OUR DAILY BREAD : STARTING UPSTREAM

[cimi]

THURSDAY JANUARY 7



READ:
MATTHEW 6:8
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Your Father knows
what you need
before you ask him.
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My home sits along a creek in a canyon in the shadow of a large mountain. During the spring snowmelt and after heavy rains this stream swells and acts more like a river than a creek. People have drowned in it. One day I traced the origin of the creek to its very source, a snowfield atop the mountain. From there the melted snow begins the long journey down the mountain, joining other rivulets to take shape as they creep below my house .

It occurs to me thinking about prayer, that most of the time I get the direction wrong. I start downstream with my own concerns and bring them to God. I inform God, as if God did not already know. I plead with God, as if hoping to change God's mind and overcome divine reluctance. Instead, I should start upstream where the flow begins.

When we shift direction, we realize that God already cares about our concerns__a loved one's cancer, a broken family, a rebellious teenager__more than we do. Our Father knows what we need (MATT 6:8).

Grace, like water, descends to the lowest part. Streams of mercy flow. We begin with God and ask what part we can play in His work on earth. With this new starting point for prayer, our perceptions change. We look at nature and see the signature of mere flow. We begin with God and ask what part we can play in His work on earth. With this new starting point for prayer our perceptions change. We look at nature and see the signature of the grand Artist. We look at human beings and see individuals of eternal destiny made in God's image. Thanksgiving and praise surge u to Him as a natural response. ___Philip Yancey


**Dear Lord, I praise You for loving and caring for me so much.
What would I ever do without You?
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Prayer channels God's supply to our needs.

**********************Today's Bible Reading __ Starting upstream*************************
5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the
street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they
have received their reward in full. 6 but when you pray,
go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who
is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling
like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their
many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what
you need before you ask him.

9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your
kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' "

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus deals with the
burdensome teachings of the Pharisees and in 6:1-18 with their
hypocritical practices. They were showcasing how spiritually
pious they were through an ostensible display of their religious
duties: charitable giving (vv.2-4), praying (vv.5-15), and fasting (vv.
16-18). Jesus calls them to move away from such showmanship
and to pray in the privacy of their homes (v.6). Desiring the praise
of others, they forfeited their reward from God (v.5). Elsewhere,
Jesus warned that those who "for a show make lengthy prayers
...will be punished most severely" (MARK 12:40) . Instead of
babbling with pretentious empty words (MATT. 6:7), we are to pray
with simplicity and sincerity (vv. 9-13). __Sim Kay Tee