Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
– Exodus 16:4
There’s so much to this story in Exodus 16, as God provides food for his people, manna bread from heaven on a daily basis. And if you remember the story, the people are not supposed to keep bread over for the next day. They’re supposed to gather enough bread, manna for that day’s needs, and then trust God to provide the next day, and the next day, and the next.
Exodus 16:4 shows God’s faithfulness to provide what we need.
And that’s how I want to lead us to pray that today. You and I should trust God’s provision for what we need today. We are so prone to look to tomorrow and not just to look to tomorrow, but to worry about tomorrow. And to think, “Well, how am I going to do this or that?” or “What will happen in this circumstance or that situation?”
But God calls us to trust him today, to trust that he will provide the mercy, the strength, the wisdom, the help we need today. And that when we get to tomorrow, he’ll provide the mercy strength, help wisdom we need for tomorrow. This is exactly what Jesus says in Matthew 6. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Trust God’s mercy today and trust that God’s mercy will be there tomorrow.
I remember when Heather and I were expanding our family from four to five through adoption. We didn’t even know number six was coming, but we had had just a particularly hard stressful day, week season. I remember Heather looked at me and she said, are you sure we can handle one more? And I said, not today, because God’s given us enough mercy for four today, and he’ll give us enough mercy for five when he entrusts number five to us.
The same thing with number six. Only the Lord knows if there are more to come, but that’s the point for every one of our lives. There is nothing we will face today that God has not promised to give us mercy for today, and we don’t have to worry about tomorrow because his mercy will always prove sufficient for all he calls us to.
Exodus 16:4 teaches us to trust God for today’s challenges.
And so we pray, God help us to trust you today. We pray that as a confession of faith. God, we trust in you today. We praise you for your sufficient mercy today, and it’s whatever we’re walking through. We praise you for your promise to give us everything we need. And God, we praise you for the confidence we can have that no matter what comes tomorrow, your mercy will be sufficient for tomorrow’s needs. God thank you for giving us what we need on a daily basis, for doing for us and our lives today.
What you are doing for your people in Exodus 16. So we pray, help us to daily trust in your provision and to daily obey your word even as we read about how you were testing them, whether they would walk in your law or not. God, help us to follow you, to obey you out of the overflow of trust in you today. And we pray with confidence that your mercy will be sufficient for everything we need. Oh God, we pray for people who don’t know you in this way, who don’t have a relationship with you through Jesus, through the bread of life.
Prayer for the Tajik People
We pray specifically today for the Tajik people of Tajikistan and other countries. God, we pray for this 11 million-member people group, Muslim men, women, and children, most of whom have little to no knowledge of Jesus as the bread of life, as the one who will quench their thirst and satisfy their hunger forever when they trust in him. God, we pray for the spread of your mercy in Jesus to the Tajik people of Tajikistan. And God, we praise you for your mercy in Jesus that we enjoy today which is more than sufficient to meet all our needs. In his name, we pray according to your Word in Exodus 16. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
