I saw a man standing in front of Walmart today. He held a cardboard sign.
He wrote these words:
I am living on a prayer.
I thought to myself that those words summarized my life as well. There is no better way to live.
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Jesus in Idaho Falls 
Except, Todd, he was being completely literal about it.
You know where your next meal is coming from…
Did his come from you?
Nope. Not this time.
I think it is easier to completely live by prayer when life is uncertain. when you have absolutely nothing except faith in God. I wished I lived by prayer alone, but I don’t. I mostly trust myself to make it through, and when I don’t have enough, I turn to my parents…
I wonder how I would live differently if I lived on prayer to the fullest extent.
P.S.
I hope that you were an answer to his prayers.
“he was being completely literal about it.”
That seems unlikely, unless we define “prayer” very broadly. His sign was implicitly a “prayer” to other people to help him out.
If we are fortunate enough to not have to live on (supplicatory) prayer alone, we must, then, live also on thanksgiving.
Yesterday’s One Year Bible Reading . . .
“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:1-5)
I lift up prayers of thanks to God, today.
__________
But I also lift up prayers of repentance this weekend.
Today’s One Year Bible Reading . . . .
I just started reading the book of Lamentations:
“O wall of the daughter of Zion, Let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no relief; Give your eyes no rest.
Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children, Who faint from hunger at the head of every street” (Lamentations 2:18-19).
Patricia—[I hope that you were an answer to his prayers.]
I think a good way to respond would be to give him a can of ‘Beanie-Weenies’
with a plastic spoon and see what his reaction is. You will soon be able to tell if he needs food or is just looking for money.
fred
Fred: is that what Jesus would have done?
One does not need to hand out cash. However, one can take such a man into McDonald’s and have lunch with him. Who knows, you might learn something…
“Anonymous” above: that’s me.
FrGregACCA I think we agree that we need to help others, and it looks like we have different ways of doing it.
fred
It is not just a matter of helping others, Fred; it is also a matter of doing it in a way that respects the human dignity of the one helped. If “they” “just want money”, so what? Where does Christ tell you to judge that? Christ says “judge not lest you be judged”.
You are concerned that they will buy booze. Okay. Well, if you are a homeless alcoholic (or any alcoholic), you may in fact NEED some alcohol to avoid going into life-threatening withdrawal.
But these days, more and more men (and women) are on the streets, begging who simply victims of our dysfunctional economy, who are not chronically homeless, are not addicted to anything, and are simply trying to survive and perhaps to ensure the survival of their family. So that money you don’t want to give? Maybe he is trying to get money to feed a small child or a pregnant wife.
“Give to whomever asks you,” says the Lord Jesus (Luke 6:30)
Do we all fall short of that? Of course we do. But let us not try to rationalize and justify our failure, but confess them, seek forgiveness for them, and try to do better next time.