Culinary Delights of the Gospel

This is a prayer from a guy named Scotty Smith.  Good stuff.  Pray it and mean it for yourself.
  
     Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Ps. 143:8

     Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:32-35

     Heavenly Father, this early morning cry from King David makes me hungry, and I cannot conceive of a better (and continue!) way to begin every day than feasting on the gospel. Given the choice of any culinary delicacy imaginable, and I’ll choose words of your unfailing love for me in Jesus, every time.

     For there’s no nutrient I need more than the fresh manna of your grace. Nothing tastes as sweet as the assurance of your welcome, presence, and affection. I love carbohydrates, but none compare with bread from heaven—the Bread of Life, himself, the Lord Jesus.

     Feed me till I want no more, heavenly Father. I’m not just looking to be a satisfied consumer of the gospel. I need copious amounts of your unfailing, contra-conditional, heart-transforming love for the challenges of the day—this day.

     Apart from the gospel, I’ll whine more than I’ll worship. Apart from the gospel, I’ll judge people more than I’ll seek to understand them. Apart from the gospel, I’ll get my feelings hurt too easily, and I won’t consider serving others a privilege and joy. Apart from the gospel, I’ll waste this day, rather than steward it.

     Apart from the gospel, I’ll react selfishly to irritants rather than responding graciously. Apart from the gospel, I’ll talk more than I listen. Apart from the gospel, I’ll think about me much more than I think about you. Apart from the gospel, I won’t risk anything; I’ll do just enough to get by. Apart from the banquet of the gospel, I’ll be reaching for junk food all day long, literally and figuratively.

     Father, because of your unfailing love for me in Jesus, I have put my trust in you. I do lift my soul up to you, right now. Show me the way I should go this very day. Show me what thinking, feeling, and choosing in line with the truth of the gospel requires of me, and then give me that supply. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ beautiful and bountiful name.