Overcoming Anxiety By Wayne Mack

Some of you approached me after the Tuesday morning session and
Asked me to slow down a bit because you weren't getting the references and some of the material
What I'd like to suggest to you is if you want the references that are used and an outline of the material
there's a sheet out
in the bookmobile
On which there's something about a study guide for some of these messages
And if you'd like to have a study guide with an outline and all the references
Get the sheet out there and you can write to our Center and we have a study guide for some of these
messages
Now turn with me tonight to Philippians chapter 4
verses 6 through 9
Philippians 4 verses 6 through 9
Philippians 4 verse 9
Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication
with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and
The peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
finally brethren
Whatever is true. Whatever is honorable. Whatever is right. Whatever is pure. Whatever is lovely
Whatever is of good repute if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise
Let your mind dwell on these things
The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things and the God of peace
Shall be with you
Some time ago I read a story about a man who had been a great worrier I
Mean
He worried about everything and
Everyone knew that he was a worrier. He had a furrowed brow and a long look on his face constantly
and one day a friend of his who had known him previously as a great worrier saw him walking down the street and
Instead of having a furrowed brow. He had a smile on his face
Instead of having a long look on his face. He was walking down the street whistling and
They just looked as happy as a lark
Well this struck this friend and so he walked up to him and he said say what's happened to you
You don't look like you used to look and you seem very cheerful
What's happened? He said well you see
I don't worry anymore
Said oh, you don't worry anymore. What's happened? Well, he said I hired somebody else to do my worrying for me
You hired somebody else to do your worrying for you. Yeah
Said how much do you have to pay him?
That I pay him $1,000 a week
$1,000 a week how in the world do you pay him $1,000 a week and still pay all of your other bills?
He said that's not my worry
Now apparently that fella had found a solution to his problem of worrying
But there are a lot of people who haven't
Take for example the case of Joe
Now Joe
Was a Christian
In fact, he was a missionary and gone to Africa to serve the Lord Jesus Christ
Really did love Jesus Christ really did want to serve him
But on his first term in Africa as a missionary
He had what?
Some people call a nervous breakdown and as a result of that he was sent home and
Over a period of time
Joe recuperated and they thought that he had solved his problem
So he went back out to Africa as a missionary
It wasn't long after he was there on his second term
that Joe had another of what some people call a nervous breakdown and
Joe was sent home for the second time
Well Joe came for counseling and
During the time that I counseled Joe. I
Discovered that Joe was a great warrior
very anxious man, I
Mean he worried about everything he worried about them his wife
He worried about his children
it was a pilot and
when he was flying over the
jungles of Africa he would worry about his
Plane
The motor of the plane stopping and he would crash and be killed
He also was definitely afraid of snakes and he was in a part of Africa where there were a lot of snakes and he worried
about being bitten by a snake
He worried about doing a good job as a missionary
He worried about what the other missionaries were thinking about him and he worried himself into a nervous breakdown
Incidentally
Joe didn't really have a nervous breakdown
Because you see wasn't anything wrong with his nerves. His nerves didn't break down. They're working very well
What Joe had was a resource breakdown
He came to a place where he didn't know how to handle the problems that were before him and his nerves worked overtime
And so he became very anxious and very worried until the point that he was consumed with his anxiety and worry
And then he had what's called a nervous breakdown which as I say is a is a resource breakdown not a nervous breakdown
Nothing happens to their nerves. Their nerves are working very well. They're working over time
Joe stands as a representative of millions of people in our world today
one man has said that the insignia of our forefathers
was
calloused hands
But the insignia of modern man is a furrowed brow
in the Encyclopedia of Mental Health
There's a quotation which says that the 20th century is
More anxiety ridden than any other era in history since the Middle Ages
Dr. Gary Collins a well-known
Christian who is a psychologist?
