About an hour each morning, I read a single chapter from the Bible and write my thoughts in a daily journal. Yesterday was devoted to chapter 25 from the Book of Job. It was a short section — just six sentences. And being so brief, I thought to continue on to 26. But just as my eyes glanced over, a voice whispered,

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11, Luke 11:3

The voice was quiet but distinct and I immediately stopped reading.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to nourish us every day. The origin of that phrase comes from the chapter in Exodus where God provided manna to the Israelites in the desert.

“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.” Exodus 16:4

The chapter states that there was no need to worry about starvation as food would be provided each day — quails in the morning and manna at night. It also specified that anything hoarded would spoil, with Sabbath being the only exception.

To me, the whisper was saying that God wanted daily dependence on Him, not only in our moment of desperation, as an afterthought, or something we do at the end of the week. God asks for obedience, and it is in our discipline that we prove our faith.

Of course there is no sin in reading more. And perhaps in the future I could set the benchmark to 3, 4, or 5 chapters a day. For someone else, maybe 6 chapters is their daily bread. But for me, progressing too soon introduces the temptation to falter.

I’ve been implementing fasting and carnivore dieting and noticed that ingesting even negligible amounts of carbs mentally blurs what should be a hard line, and leads to moving goal posts and missed targets. Spontaneous rule-changing — as opposed to intentional planning — allows for corrosion. And this is not limited to eating. It has universal application, especially in the instance of my morning reading.

Consistency is the cornerstone of obedience. And obedience is the path to purpose. It is different for everyone. Sometimes doing God’s will is not hoarding bread from the Heavens. And for me, at least for now, to be obedient is to read six sentences, journal about it, and preparing my spirit for tomorrow’s message.