Hey friends, welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our Reading titled, Our Father, was written by John Blaze. Most mornings, I recite the Lord's Prayer. I'm not worth much for the new day until I've grounded myself in those words.

Recently, I had only said the first two words, Our Father, when my phone rang. It startled me as it was 5.43 a.m. Guess who? The phone display read, Dad. Before I had a chance to answer, the call quickly ended.

I guessed my dad had called by mistake. Sure enough, he had. Random coincidence? Maybe, but I believe we

live in a world awash in the mercy of God. That particular day, I needed that

reassurance of our father's presence. Think about that for a minute. Of all of the ways

Jesus could have taught his disciples to begin their prayers, he chose those two words,

our father, as the starting point. Random? No. Jesus was never less than

intentional with his words. We all have different relationships with our earthly fathers,

some good, some far less than that. However, praying in the way we should is not addressing my

father or your father, but our

father, the one who sees us and hears us and knows what we need before we even ask him.

What an amazing reassurance, especially on those days when we might feel forgotten, alone,

abandoned, or simply not worth much. Remember, regardless of where we are

and what time of day or night it might be, our Father in heaven is always near.

Now let's hear Jesus's words in today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading.

It's taken from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 5 through 13.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues

and on the street corners to be seen by others.

Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room,

close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray,

do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many

words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then,

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