Wrote a book entitled overcoming anxiety and in that book
He says anxiety is the official emotion of our age
the most pervasive
psychological phenomenon of our time
Dr. Henry Brant another well-known Christian counselor in a book on how to find peace says our age could well be called
the age of anxiety
Dr. John Haggai
wrote a book
entitled how to win over worry
Now, dr. Haggai had had a nervous breakdown when he was 25 or 26 years of age and
out of that experience he went to the Word of God studied the Word of God and
Then wrote the book on how to win over worry in that book. He says that the
epitaph of
Many people's lives could be written in three words
hurry
worry
Bury and he has also said that worry is public enemy number one
Worry is a very common and very serious problem
but it's also a problem that can be overcome for the child of God and
Philippians 4 and verse 6 our God says be anxious for nothing
Put in the positive what our God is saying is don't be anxious about anything
He doesn't say don't be anxious about 50% of the things in your life or
75% of the things in your life. He says don't be anxious about anything be anxious for nothing
And what the text is indicating is that regardless of the circumstance regardless of the difficulty
Regardless of the provocation there is never an excuse for the child of God to be anxious or to be worried
in Philippians 4 and verse 7
The Bible speaks of the peace of God which surpasses all
comprehension
Now it says that we as Christians can have a peace of God
Which surpasses all understanding or all comprehension?
The peace that you and I as Christians have should be a peace that surpasses the comprehension of people around us. I
Tell you that unsaved people should be looking at us as Christians and be saying what is it with you?
I don't understand the kind of peace that you have. I see you having the same trial
I see you having the same difficulty. I see you wrestling with inflation. I see you having sickness
I see you having all these different things which make me anxious and worried, but you aren't anxious
You seem to have a peace and it passes my understanding
Is that the way the unsaved world looks at you
so they look at you and say and there's something different about you in
first Peter chapter 3
Scripture says don't fear their intimidation
That is don't be afraid of
what other people are afraid of and
Furthermore it says don't be afraid even if you are persecuted don't be troubled
But here's what you are to do
Sanctify Christ is Lord in your hearts always being ready to make a defense to everyone
Who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you yet with gentleness and reverence?
What Peter say is that you ought to so live?
You ought to have such a peace that other people are going to come and want to know what's the secret of your hope?
What's the secret of your strength? What's the secret of your peace?
He's saying there ought to be something so
Fantastically different about you that others would recognize
Hey something's happened in your life
So Paul speaks of the peace which passes the understanding of people around us
But I think Paul's referring also to a piece which surpasses our own comprehension or our own understanding
I mean it ought to be that we as Christians sometimes sit back and look at ourselves and say I don't understand me
Here I have all these problems difficulty trials whatever and yet I'm experiencing a piece of God
I I can't explain it. I've just experienced it. I can't understand it
But I tell you it's real
Tech speaks of a piece of God which passes our understanding. I
Believe it's referring to the kind of peace that
Peter had in Acts chapter 12
Remember in Acts chapter 12 the early church is under persecution
James has been beheaded
Peter's arrested and put in jail
The next morning for all he knows his head may roll just like the head of James rolled and what's Peter doing that night?
Scripture says he's sleeping like a baby
He's sleeping so soundly that when the angel of God comes to deliver him
He has to practically drag him out of the prison and
Peter isn't aware of what's really happened until he gets out on Main Street and Peter didn't hadn't taken a barbiturate
Peter hadn't taken night off
He hadn't taken any of the sleeping pills that people take today and yet he slipped like a baby when his very life was in
Danger, he had a piece of God and you can't understand that kind of feet
Or think of the kind of peace that the Apostle Paul had in Acts chapter 13
Paul has gone out into
new territory
they didn't have the police protection that we have today and
And Paul travels on this first missionary journey. He's not treated all that well
he's stoned he's thrown out of town criticized and accused and abused and
As we come to the latter part of Acts 13, he's come to a place called Antioch of
Pisidia and the scripture says that while he was there
preaching the Jews aroused the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city and
Instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district. That's a polite way of saying they throw them out of town
in
Modern parlance they start and feather them and said you're not welcome here. Please leave they drove them out of town
And verse 51 says they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium
And then verse 52 says the disciples sat around and licked their wounds
Now it says the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit
Now you don't get the impact of verse 52 unless you read it in context
It has been persecuted
maligned thrown out of town and they were still filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost and
In chapter 14 and verse 1 it says it came about that in Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together and
Spoke in such a manner that a great multitude believed both of the Jews and the Greeks these fellows were brute for punishment
Thrown out one place. What do they do when they get to the next place and write for the synagogue and begin to preach again
They had a piece of God that
passes all
Understanding and what about that episode in Acts chapter 16 where Paul and Silas have come to Philippi?
