Overview
Trusting God means living the way the birds live: not earning it, not begging for it, simply receiving from a Father who already knows what you need before you ask. This teaching starts with seagulls eating mussels, clams and crabs off a storm-strewn beach and goes to Matthew 6:26, behold the fowls of the air, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. It moves through Isaiah 12:2, Proverbs 3:5 and Psalm 32:8 to show that God counsels and directs those who trust him and are not afraid, contrasts the Pharisee’s self-advertising prayer in Luke 18 with the publican’s honesty, and closes on Matthew 6:34: take no thought for the morrow, just give it to God.
Transcript
Seagulls, Seaweed and a Beach Full of Gourmet Food
Hi everyone, good morning. I’ve been thinking about this for a while because this past summer, I’ve been thinking about this since this past summer, I had a job on the beach working in a coffee shop and I would walk to work along the boardwalk and then after work I would take my shoes off and I would walk home along the water’s edge. And this one particular day, there must have been some kind of storm the night before because there was a lot of seaweed and there usually isn’t seaweed here, but there was a lot of it and I kind of had to walk through it.
But one thing I noticed was that there was a lot of seagulls also sitting on the seaweed and I started looking at what they were doing and they were eating mussels and clams and crabs and I was like, wow, they’re having gourmet food. Yeah, I mean, I could go for that. I couldn’t believe they were eating mussels and clams and crabs.
Well, of course, it made me think of this verse in Matthew, Matthew chapter 6. If you go there, I know you guys are all familiar with it, but we’re going to kind of look at this a little bit. I’ll tell you why, because I cannot stop thinking about those seagulls eating that. They love french fries, but they would prefer to have the mussels, clams, and crabs for sure, because there’s plenty of people out there having lunch, but they were going for the mussels, clams, and crabs.
Matthew 6:26: Behold the Fowls of the Air, Your Heavenly Father Feeds Them
In Matthew chapter 6, verse 26, it says, behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they? God takes care of those birds and they don’t even earn it. They don’t do anything to earn it.
They’re not on their knees praying all night. You know, they’re not praying to God constantly for their needs. They’re just living life and they just assume they’re going to be taken care of.
There’s a lot of things like that. We have animals. Some of us have cats or dogs or fish.
I used to have a bird, and that bird didn’t wonder when it’s going to get fed. I mean, I just fed it, and I cleaned the cage, and I changed the water every day, let it come out of the cage, and it would fly around, sit on my shoulder, and sit on the table. It just got taken care of because I cared for it, and that’s the way God is with these birds.
He just takes care of them, and they don’t even earn it, and yet it says here in verse 26 at the end, are ye not much better than they? We are God’s children. I am sure that I took better care of my children than I did my bird. I gave my children more attention and more concern for their needs than I did my bird.
Are Ye Not Much Better Than They? We Are God’s Children
We are his children. Are ye not much better than they, than the bird? Now, we’re going to go to Isaiah, but keep something here. We’ll come back here, or you can find it pretty easily.
So, we’re going to go to Isaiah. Isaiah is, I’m sure you know where Psalms is. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and then Isaiah.
So, if you go to the middle of your Bible here, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and then Isaiah, and Isaiah 12 is where we’re going. Isaiah 12, verse 2, it says, Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song.
He also is become my salvation. So, as we trust in God, we don’t have to be afraid. We will trust in him.
Proverbs 3:5: Trust in the Lord With All Thine Heart
Proverbs 3, going back a few books before Psalms, go to Proverbs again, very familiar verse, Psalms, Proverbs, Proverbs 3, and of course, verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path. As we trust in God, we don’t lean on to our own understanding, and we acknowledge him, he’s going to direct our path.
He will give us counsel, and I think about that with the birds. How do they know where to go to eat? I don’t know. I guess God must have ingrained it in them.
How come some of them fly south, and then they come back? Somehow they know where to go. God just ingrained that in them. Well, you know, we can walk that way with God, where we just live life.
We just live life, and we just assume we’re being taken care of as we trust in God, because we are more important to God than the birds are. Turn to Psalm 32, please. Kind of go back a book.
Birds Are Everywhere: Nests, Eggs and No Book on Raising Children
The thing I really love about this example that God gives in his word is that there’s birds everywhere. It doesn’t matter where you live. There’s birds everywhere.
They’re building nests. You know, they didn’t have to go work for a paycheck to get the materials to build a nest. God takes care of them.
They go, they get the materials they need, they build a nest. They have babies. They don’t have midwives.
They have eggs, and they have babies, and they raise them. They don’t have books on how to raise children. They just know.
Psalm 32:8: I Will Guide Thee With Mine Eye
Psalm 32, in verse 8, it says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. That’s a promise of God.
He will counsel us. That word guide means counsel. He’ll counsel us.
So he’s going to tell us what we need as we trust in him, as we look to him and not be afraid. As we acknowledge him, he will direct our path. He will counsel us.
Psalm 23: The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want
Psalm 23, verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
God takes care of us. He will lead us in the way. All you have to do is follow.
All you have to do is trust in him and not be afraid. Just get quiet and not be afraid. Let’s turn to Luke chapter 18.
The Pharisee and the Publican in Luke 18
Luke chapter 18, verse 11. This is Jesus speaking a parable. Verse 11.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this publican. It says in verse 10, two men went up to the temple to pray. The one a Pharisee, the other a publican.
So this guy, the Pharisee, thinks he’s all that. He’s so much better than because of all the outward things that he does.
And not only that, but he has to tell God how great he is. In verse 12, I fast twice in the I give tithes of all that I possess. He’s got to let God know.
And by the way, loud enough for everybody else to know how great he is. This is how he prays. So in other words, I’m just so great, God, look at me.
