ray for Daily Bread
Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11, NKJV.
Like [a] child, you shall receive day by day what is required for the day’s need. Every
day you are to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Be not dismayed if you have not
sufficient for tomorrow. You have the assurance of His promise, “So shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” David says, “I have been young, and now am old; yet
have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:3, 25)....
He who lightened the cares and anxieties of His widowed mother and helped her to
provide for the household at Nazareth sympathizes with every mother in her struggle to
provide her children food. He who had compassion on the multitude because they “fainted,
and were scattered abroad” (Matthew 9:36) still has compassion on the suffering poor. His
hand is stretched out toward them in blessing; and in the very prayer which He gave His
disciples, He teaches us to remember the poor....
The prayer for daily bread includes not only food to sustain the body, but that spiritual
bread which will nourish the soul unto life everlasting. Jesus bids us, “Labour not for the
meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life” (John 6:27).
He says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread,
he shall live for ever” (Verse 51). Our Savior is the Bread of Life, and it is by beholding
His love, by receiving it into the soul, that we feed upon the bread which came down from
heaven.
We receive Christ through His Word, and the Holy Spirit is given to open the Word of
God to our understanding and bring home its truths to our hearts. We are to pray day by
day that as we read His Word, God will send His Spirit to reveal to us the truth that will
strengthen our souls for the day’s need.
In teaching us to ask every day for what we need—both temporal and spiritual
blessings—God has a purpose to accomplish for our good. He would have us realize our
dependence upon His constant care, for He is seeking to draw us into communion with
Himself. In this communion with Christ, through prayer and the study of the great and
precious truths of His Word, we shall as hungry souls be fed; as those that thirst, we shall
be refreshed at the fountain of life.—Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 111-113.
11
Have a Forgiving Spirit
If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;
but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14, 15, NRSV.
Our savior taught His disciples to pray: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors.” A great blessing is here asked upon conditions. We ourselves state these
conditions. We ask that the mercy of God toward us may be measured by the mercy which
we extend to others. Christ declares that this is the rule by which the Lord will deal with
us. “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but
if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Wonderful terms! but how little are they understood or heeded.
One of the most common sins, and one that is attended with most pernicious results,
is the indulgence of an unforgiving spirit. How many will cherish animosity or revenge
and then bow before God and ask to be forgiven as they forgive. Surely they can have no
true sense of the import of this prayer or they would not dare to take it upon their lips. We
are dependent upon the pardoning mercy of God every day and every hour; how then can
we cherish bitterness and malice toward our fellow sinners! If, in all their daily relations,
Christians would carry out the principles of this prayer, what a blessed change would be
wrought in the church and in the world! This would be the most convincing testimony that
could be given to the reality of Bible religion....
We are admonished by the apostle: “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that
which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with
brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.” Paul would have us distinguish between
the pure, unselfish love which is prompted by the spirit of Christ, and the unmeaning,
deceitful pretense with which the world abounds. This base counterfeit has misled many
souls. It would blot out the distinction between right and wrong, by agreeing with the
transgressors instead of faithfully showing them their errors. Such a course never springs
from real friendship. The spirit by which it is prompted dwells only in the carnal heart.
While Christians will be ever kind, compassionate, and forgiving, they can feel no
harmony with sin. They will abhor evil and cling to that which is good, at the sacrifice
of association or friendship with the ungodly. The spirit of Christ will lead us to hate sin,
while we are willing to make any sacrifice to save the sinner.—Testimonies for the Church
5:170, 171.
12
Have a Heart Filled With Gratitude
Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke,
saying: “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and
its rider He has thrown into the sea! The Lord is my strength and song, and He has
become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I
will exalt Him.” Exodus 15:1, 2, NKJV.
Like the voice of the great deep, rose from the vast hosts of Israel that sublime
ascription. It was taken up by the women of Israel, Miriam, the sister of Moses, leading
the way, as they went forth with timbrel and dance. Far over desert and sea rang the joyous
refrain, and the mountains reechoed the words of their praise....
This song and the great deliverance which it commemorates made an impression never
to be effaced from the memory of the Hebrew people. From age to age it was echoed by
the prophets and singers of Israel, testifying that Jehovah is the strength and deliverance of
those who trust in Him. That song does not belong to the Jewish people alone. It points
forward to the destruction of all the foes of righteousness and the final victory of the Israel
of God. The prophet of Patmos beholds the white-robed multitude that have “gotten the
victory,” standing on the “sea of glass mingled with fire,” having “the harps of God. And
they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Revelation
15:2, 3)....
Such was the spirit that pervaded Israel’s song of deliverance, and it is the spirit that
should dwell in the hearts of all who love and fear God. In freeing our souls from the
bondage of sin, God has wrought for us a deliverance greater than that of the Hebrews at
the Red Sea. Like the Hebrew host, we should praise the Lord with heart and soul and
voice for His “wonderful works to the children of men.” Those who dwell upon God’s
great mercies, and are not unmindful of His lesser gifts, will put on the girdle of gladness
and make melody in their hearts to the Lord. The daily blessings that we receive from the
hand of God, and above all else the death of Jesus to bring happiness and heaven within our
reach, should be a theme for constant gratitude. What compassion, what matchless love,
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has God shown to us, lost sinners, in connecting us with Himse