OUR DAILY BREAD                   Sunday, December 18, 1994
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READ:  Psalm 16


            THE GIVING LIST

    "I will bless the Lord who has
          given me counsel."

            -- Psalm 16:7

By now, most of the Christmas presents have been lovingly
purchased and carefully wrapped.  Some have been mailed
to friends and family who live far away.

But it all started with a list.  You wanted to get the
right gifts, so you carefully wrote a list, making sure
to match each person with the right present.  It is a
giving list -- based solely on the desire to give to
those you love.

It's good that we do that, because it's easy for us to
fall into the trap of making lists of what we want to
receive rather than what we can give.

Unfortunately, this happens all too often in our
prayer life.  There are so many times when we need
God's help that we tend to make a prayer list that is
like a child's list of stuff he wants for Christmas.

To avoid being one-sided in our praying, perhaps it
would be helpful to keep two kinds of prayer lists:
the "needs" list in which we bring our problems to
the Lord, and the "giving" list in which we offer our
praise to the Lord.  Psalm 16 includes items for
which we can praise God under all circumstances:  His
protection (vv. 1, 8), His goodness (v. 2), His care
(vv. 5-6), His counsel (v. 7).

In prayer, as in all of life, we need a giving list.
And first on the list is praise to God.

    -- J. David Branon


 Lord, may our needs not come before
    Our need to give to You
        Our heartfelt gratitude and praise
               For everything You do.

                  -- Sper

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     THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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  A good attitude toward life
begins with gratitude toward God.

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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  1 Timothy 1-3

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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of
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