Give us today our daily bread (Matthew 6:11, NIV).
A man was late for a job interview because he couldn't find a place to park. As he circled the block one more time, he cried out, “Please, God. This interview is so important. If you will provide a parking space, I’ll be on the front row at church every week!” Just as he spoke those words, a space opened up, right in front of him. “Oh, never mind,” he said. “I found one.”
Perhaps this man exemplifies the extent of many of our prayer lives. Yet doesn't the Lord’s Prayer tell us to pray for our daily needs? Yes, but one of the ways prayer can disappoint us is when we confuse needs and wants. We get so wrapped up in praying for our wants that we tend to see God as somebody we can use to get what we want! And that’s a terrible misunderstanding of prayer and of God.
Is God going to give us everything we ask for? Absolutely not! Loving parents don’t give their children everything they see in a toy store, and likewise God is not some genie saying, “Your wish is My command.” God wants us to seek His will—not ours. Then we be-gin to learn our needs versus our wants. When we do, we can knock on the door of heaven and see God pour forth blessings to meet the daily needs of our lives.