They've been arrested their backs have been brutally beaten by scourges
The backs are bloody. They put in a damp cold Philippian jail didn't have modern jails like we have today
Recently there was a
Television program. I just saw a little bit of it about one of the jails in Pennsylvania
It's called the country club jail and you know, they have television and everything for the prisoners now
Not all jails in the United States
I guess they're like that, but that must be some jail
Well the jail in which Paul and Silas were put wasn't a country club jail. It was a damp dirty
Dingy old jail and there they are with their feet in stock. And what do they do?
At midnight Scripture says they're praying and they're singing praises unto God. They're not perturbed
They've got a piece of God that passes all
Understanding and what our text is saying is that that's the kind of peace that every believer can experience
That kind of peace was not simply the portion of all or Silas or Peter
That kind of peace is the portion of every person that has been regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit and brought to
Repentance and faith in Jesus Christ tonight. I asked you my Christian friend. Do you know that kind of peace?
Are you experiencing that piece of God which passes all?
Comprehension. Well, there are many people who aren't many Christians who aren't and
So tonight I want us to notice two things
about the problem of worry
And I want to do this in order that we as Christians might more fully
experience this piece of God which passes all understanding first of all, I want you to notice with me the essence of worry and
Then secondly, we're going to notice the escape from worry
Now there are a lot of people who are confused about what worry is. They don't really understand what it means to worry
And so first of all, I want to suggest to you a couple of things about what worry is not
There are people who are confused in this area
worry
For one thing is not to be equated with being concerned about
something or someone
It's not wrong for a Christian to be concerned
About a problem about a difficulty or about someone I had a woman who came for counseling this afternoon
she's a 70 year old woman and
she came for
counsel concerning her 29 year old son
Now this 70 year old woman is a believer
she's a child of God and she has a 29 year old son who is a dope addict and a drunkard and
Deeply involved in sexual immorality and she came today concerned about her son
And I believe she was right in being concerned about her son. Nothing wrong with that at all
It's proper. It's legitimate for a Christian to be concerned about certain things
in
Philippians chapter 2
verses 19 and 20
Paul said I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of
Your condition for I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare
Paul said I'm concerned about you brethren there and he said Timothy's going to be concerned about you and that's good and
In Philippians chapter 4 in verse 10
Paul said I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me
Indeed you were concerned before but you lacked opportunity
He says you're concerned about me and he doesn't rebuke them for being concerned. He says that's great
I really appreciate the fact that you are concerned
So whatever worry is it's not being concerned. God isn't saying be willy-nilly and and go through life whistling and
And
Riding a silver cloud. No. No, that's not what he's talking about
Secondly when God speaks of worry
He's not equating worry with being thoughtful or exercising foresight or making plans
And with some people who think well, you know if you trust in the Lord, you never make any plans
And think if you trust in the Lord, you'll never take out life insurance. I mean that's not trusting God
If you trust in the Lord, you'll never take out hospitalization insurance
That's not trusting God
If you're trusting God, you'll never some people say go to a physician. That's not trusting God
If you're trusting God, you won't plan a budget. I mean and just go ahead and walk by faith
If you're trusting God, you won't prepare for your job. You'll just trust God to give you a job and
they have that idea about
Worry that to plan or to have foresight or to look to the future is to worry
And sometimes they use James chapter 4 verses 13 through 16 to substantiate
these views and
James 4 verses 13 through 16 the Bible says come now you who say today or tomorrow
We should go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow you're just a bit like a vapor
That appears for a little while and then vanishes away and they say well this says right here that we shouldn't plan
We shouldn't look to the future
My friends that's not what James 4 verses 13 and 14 is saying
James isn't saying we shouldn't plan
What James is saying is that we shouldn't be presumptuous and make our plans without seeking the guidance and direction of God
He's saying we should plan
