03/17/2026
Morning Prayers
Praying Through Luke
Our Scripture Reading for today is Luke 6:21
"Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh."
"In Matthew’s version, it’s “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). Sometimes the New Testament writers use a technique called ellipsis, which means something is stated in brief but it leaves the implications unstated. That may be simply what Luke is doing here when he fails to spell out the kind of hunger and thirst that Jesus is speaking about. We are people who have great ambitions and drive and goals, and we train diligently so we can be successful or so we can achieve a higher station in life. But who among us has the consummate goal of our lives to be righteous? Jesus’ priorities were different. He said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). The word translated “first” is the word prōtos, not first chronologically but first in importance. This is a challenge for us. We often seek with great passion everything but the kingdom of God, everything but righteousness. We need to have a passion for godliness. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34). He, of all men who ever lived, hungered and thirsted for righteousness, and He achieved it. We in the Western world have a hard time relating to the concepts of real hunger and thirst because few among us have ever experienced the depths of physical hunger. Few among us have ever been at the edge of starvation where a piece of bread would be the greatest joy that we can experience. But that’s what Jesus was talking about. In the ancient Near East, they had real hunger, the kind of hunger that is experienced in Third World nations even today, and Jesus blesses such people."
~ RC Sproul.
Our heavenly Father,, we embrace the hope found in Your Word, knowing that You nourish our souls in ways far greater than we can envision.
Lord, we come before You recognizing the hunger that stirs in the depths of our souls. There are moments when this hunger manifests in physical ways—when we experience lack and longing in our daily bread. But more significantly, dear God, there is a spiritual hunger that drives us towards You. Deliver us from the distractions of this world, that we might realize our deep need for You. We are reminded of Your word, that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4, KJV). We seek to fill ourselves with Your truth, to feast on Your promises, to draw close to You in unwavering faith.
In our hunger, Lord, grant us grace that we may endure and wait expectantly for Your provision. Teach us the beauty of longing, that through our hunger we may appreciate the satisfaction that comes from Your hand. May we never be satisfied with mere physical fill but yearn for the fullness found in Your presence, in communion with You, and in understanding Your great love and mercy. Fill us, O God, to overflowing with righteousness and the joy that only comes through the Spirit. Let us find satisfaction in service, in loving those who are also in need, and let our empty spaces become vessels through which Your grace flows. Amen.