get distracted, because you will get distracted, bring your focus back to God by repeating the first words of this prayer: “Our Father…”

When the timer ends, thank God for the time you got to spend with Him, then head into your day looking for opportunities to better serve Him and serve others.