DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
JUNE 21, 2026
READ: Ephesians 6 (Focus vs. 1-8)
MEMORY VERSE
“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people. Ephesians 6:7
BACKGROUND
I trudged into the grocery store to buy a Father’s Day card. I had forgiven my father. I’d tried reconciling over the years—prayerfully processing the hurts inflicted before and after I’d left home at fifteen.
Sadly, decades later, I still couldn’t relate to the cards that had messages gushing with gratitude for the “greatest” dads. So, desperate to honor my heavenly Father, I stood in that card aisle and prayed for my earthly father.
From Adam and Cain to David and Absalom to my father and me, sin has caused multigenerational strife and heartbreak. Still, the apostle Paul encouraged children to obey their parents “in the Lord, for this is right” (Ephesians 6:1).
Honoring parents is a command that comes with a promise and a reward (vv. 2-3). In turn, fathers were meant to raise children to know and love God (v. 4). God’s people are designed to serve each other “wholeheartedly, as if [we] were serving the Lord, not people” (v. 7).
Unfortunately, sin can destroy these relationships. No matter what our relationship status with our parents is, we can thank God for the people He chose to use when He gave us life, and we can pray they enjoy a life-transforming relationship with Christ.
Prayer that leads to Jesus is a gift of love and honor that can lead to changed relationships and lives.
Xochitl Dixon
INSIGHT
Family relationships aren’t exempt from challenges of various kinds. In Ephesians 5:21-6:9, Paul spoke to the households of believers in Jesus in the first century. The form of his teaching was similar to how the ancient Greco-Roman world usually structured their households.
Several features, however, are noteworthy and distinct for believers in the context of the family (6:1-8). The apostle’s teaching regarding how to relate to each other is preceded by the command to “be filled with the Spirit” (5:18).
Dynamics of Spirit-filled living include singing (v. 19), thanksgiving (v. 20), and “[submitting] to one another out of reverence for Christ” (v. 21). Prayer is another essential dimension of Spirit-filled living: “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (6:18).
Today, when we’re confronted with difficult family relationships, the Spirit can help us pray for them as we seek to honor God.
Arthur Jackson
APPLICATION
How can you honor God when a relationship is difficult? How will you pray for someone who is estranged from you?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
“Prayer that leads to Jesus is a gift of love and honor that can lead to changed relationships and lives.”
PR’s TAKE
Prayer they say changes things. I’d say prayer, rather, changes us to change things. Pr
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16 esv
PRAY
“Good Father, please show me how I can honor You in and through both healthy and strained relationships.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“CHANGE MY HEART”
Change my heart, oh God
Make it ever true
Change my heart, oh God
May I be like You
Change my heart, oh God
Make it ever true
Change my heart, oh God
May I be like You
You are the potter
I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray
Change my heart oh God (Come change my heart)
Make it ever true (Make it ever true)
Change my heart oh God (Come change my heart)
Make it ever true
You are the potter
I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray…
