24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” I appreciate it when instructions are stepped out – like, ‘preheat the oven to 350d; in a small mixing bowl …’ It makes things so much easier and we have a better chance of success. So St. Matthew is telling us, ‘Step one: seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness’. When we have done step one, step two is to receive all the promises of God.
UPDATE On May 5th, we looked at St. Luke 11:1-13 and I mentioned what I thought verse 13 was telling us but that I would research it and get back to you. Here is the elegant and eloquent response from Bishop Chad (Chandler Jones):
Dear Audre’,
Thank you so very much – the passage from the Gospel of Saint Luke 11 is a summary of Our Lord’s teaching in Saint Matthew 6, the Sermon on the Mount. We are instructed first to adore God our Father, Abba, and then after adoration for His own sake to present our petitions to Him for our material and spiritual necessities. We adore before we ask, we worship before we petition. We are called to a personal relationship with our heavenly Father which is strengthened and deepened by daily conversation in prayer. Our Father wishes us to adore Him, love Him, and trust Him, to have confidence in Him and His promises. We are challenged to persevere in prayer and to withhold nothing from God. The Lord Jesus teaches our need for a recognition of our radical dependence on God for all things and everything. We should not fear to approach God even with the smallest concerns and details of our life.
It is the Holy Ghost who takes what is of Christ and gives it us to us. He is the Agent of the Father and the Son, the conglorified One who vivifies, illuminates, and enlightens us with the divine life, for He is the Divine Life Himself, the One who actualises the Life of God in our souls and bodies. The Father bestows the Holy Ghost upon us as His supreme gift – the Holy Ghost is given to us to sanctify us and to pour within us the effect of Christ’s redeeming love and work. Our Confirmation is our personal Pentecost, and throughout our lives we are continually fortified, empowered, and blessed by the fullness of the Holy Ghost given to us sacramentally.
God bless you!
+Chad