Many have such distorted ideas about prayer that we often feel there is something wrong with praying about physical needs. This hearkens back to the Greeks, who regarded the body as unworthy of redemption and they therefore mistreated it. But this is not the attitude that Jesus conveys.
God engineered and designed our bodies. It is perfectly proper that we pray about the body’s needs. “Meals” here is symbolic of all our physical needs—shelter, clothing, monetary provision, mental stability, social interaction. The vital concern in this area is that there be an immediate unbroken supply. The only limit is that we are encouraged to pray only for one day’s supply. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need (Matthew 6:8).” Thus, it is not to inform God of our needs that we pray. The petition is for our benefit.
When we don’t thank God for our daily supply of the necessities of life, a slow and subtle change occurs in our hearts. We begin to take these things for granted, and gradually we succumb to the foolish delusion that we can provide these necessities ourselves. We become possessed with a vanity that our wisdom and our abilities have really made these things possible. When we begin to think that way, pride swells within us and a delusion settles upon us that darkens our spiritual insight. We become anxious, restless and depressed.
We need to give thanks to God…daily. We must always remind ourselves that everything we have comes from God’s hand…daily. We must remember that it is only God’s grace and goodness that keep our needs flowing unhindered to us…daily.
The only way to avoid this terrible sense of ingratitude is to pray daily for our physical needs.
(We invite your comments. Feel free to share this devotion with your friends and invite them to subscribe by forwarding their email address to the Pastor at: fredjeffsmith@gmail.com)
Mornings with Shiloh airs on WVLA Channel 33 each weekday at 6:58 a. m. CST. Mornings with Shiloh is available on our Youtube channel at 8:00 a.m. CST.
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/@ShilohMBCBR/videos
Want to get more involved at Shiloh?
Browse our Ministries