Consider The Birds
“Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?”
Matthew 6:26 CSB
BASE SCRIPTURE:
““Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not clothe you much more, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things, the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:25-34 NKJV
PRAYER:
Based on Your word in Hebrews 4:16, Abba Father, I accept Your invitation to come boldly to the throne of grace. I thank You, Abba Father, for the mercy that You promised I may obtain, and for the grace You promised I would find there. I thank You for all You have put in place for me to have help in my time of need and for Your Holy Spirit that helps me in my weaknesses. Father, as I call upon you according to Your truth that You graciously gave to me through Your holy scriptures, I am confident that You are near me because You promised that You would never leave or forsake me. Even now, when I am worried and concerned about this situation, You are near. Help me to draw upon the fruits of peace and patience that You deposited in my Spirit when I accepted Your gift of salvation. Help me, Father, as I am weak and weary, to cast all my concerns aside because You care for me. Show me how to transfer the spirits of power, love, and soundness of mind now in my spirit into my soul so my heart and mind can rest in You.
Abba Father, I humbly ask for Your help completing the process as I attempt to direct my thoughts to consider the birds. Jesus said they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet You feed them. I am convinced that in Your eyes, Lord, I am of more value than they because Your word tells me so. I will consider how You care for mere birds without their hand or help. “You created them, so You take care of them.” In response, I confess that I will not worry or take back what I have laid in Your hands because, through Your word, I understand that worrying can neither add one hour to the length of my life nor one inch to my height. Instead, I will consider the lilies of the field and how they grow without any effort or work on their part. They simply exist, and You, Abba Father, clothe them better than even Solomon in all his glory was clothed. I thank You, Lord, that because of Your promises, I can rest in this truth that if You take care of flowers in this way and outfit them with such beauty while they are merely here today and gone tomorrow, Your care for me will be far above and beyond that.
Thank You, Lord, for the rest and comfort I find in Your word. Help me to put into practice the instructions you laid out in Matthew 6:31 to “take no thought.” I confess with my heart that I will not worry about my care in any area of my life or even entertain care by speaking forth negative thoughts that are contrary to Your word for my life. Instead, because You know what I need, I will seek You first and believe You already have this concern covered. You have already taken care of it. I will put You first in my life and seek You by keeping my mind on You with the understanding that through this, You will keep me in perfect peace and supernaturally supply all my needs. Therefore, I release this concern into Your capable Hands and decide to humble myself and trust in You and Your ability instead of me and mine, for I am Yours today and will still be Yours tomorrow.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.”
Psalms 145:18 NKJV
“Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.”
Psalms 119:18 NKJV
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Romans 8:26 NKJV
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
Hebrews 13:5-6 KJV
“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 KJV
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7 KJV
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
John 15:16 NKJV
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
I John 5:14-15 NKJV
“So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.””
Matthew 21:21-22 NKJV
““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
John 14:16-18 NKJV
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
John 16:13 NKJV
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
II Timothy 1:7 NKJV
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
II Peter 1:2-4 NKJV
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”
Isaiah 26:3-4 NKJV