plan prayerfully and then submit our plans to God for his approval or for his veto and
in the next two verses
James says instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we shall live and also do this or that
But as it is you boast in your arrogance all such boasting is evil. He's talking about pride
He's talking about arrogance in making plans without seeking the face of God and the direction of God
But he's certainly not condemning planning as such in Proverbs the 14th chapter
verses 15 and 16
The Bible says the naive believes everything
But the prudent man considers his steps a wise man is cautious
He thinks he evaluates he assesses he watches where he's going
He's cautious and he turns away from evil, but a fool is arrogant and careless
He doesn't make any plans. He doesn't watch where he's going. He just steps out and full speed ahead
He's arrogant and the scripture says he is careless in Proverbs the 22nd chapter in verse 3
The scripture says the prudent sees the evil he looks to the future. He sees problems. He sees difficulties that may arise and
He planned for them. He knows there's going to come a time when he may
Have to retire
He knows it's going to come a time when he may have to put his children through college
And so he looks to the future and he makes plans
The prudent sees the evil and when that happens he hides himself
But the naive go on and they're punished for it Proverbs 27 verse 12 speaks to the same issue
It says a prudent man sees evil and hides himself
The naive proceed and pay the penalty and in that same chapter Proverbs 27 verses 23 and 24
We read know well the condition of your flocks and pay attention to your herd for riches are not forever
Nor does the crown endure to all generations and the Bible is admonishing us to make plans
To contemplate and to consider and so whatever
Worry is it isn't to be equated with making plans and exercising for foresight or
Having a concern about things or people
Well, if worry isn't any of these things what is worry?
well, technically
Anxiety has been defined as an emotion characterized by feelings of apprehension
distress
uneasiness
discomfort dread or harassment
It's an emotion which is characterized by feelings of apprehension
There's an uneasiness. There's a distress. There's discomfort
There's a dread and there is a sense of harassment
the Latin word for worry
Means to strangle and this Latin word describes what worry does it?
Strangles the life out of a person. In fact, this is what the Bible says
In Luke 18 and verse 14 the Bible speaks of being choked by worry where he chokes the person
the German word
For worry means to twist or to bend and that's what worry does it twists or it bends a person out of shape
The Greek word for worry means to divide or rip apart
It's the picture of a person who's being ripped apart
in James 1 and verse 8
Scripture says that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways and that's what worries
it's a double-minded man his mind is being ripped apart and
you have that internal struggle and battle of going on a
worried person
According to the Word of God is a person who is weighed down
Proverbs 12 and verse 25 says that anxiety in the heart weighs it down and a worried person is a person who who
Feels like he has a weight upon his shoulder. He is burdened down. That's worry in
Proverbs 15 and verse 15 the Bible says all the days of the afflicted are evil
But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast
Now here are two people
described in that verse
One of them has a continual feast and the other has affliction all of his day
now the implication of that verse is
That the circumstances of both of these people are the same. It's not that they have different circumstances
it's not that one has a life which is a
Life of ease and the other has a life of terrible pain and difficulty
Both of them have the same circumstances and yet one of them
Has a continual feast and the other has affliction every day and all the day. What makes the difference?
Well, the scripture says all the days of the afflicted
Afflicted in heart if his heart is afflicted if his heart is bound up with worry and anxiety
Every day regardless of what happens to him is an evil day
But the scripture says if you have a merry heart
You can sing praise even in prison with a bloody back if you have a merry heart
You can go to sleep as Peter did in Acts chapter 12, even though your life may be in danger on the morrow
in first Timothy 6 and verse 17
the Bible
Says that God gives us richly all things to enjoy
God gives us
richly
He's not giving us in a meager way. He's giving us richly
all things to enjoy and
Yet the worried person is a person who is unable to enjoy the good things that God has given to him
In Psalm 68 in verse 19 the Bible says that God daily loads us with benefits
But the worried person doesn't see these benefits all he sees is the problem the difficulty the trial the heartache
you know, I
Remember hearing the story of about a man who?
