‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Matthew 6:11
In the prayer that Jesus taught we are instructed only to ask for provision for the present day. We trust that God will give this to us and know that when on the next day we ask for provision for that day, He will also give it. Tomorrow’s problems should not be today’s worries.
When I was moving house, I recall writing in my diary ‘I’m learning not to leave to tomorrow what should be done today and not to do today what can be left until tomorrow.’ This allowed me to cope with the numerous tasks. Matthew 6:34 tells us ‘So do not worry about tomorrow.’ Obviously some plans for the future need to be made; to have no forward planning would be unwise.
But we do not need to worry about the future, God has everything under control. In the words of Hudson Taylor ‘Bear not a single care yourself, one is too much for thee, the work is Mine and Mine alone, your work is to rest in Me.’ Why do we find it easier to worry than to pray? We have no knowledge or control over the future. Let’s leave it to Him who knows and controls the future. In modern parlance ‘ Sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof.’
There is a lesson is to be learned from the manna which God provided for Israelites when they were in the desert. Provision was given for one day at a time, they couldn’t stockpile the food.