Johnhwilburn.org

^{Luke 11:11} If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?  

¹² Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  

¹³ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

One of my goals for the 2018 year is to have a more consistent prayer life but I often find myself running out of things to say in a few minutes.  This leads to random prayers (not really thinking about what I’m saying) or distracted prayers (mind is constantly thinking about things other than prayer).

This struggle revealed the need for Biblical principles that focus my mind back on God instead of circumstances.  The Lord is using a sermon series I’m listening to on prayer to begin establishing those principles.

One principle that’s proven greatly helpful comes from Luke 11:11-13.  That passage is a simple reminder that everything God gives me is bread.

Life is filled with frustrating or painful experiences.  Often our prayer to God is “please take this away from me!” but that prayer forgets what He gives is ALWAYS for our benefit.

The thing is what often looks like bread to us God knows is really a stone, and what looks like a stone is actually bread.

Once we grasp this our prayer becomes “Father thank you for this bread” (even though it looks like a stone).

A few weeks ago the brakes on my car started making a scraping sound, which of course meant the brake pads needed to be replaced.  My first response to this was frustration.

1. I would have to go into town and find brake pads
2. Be without a car for at least one day
3. and Pay money for the job to be done

Thankfully Luke 11:11-13 came to my mind during that frustration so I thanked God for the “bread” of scraping brakes (it could have been a lot worse) and saw Him work things out for His Glory walking out with the last pair of brake pads a store had.

Life is filled with large and small frustrations…but we can rest in the fact that all our loving Father gives to us is actually bread.