Could find something wrong with everything. I
mean if
The Sun was shining. It was too hot or you might have a sunstroke
if it was raining
It might
ruin the crops and we might have a flood if
His house was in good condition. Well tomorrow it might burn down if his automobile was running fine. Well
Something might happen to the motor. He could find something wrong with everything. He gave him a doughnut. He'd complain about the hole in the middle
Well
This fellow lived next door
to another man
who looked at life from a different point of view and
This other man had a great bird dog. He was really proud of his bird dog
He thought it was the greatest bird dog in the world
And so one day he was telling his friend about this bird dog and he said this is the best hunting dog
I have ever seen in all my life and his neighbor
disparaged it and
Put the dog down and so the fellow said well, I'll tell you what
I'll take you hunting with me and you'll see how great a bird doggy is. So
They planned to go duck hunting one day and they went out together and got down in the duck blind and they waited there
Made a few duck calls and pretty soon. They saw a flock of ducks flying over them and they lifted their guns and went
Boom-boom-boom-boom
four ducks
fell down
onto the lake and
the man turned to his dog and he said okay Rover go get him and
That dog walked out on top of the water
to get the duck and he brought the ducks back and laid them at their feet and
Then the man turned to his friend and said now, what do you think of my dog?
He said what's the matter can't he swim?
I
Some people can find something wrong with everything there are some people who find something to worry about in every situation
They've got the weight of the world on their shoulders there are morose and melancholy and sober and somber
And
The Bible is talking about that when it says don't be anxious for anything
And you know if the Christian life is anything it's a balanced life
where we make a mistake in the Christian life is when we swing to one or the other extreme and
The truth of the matter is that most of us even as Christians are swingers
Did you know that?
There are a lot of Christians who are swingers
They swing out here
and swing out here and
You know, it's so easy to swing out here and stay here for a while
And it's so easy to swing out here and stay here for a while
But the hardest place to stop a pendulum is in the middle
The Bible says we ought to be sober
The Bible says we ought to be serious
But the Bible also says we're rejoicing the Lord
And the Bible says we're to have a piece of God that passes all understanding concern yes
but not excessively concerned
Having a real love and compassion for people and
yet at the same time not allowing that to drive us to the point where we become morbid and
Wretched and miserable. Well, I think that's a description of the essence of worry
Now let's notice what our text has to say about the escape from worry
Our text indicates that you can't escape from worry
And I believe that you can escape from the giant worry
By recognizing that you're responsible for your worry
Don't blame your worry on your wife or on your husband or on your boss or on your neighborhood or upon your physical aches
And pains or upon your lack of money or whatever no
No, you're excuse-making your blame-shifting and you will never overcome worry until you accept the responsibility
For your worry until you say if I am worried it is my fault
You'll never solve that problem until you accept responsibility for it
Secondly
If you're going to overcome the giant worry
You must be aware that you can overcome worry if you are Christian
You know, there are three great virtues that are put together again and again in the New Testament
You'll find these three virtues put together as a triad
nine times in the New Testament and
the three virtues are these faith
hope and love
Now in 1st Corinthians 13 the Bible says and now abides faith
Hope and love love is put last because the primary thing that Paul is dealing with in
The book of Corinthians at this section is their need for love. So he puts faith open love
But it's interesting when you turn to 1st Thessalonians. He talks about their works of faith
their labors of love and
Their patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ
He doesn't put love last in 1st Thessalonians 1 he puts hope last
He speaks of faith
Then he speaks of love and then he speaks of hope and the great emphasis in the book of 1st Thessalonians is on hope
We don't sorrow as those that have no hope and again and again, you'll find that word. Hope recurring in the book of 1st Thessalonians. Why?
