Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
If you ask the Lord to give you some "bread," can you believe that He will? Or will He deceive you and give you a serpent or a stone? You say "that's an easy answer," but for some it may be a difficult leap of faith to believe the Lord actually loves them that much. Jesus says His yoke is "easy" but it may not always be easy to learn to believe! It may take years of listening.
If you know your pantry is empty and you ask Him to give you bread for your starving guest, will He bother even at an uncomfortable hour to get up and give you what you ask for? Well, you know the answer: you can't be a Christian unless you believe that He is kind, merciful, and loves you too much to disappoint you, even at "midnight." You must believe that He keeps His promises.
That parable in Luke 11 does not say that He will give you enough bread to stock your pantry for years to come, or enough to feed "five thousand" as Jesus fed them in His day; it says specifically, "He will rise and give [you] as many as [you] need" (vss. 5-8). He answers your prayer for understanding of Bible truth, but it will not make you suddenly omniscient, nor wise enough to hold thousands spellbound with your wisdom. But He will give you all the "bread" you need. So be humble; you will need more understanding tomorrow. Don't be proud of the little He graciously gives you today. That is precious enough but not good enough.
And He has promised that you will never lose the Bible study you do today, even if you may be tempted to think it has been boring. "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (John 14:26). Many testify that truths they thought they have forgotten pop up even years later. So your continual "hunger and thirst for righteousness" that drives you again and again to the Word keeps that precious memory alive.
Many can give their testimony that when they have asked the Lord to teach them truth, the answer came when they least expected it--a sudden flash of understanding when they needed it the most. His promise is in Matthew 10:19: "It will be given to you in that hour what you should speak."
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 3, 2004.
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