necessary, not primary

from "praying with jesus", eugene peterson.

January 27

"Loaves of Bread"

The Tempter came and said to him,
"If you are the Son of God,
command these stones
to become loaves of bread."

Matthew 4:3

Bread, necessary though it is, is not primary: God is primary. Jesus will let nothing, not even necessary things, interfere with that primacy. Jesus will not use God to get what he wants; he submits himself to being what God wants.

How do you face temptation?

PRAYER: Not what I want, but what you want, O God. Guard me from all temptations to use you to satisfy my appetites. What I want mostly is to acquire new appetites, a hunger for righteousness, that will be satisfied by your word. Amen

as i have begun step 11 i am surprised at how i am having to unpack it.

"Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge for His will for me and the power to carry that out."

for far too long "bread" has been primary in my life. one of the things i know is that this is not god's will for my life. today god, please give me the power to carry that out.

as a footnote, i found this recovery blog when searching for the exact words for step 11 - it's got some really wonderful truth there and i thought you might enjoy it too:

step 11