Because
The Thessalonian believers were going through a lot of afflictions and
Paul was encouraging them to persevere and what keeps a man persevering
What keeps a man going on? It's hope if you don't see any light at the end of the tunnel why try
if you don't really believe you can't overcome why even give it a fight and
so Paul says look what you need if you're gonna be steadfast if you're gonna persevere is hope and
What people need if they're really going to overcome their personal problems if they're going to overcome worry if they're going to
Triumph over sin is the hope that they can triumph is
The hope that they can overcome
And my friends I want to tell you on the authority of God's Word you can overcome the giant worry
You can I don't care who you are. I don't care what your background has been
I don't care what your patterns of life has been you can become a person who experiences more and more the peace of God that
passes all
Understanding 1st Corinthians 10 13 says God is faithful
Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which are able but will with the temptation also provide a way of escape
That she may be able to bear it
now the third
Thing that we must
Do if we're going to overcome
the giant worry is that we must learn a new way of responding to worrisome situations and
That new way of responding to worrisome situations is described in Philippians 4 verses 6 through 9
Hebrews 5 and verse 14 speaks of our faculties being trained by reason of practice
God created you and he created me. He created all men with a habit capacity
The habit capacity is neither good nor bad. It's just there
Now because we were born sinners we learn sinful patterns and habits of response and reaction and facing life
Some people because they were born sinners learned to be especially good liars
And so they have what they call pathological liars
Some people learned
especially good or perhaps we should say bad habits of relating with people and so they become
sociopathic or psychopathic
Individuals who are filled with hostility against other people they learn patterns and habits of being
nasty and hostile toward other people
now we also learn habits and patterns of
responding to
potentially worrisome situations
The truth of the matter is that as sinners all of us are somewhat insecure, you know when Adam sinned
He became fearful and so he started to hide
he ran away and
All of us to one degree or another are somewhat insecure some more than others
But all of us to some extent are insecure
We learn patterns of insecurity patterns of worrying about this and that and the other thing
Now when we become Christians God puts in us a new heart and
The Spirit of God comes to indwell us and the Spirit of God wants to work in us
so that we will put off the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful practices and
Put on the new man
Which is renewed in holiness and righteousness
which develops new habits righteous habits righteous patterns, which are a reflection of
what the Word of God has to say now that usually doesn't happen automatically and the Bible never
Encourages us to think that it will just automatically happen that because we become Christians all of a sudden
We will respond in every respect differently than we did before we became Christians
The Bible says we need to work out our own salvation
With fear and trembling the Bible says to Christians you have to put off certain practices and you'll have to put on new
practices now what I'm saying is
And many people have learned to respond to difficulties and trials and problems
By means of worry you can count on it if some trial or difficulty or problem comes they'll respond by worrying
Now when they become Christians, they need to learn a new pattern of response to those
Situations and they can learn a new pattern of response because our faculties Hebrews 514 are trained by reason of practice
You know all of us by nature are greedy
but some of us are especially greedy and
according to 2nd Peter 2 and verse 4 some people are trained in green and
The Bible also speaks about being trained in adultery
There are some people who have more of a problem with sex than others because they were trained in that way
Well, they need to be retrained and reprogrammed and repatterned
According to the standards of the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit now
What I'm saying is we need to learn new patterns of response trials and difficulties and problems and those new patterns of response are described
in Philippians 4 verses 6 through 9
This text tells us that if we're going to overcome the giant worry, we've got to do three things
first of all
We must deliberately
Respond to potentially worrisome situations with biblical prayer
Philippians 4 and verse 6 says be anxious for nothing. That's the put-off
That's what we're not to do, but the Bible doesn't simply say don't do this
And there are many people who never change because they look upon change as a one-factored process
When in reality change in the Word of God is not simply I'm not going to do that anymore
Rather it is to replace the wrong habit with a right habit
if you are
Normally a person who responds in this way the Bible says at that point you must not only not do that
But you must replace it with a biblical practice and you must do that every time
Until you begin to learn new patterns and new habits of response
Now the new pattern or habit of response when you're tempted to be worried is
in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving
Let your requests be made known unto God and then the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus our Lord
now
I've had people tell me well I do that
Whenever I have a problem
I I turn to the Lord and I pray and you know that used to concern me because here the Word of God says if you
Pray properly you'll have the peace of God and here were all these people who said they prayed and still they didn't have the peace
Of God was the Bible not true?
