day no. 15,580: you cannot have tomorrow's faith today

"The reason for not yet living on the Fixed Land is now so plain. How could I wish to live there except because it was Fixed? And why should I desire the Fixed except to make sure — to be able on one day to command where I should be the next and what should happen to me? It was to reject the wave — to draw my hands out of Maleldil’s, to say to Him, ‘Not thus, but thus’ — to put in our own power what times should roll towards us… as if you gathered fruits together today for tomorrow’s eating instead of taking what came. That would have been cold love and feeble trust." -- C.S. Lewis, Perelandra

Jesus commanded us to pray for today's bread.

Matthew 6:11
Give us this day our daily bread.

This prayer was obviously designed for the beginning of the day. It would be absurd to pray this before bed in retrospect. We are not commanded to pray for tomorrow's bread, but for today's. We are not to enjoy tomorrow's provision, but today's. We are charged to pray on this day for the bread we need today.  It is not that we cannot ever prepare meals in advance, but that we must never forget to pray today for today's provision. We can develop a system of menu planning that leads our hearts away from praying daily. We fill the fridge and chest freezer and empty our hearts. We fill up our pantry and leave the matter out of our prayers. There is value in receiving the day's provision.

Exodus 16:4-5
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. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. 

God prevented Israel in the wilderness from gathering tomorrow's provision. Manna kept overnight went to rot. In similar fashion, our trust in God gets moldy if we try to have tomorrow's trust provided by the comfort of today. We cannot make advance payments in faith. Every day must be lived in light of God's mercies and each day requires its own faith. You cannot forego tomorrow's faithfulness by being extra faithful in today's ventures. Each day requires its own dependence. To delegate tomorrow's dependence is to attempt to create independence. You cannot have tomorrow's faith today in order to excuse tomorrow's faithlessness. Grace cannot be banked. Everyday we need fresh grace. But praise be to God, He is present day in and day out. When we attempt to store it up, it is evidence that we aren't sure if He will be there tomorrow.