Jesus, help me keep this test in the front of all my goals, plans, and decisions: For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me (Mat 25:35-36).’ Help me not do anything that doesn’t fit into this assignment.

Jesus, You are telling me through Ephesians 6:17 (NIV) to take the...sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Help me do this, so I will be accepting Your Bible as my only source of truth. If I read or hear anything that disagrees with it, empower me to reject it by using my sword and shield against it.

Jesus, help me not be one of those that the seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants (Mat 13:7). As You go on with the parable of the sower sowing his seeds in his field and explain that other seeds fell among thorns, help me get all the spiritual weeds out of my life.

Since thorns represent all of those worries that I have in my life that pressure me to spend time trying to solve them, help me come to You for the solution. And since the thorns also represent my pursuit of money as I try to get it to solve my needs and fix my problems, help me realize that You are my answer. Teach me that the more time I spend on these things, the less time I spend developing my skills with the sword of the Spirit.

Jesus, help me not be the one who received the seed that fell among the thorns. Keep me for being a person who hears the Word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful (Mat 13:22). Show me that this is one of the major reasons why many people fail Your final exam. Teach me that I can NOT serve two masters. Either I will hate the one and love the other, or I will be devoted to the one and despise the other. I cannot serve both God and Money (Mat 6:24). However, I am like most people; I feel like I am not serving money. Show me how I am allowing money to hold an inappropriate place in my life.

Jesus, let these words come into my brain, mind, will, and heart. Help me receive them in transforming power as You speak it into me. Therefore I tell YOU, do not worry about YOUR life, what YOU will eat or drink; or about YOUR body, what YOU will wear. IS NOT LIFE more important than food, AND THE BODY more important than clothes (Mat 6:25)? There are two things that are trying to take over my thoughts, feelings, and decisions of life. They are trying to pull me away from You and Your training. They are the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. They are trying to choke them. There can be a tremendous concern for food, clothing, transportation, housing, comfort, entertainment, education, and security coming at me. Help me use my sword and shield to defeat them.

Jesus, help me look at the birds of the air; help me see that they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet my heavenly Father feeds them. Make it clear to me that I am much more valuable than they (Mat 6:26). I realize that Your point isn’t for me to stop sowing, reaping, or storing. Help me see that there are some creatures that are a lot more vulnerable than I am who get their needs met. Show me that my heavenly Father cares for them; and, show me that He loves me a lot more than them.

Jesus, make it clear to me that by worrying I can’t add a single hour to my life (Mat 6:27)? Show me that I won’t need food, clothing, transportation, housing, comfort, entertainment, education, and security if I am dead. Help me think about the fact that if God stops protecting my life there is nothing I can do to keep myself alive. So, if I have to trust God to keep me alive, then I need to learn how to trust Him for taking care of the needs of this life.

Jesus, show me why I worry about clothes. Help me see how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet You are telling me that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these (Mat 6:28-29). Help me take a look at lilies and Solomon so I can see some important things about God and life. Teach me that the only reason lilies look the way they do is because God made them that way. And, the only reason Solomon had all the things he had was because God gave him incredible wisdom for how to get that way. Help me see this vital truth, so I will see a way to make sure everyone on this planet can get all their needs met for the rest of their lives. AND, help me to use my sword and shield to defeat any resistance against this way of life.

Jesus, teach me that if that is how GOD clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe me. Empower me so I won’t be a person of little faith (Mat 6:30)? Reveal to me what God has to do with making sure I have food, clothing, transportation, housing, comfort, entertainment, education, and security. Show me that God DOES NOT take care of those who take care of themselves. As a matter of fact, all I have to do is step in where I need God and try to take care of it myself and He will move away. Instead, help me cast ALL my anxiety on Him because He cares for me (1 Pet 5:7).

Jesus, stop me from worrying, saying, ‘What shall I eat?’ or ‘What shall I drink?’ or ‘What shall I wear (Mat 6:31)?’ Help me accept this as a commandment from You; You aren’t going to be able to help me pass my final exam, if I don’t listen to You about this issue. Help me add up all the hours in a day where I am doing what it takes to make sure I have these things. Help me see that this issue is dominating my life. AND, when I live like this, I am barely able to take care of my OWN needs, much less take care of the rest of the people in this world for the rest of their lives. Help me use the sword of the Spirit to break free from those weeds that are trying to choke Your truths.

Jesus, teach me that the pagans run after all these things, and teach me that my heavenly Father knows that I need them (Mat 6:32). I have a choice; I can either run after all these things or I can go to my heavenly Father and find out what He wants me to do. He took a young man named Solomon and put such incredible wisdom in him that he became one of the riches people on the planet. Help me see what He would be willing to do to, for, with, and through me.

Jesus, empower me to seek FIRST Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and all these THINGS will be given to me as well (Mat 6:33). If I seek FIRST God’s kingdom and His righteousness, show me what You will teach me. Help me accept this truth into my life: “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the gospel will fail to receive A HUNDRED TIMES as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life (Mark 10:29-30). Teach me how to live this kind of life where I follow Your plan for my life.

Show me that God cares about my finances. He has a plan for making sure all my needs are met. Reveal to me that it wouldn’t be the main issue on Your final exam, if it weren’t the main concern on my heavenly Father’s heart. He is the One Who made me with a body that needs all these THINGS. But, I need Your teaching and power; I need to accept the fact that You have a different plan for getting these needs met; and it is different than the one the world has. Empower me and teach me how to seek FIRST Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and all these THINGS will be given to me as well (Mat 6:33).