No, the Bible is true
And I've discovered that many people who say they pray don't pray in the way that Paul says they should pray in Philippians 4 and verse
6 it's not just any old kind of prayer of that will
Overcome worry. It's a particular kind of prayer that will overcome worry
And I want you to notice four facts about the kind of prayer that will overcome worry
First of all, Paul says that the kind of prayer that will overcome worry is worshipful prayer
he says in everything by prayer and
supplication there are a number of Greek words used in the New Testament to describe prayer and
this particular word translated prayer is a word which really means worship and
What is worship well worship is seeing the worthiness the greatness the majesty of God
Worship is doing what Isaiah did in Isaiah 6
Seeing God high and lifted up
With his glory filling the earth. It's seeing the holiness of God
It's falling on your face and saying woe is me for I am undone
Worship is what the early apostles did in acts 4 you remember in that context
they were warned and threatened and
When Peter and John were released from the Sanhedrin
scripture says they came to their own companions and
They reported what had done and then with one accord they lifted up their voice and said Oh Lord
It is you who did make the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them
Who by the mount by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David your servant had said and what they did was get
God in focus
They said Lord you haven't abdicated your throne
Nobody's throwing you off your throne. You're still seated there. You're still ruling in heaven and earth. They didn't come say
Oh Lord, this is terrible. How horrible. Wow. What a problem and
Rehearse their difficulties. No, they said Lord you're still on your throne. And what do you know?
It's happening just as you said it would happen. They put their focus upon the Lord and upon his word and
they just put God in the center of the picture that's worship and
When you have difficulties or trials, that's your first response is to remember God's still on his throne
He's prepared his throne in the heavens his kingdom rules over all and that whatever's happened is not have
Happening outside of the will of God God has a plan and a purpose for it all that's where it begins
But the prayer that overcomes worry is not only worshipful prayer
It's what I would call habitual prayer
Paul says in everything
by prayer and
Supplication now some people pray about the big things
But they haven't learned a practice of prayer
About a year or so ago. I was out in the backyard playing with
My little guy he was like four years of age then he's grown up nice five
but I
was out in the backyard playing with my little guy and
my older guy who's
19 now 18 then and
my older guy had thrown me a Frisbee and I was looking up in sky for the Frisbee and running out across the lawn to
Catch the Frisbee and wasn't watching where I was putting my feet and my one leg went down in a great big hole and
my oldest guy had by that time turned to go in the house and
The only person who saw me fall was my little four-year-old guy. I
fell down
Twisted my ankle and thought I had broken my leg
pain shot up through my leg
It was excruciating and I laid there on the ground and I rolled around and the tears came streaming down my cheek
It aches so much
And my little guy came running over to me and he said to me as he put his arms around me and gave me a kiss
He said it's okay. Daddy. It's okay. God's gonna take care of you. And then he said let's pray and
He turned and he said all God my daddy's hurt. Will you please help him in Jesus name?