He That Humbles Himself Shall Be Exalted
But verse 13, and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much his eyes into heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. In verse 14, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalts itself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.
When you pray, God already knows your heart. He already knows what you’ve done. You just be yourself.
Look at Matthew chapter six, going back here to Matthew chapter six, verse 25. Therefore, I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Now let’s look at verse five.
How Not to Pray: Matthew 6 and Being Seen of Men
Let’s go back a little bit. Matthew chapter six, verse five. And when thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites are.
For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. It’s not the relationship with God so that they can be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. That word closet means heart and mind, your thoughts. It’s your heart and your mind.
When you pray, you pray with your heart and your mind. And when thou hast shut the door, that means it’s between you and God, you’re focusing. That’s what shut the door means.
It means to focus. Pray to thy father, which is in secret. And thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Vain Repetitions and a Father Who Knows Before You Ask
Verse seven. But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they shall be heard, for their much speaking.
Verse eight. Be you not therefore them. Now this part is very important.
For your father knows what things you have need of before you ask them. God already knows your needs. When you go in prayer, you are acknowledging that he knows your needs. You’re acknowledging that he will supply those needs. You are trusting in him to supply those needs. God already knows what your needs are.
That’s why you don’t have to go on and on begging God for something when he already knows it and he will supply it. We just have to trust in him and allow him to guide us, to give us the counsel we need to receive it. God already knows.
Take No Thought for Your Life: What Worry Cannot Add
Now back to verse 25. That’s why verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment? Behold, the fowl of the air. For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are ye not much better than they? Good question. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit into the stature? That’s talking about worrying. You’re going to somehow you’re going to get built up and and bigger as you worry.
Usually the opposite happens. Go to verse 31. Therefore take no thought saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.
God Knows What You Individually Need
For your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of these things. God already knows what you need. And that is an individual thing.
Totally individual. God knows what you individually, purposely need to be any in any category of life, any category. God knows what you need.
Verse 33, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you as you look to God as you trust in God. You know, one thing that really works for me, I like to pray, but what I really love to do is speak in tongues.
Praying With the Understanding and Speaking in Tongues
I love to speak in tongues because I know that that’s covering things that I don’t even know I need. God knows what’s coming up. It’s covering needs of family members, of friends, of our country that I don’t even know what’s going on.
I don’t know what’s coming up. But as I speak in tongues, I’m giving it to God and he’s taking care of it. I think, I think that praying with your understanding is a great way to build a relationship with God.
Just like building a relationship with anybody. As you talk to people, you get to know them. And I think that by pouring your heart out to God, it teaches you to trust in God.
And then speaking in tongues is the cherry on the top. Verse 34, take therefore no thought to the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought to the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Take No Thought for the Morrow: Just Give It to God
I mean, there’s enough going on today that you gotta deal with. Tomorrow, we don’t know about tomorrow. I mean, come on.
Look how things change from day to day. So we don’t need to be worried about tomorrow. And if there’s something you are concerned about, just give it to God.
Just give it to him. Just get rid of it and give it to him. Put your trust in him.
There’s so many promises in the word of God and every one of those promises has to deal with him taking care of us. Because that’s what he’s all about. He’s our dad and that’s what he’s all about.
So next time you see birds out there, they may not be seagulls, eating mussels and clams, but they might be singing songs. They might be having little babies. Just remember that you are more important than they are in God’s eyes and that God absolutely meets their every need.
Thank you very much. Love you guys.
Key Takeaways
- God takes care of the birds and they don’t even earn it. They’re not on their knees praying all night; they’re just living life and they just assume they’re going to be taken care of, and Matthew 6:26 ends, are ye not much better than they?
- Trusting God is not passive drifting but active dependence: Isaiah 12:2, I will trust and not be afraid, and Proverbs 3:5, lean not unto thine own understanding, acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path.
- God has promised counsel, not just supply. Psalm 32:8 says I will guide thee with mine eye, and that word guide means counsel; Psalm 23 says the Lord leads, and all you have to do is follow.
- Prayer is not performance. The Pharisee announced his fasting and tithing loud enough for everybody to hear, but the publican who said God, be merciful to me, a sinner, went down to his house justified.
- Entering into thy closet means your heart and your mind, and shutting the door means focusing: it’s between you and God, and you don’t need vain repetitions because your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask them.
- Need is individual. God knows what you individually need in any category of life, and the instruction is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, take no thought for the morrow, and give whatever you are concerned about to him.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Matthew 6:26 mean about the birds of the air?
It says, behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. God takes care of those birds and they don’t even earn it. They’re not on their knees praying all night. They’re just living life and they just assume they’re going to be taken care of. Then the verse asks, are ye not much better than they?
What does it mean to enter into thy closet to pray?
In Matthew 6, that word closet means heart and mind, your thoughts. When you pray, you pray with your heart and your mind. And when thou hast shut the door, that means it’s between you and God, you’re focusing. That’s what shut the door means. It means to focus. Then pray to thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
If God already knows what I need, why pray?
Because your father knows what things you have need of before you ask them. When you go in prayer, you are acknowledging that he knows your needs. You’re acknowledging that he will supply those needs. You are trusting in him to supply those needs. That’s why you don’t have to go on and on begging God for something when he already knows it and he will supply it.
Scripture References
Matthew 6:26; Isaiah 12:2; Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 32:8; Psalm 23:1-3; Luke 18:11; Luke 18:10; Luke 18:12; Luke 18:13; Luke 18:14; Matthew 6:25; Matthew 6:5; Matthew 6:6; Matthew 6:7; Matthew 6:8; Matthew 6:27; Matthew 6:31; Matthew 6:32; Matthew 6:33; Matthew 6:34
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
