Day: August 6, 2011

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A Saturday Prayer for the Church

God of all creation,
of heaven and earth,
I pray for all the churches of the world 
where your children will be worshiping you truly tomorrow.
Lord, pour out your Spirit on all your people!
Send the fire!
Strengthen the weak and faltering,
draw the seeking, give joy to the downcast,
and make tomorrow a day
in which you are unmistakeably glorified in your church,
in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Today

This past week, my wife was out of town for training which left the kid and I at home on our own (that is another blog post for another day). The common question from my four year old was “Is mommy coming home today?” which was always followed up by “Is mommy coming home tomorrow?” Then it hit me that we often fail to focus on living today because we are looking to the very next day.

“Give us today our daily bread. – Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:11, 34 (NIV)

“This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalms 118:24 (NLT)

Have you ever noticed how much time we spend on tomorrow? You know, worries, fears, apprehensions; so we plan, connive and obsess about things that may never happen at all. It is amazing, though, how much God emphasizes that we should live for today. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus told us to thank God for our “daily” bread. He also said not to worry about tomorrow but to put our focus on today. It was that way with God’s children in the wilderness. God gave them enough food for one day at a time. He told His people, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.” God provided what they needed for that day, and then they would have to trust Him for the next. That is how He wants us to be. Now there isn’t anything wrong with planning. Jesus, Himself shared about the value of planning before you build a house or go to war. Planning can be a virtue, but Jesus insisted that with all our planning about tomorrow, we include the caveat, “If it be the Lord’s will.” Why? Because God wants us to trust Him! He wants us to experience Him and all His love for us, each and every day. We can only do that if we live each day focusing on God and His will for us. Today, live as if this is the “day that the Lord has made”. He has, you know. He has made this day just for you, so rejoice and be glad in it!