Member Devo -Mark Medina

“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come,

your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

Sometimes I think we can separate Jesus the teacher from Jesus the savior. But, there only ever is one Jesus. In Matthew 6 we see Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. He teaches that prayer is not about heaping up words to impress God. Rather, it is an expression of humble dependence upon the Father. We pray “Our Father” and we ask him for provision for “this day” (v. 11). A child does not grow anxious about what will happen three years from now but simply asks the Father to lead them to good places (v. 13). 

Remember though, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus the teacher is also Jesus the Savior. The one who told us to depend upon our Father made us sons and daughters. The one who taught us to ask for bread was himself the bread of life broken for us. The one who led us to ask for forgiveness made it a blood-bought certainty. Finally, the one who spoke the words “deliver us from evil” defeated it forever on the cross. Jesus has given us the very things we ask for. 

But, we still pray. We pray to fight every foolish thought in us that we can provide these things on our own. As you begin each morning in a COVID-19 world where you are not sure you can make it another day in quarantine, pray this prayer to the Father. Ask him for this day’s bread. Not tomorrow’s bread. Not three months from now. Ask him simply to give you what you need for this day. And as you do, the crazy thing about the gospel is that in Christ...you realize you already have all that you need.