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Reflections: Daily Devotions in Disability Ministry

What Is It We Really Need?

August 26, 2010

Matthew 6:7-8
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (NIV)

We shall not want, the Psalmist says.

There are a lot of things we want, but don’t have. They are not only material things like a new roof or a better paying job, but things like good health, happiness for our families, being understood and appreciated, or relief from constant pain.

Most of us go on wanting a great deal the entire time we are on this earth. We long for what never seems to come. We pray for what never seems to be given because we may not understand that it will be given when it is God’s time, not our time. Yet when the psalmist says that we shall not want, maybe he is speaking the absolute truth, no matter what.

Maybe it means that all of those wants are like a blindfold, keeping us from seeing that God is there with us. When we keep our hearts and lives open, we will never be in “want” of the one thing we need more than anything else…Jesus! Do not hold back your love for Him. Jesus went to the cross and suffered for us, so that we would not have to suffer or be in want any longer.

God has not only given us His only Son, Jesus, but he takes care of us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! Jesus gives of Himself, and He is what we want and need more than anything else. God never stops loving us. We need to stop, drop and pray, thanking Him for all we have, instead of all we want. Open your eyes and look around you, take a deep breath and know that God loves you and will give you everything you need!

Dear Father in heaven, we thank and praise You for this day. We thank You for clothing, the food on the table and our home. We pray for all of the people in our hearts, Lord, that they may receive all they need for this life and also for life in heaven. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Pamela Martens, Ministry Consultant – CA
http://bethesdalutherancommunities.org/resources/spiritualResources/pmc.asp

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