Pray for Extra to Give Him Who Has Need

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire!  (Luke 24:32)

Give us this day our daily bread...and extra to give him who has need.

That’s how I pray it, as I pray the Lord’s Prayer each day.

Lord, give us this day our daily bread...and extra to give him who has need.

I get that from Ephesians 4:28 which says, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”

Now let’s break that verse down.  I love the progression.

“Let him who stole...”  That means you’ve got a guy who is currently stealing.  He is taking what rightfully belongs to someone else, and taking it for his own selfish desires.  It’s all about you, man.  It’s all about you.

Now follow the progression.  “Let him who stole steal no longer...”  That’s obvious, right.  Thou shalt not steal, so stop stealing.

So you stop stealing, but now what?  You suffer a loss because, wow, you were stealing, and now you’re not.  How can you make up that loss?

It says, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor...”  Ah, there it is.  Get a job, man.  Get a job. 

Then it says, “Working with his hands what is good...”  I love that.  There’s so much packed into it!  I see a man getting a job, and then growing.  He discovers his God-given giftings and callings, what he’s good at, what God blesses!  It’s like the parable of the talents, he takes what he has been given and multiplies it.  He is faithful, like Joseph, even when it’s hard.  He grows and advances.  He rises up due to his faithfulness, “working with his hands what is good.”  Isn’t that great?

And then Ephesians 4:28 completes the progression.  The guy goes from stealing from others to giving to others!  Working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give him who has need.

I love it!

And that’s what I pray for nearly every day.

“Lord, give us this day our daily bread...and extra to give him who has need.”

May God bless you...with extra to give him who has need today.

I’m Doug Apple.