Amen, and he said it's okay
And just shortly after that in our devotions. We were going around asking for prayer requests and little Joshua said
Here's my prayer request would you pray for me that God would help me to button my shirt and zip my zipper
In everything
Now
That little guy is learning at four and five years of age to pray about everything
He's learning to pray about the little things and my desire is that as he learns and forms a pattern of praying about
Everything it will become natural
It will become habitual for him to take everything to God
And if we learn to live in the presence of God if we learn to take everything to God big things and little things
We'll be in to experience the peace of God it's because we don't spend enough time with God
It's because our trips into the presence of God for help
Are only when we think we can't handle it on our own
instead of that habitual
Entrance into the presence of God bringing everything to him
But the kind of prayer that overcomes
Worry is not only worshipful prayer and habitual prayer
It's specific prayer in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving
Bring your request to God
Bring your specific request to God and so many times. We're so abstract and so vague in our prank
I can tell you how some people are going to pray
It's always the same. It's so unspecific. It's so abstract
And one of my children had a habit when they got
As they came along in their spiritual lives where they would start their prayer and I could tell you every time
Well how they were gonna start how this young person is gonna start her prayer
Lord I thank you for everything and
finally, I came to the place where I
Stopped this child of mine and said please be specific
Tell God specifically what you're thankful for
We need to let God know what we're thankful for in specifics, and I believe we need to be specific about our request
You know when the Syrophoenician woman came
The Lord knew why she had came she wanted help for her daughter
when the blind men came to Jesus, Jesus said what do you want and
The blind men said I want to receive my sight
And I believe there's a way in which we should come into the presence of God not for Ashley
But yet boldly we can come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace to help in the time of need
if we have a lack of wisdom for dealing with our children, I
Think it's proper for us to come and say Lord. I'm really having a problem in this area
I don't know what answer to give them. I don't know what to do about this. Here's my problem and Lord
Will you please show me?
We're having a financial problem, I believe we can lay it before God and say Lord
I'm having a difficulty in this particular area
I told some of the folks here about a family that I knew about who couldn't meet their budget
They really planned well, they tried to use their money. Well, they came to God and said Lord. We're yours
Don't know how we can pay our bills don't know how we can meet our budget how we can really support our children and they
Made it a specific matter of prayer and God specifically answered that prayer
I believe God delights in hearing the humble earnest and yet bold prayers of his people as they're specific
So if we're having a problem with something we should come to God and talk to him about it specifically and ask specifically for his help
But then notice also the kind of prayer that overcomes worry is thankful prayer. We're to do it with
Thanksgiving now there are two ways in which you can give thanks to God
one is by sight and
The other is by faith
When you give thanks by sight you give thanks because you see the answer and the reason with your eyes
And that's not too hard to do and yet for some of us that even seems hard to do
But the other way to give thanks is to give thanks even if you don't understand why
Even if you don't see the solution isn't even if you don't have any understanding of what's happening
You still say thank you Lord you're on your throne you have a purpose you're gonna help me
You're gonna use this to your honor and to your glory that's given. Thanks by faith
And I'm convinced that's the way we as believers are doing and you know, there's tremendous power in praise
When God's people begin to praise
God begins to work
Did you notice that in act 16?
Actually
1625 says at Paul and Silas sang and gave thanks to God at midnight and the Lord sent an earthquake
It's right after the praise that the earthquake come
One of my favorite Old Testament passages is 2nd Chronicles chapter 20. I
Don't have time tonight to completely develop this chapter, but this is a thrilling chapter of the Word of God
At
The beginning of the chapter we read it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon together with some
Of the Munites came to make war against Joseph at now. There's a whole group of
countries that gather together against Joseph at hand Judah and
Jehoshaphat came and reported a great multitude is
Coming against you from beyond the sea and so forth and in verse 3 we read Jehoshaphat was afraid
I
Mean his initial response was wow, what are we gonna do all these strong enemies coming against us? So he was initially afraid but
Jehoshaphat didn't stop there. He didn't just continue to worry. The scripture says he turned his attention
This didn't happen automatically you get what he's saying. He did it
It didn't just automatically he wasn't so spiritual that you know, he never was tempted to worry
No, he
Deliberately turned his attention to he made himself do what he should do even though at that point he didn't feel like doing it
He turned his attention
He got his focus off of the prop put his focus on the Lord and he proclaimed the fast throughout all Judah
So Judah gathered together to seek the help from the Lord
they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord and then Jehoshaphat prays in verse 6 and
Every element of the kind of prayer that overcomes worry is found in Jehoshaphat's prayer
I won't take time to mention you search them out for yourself. Just notice how he begins he begins with worship
Oh Lord the God of our fathers. Are you not the God in the heavens?
Aren't you the ruler over all the kingdoms of the nation?
power and might are in your hands so that no one can stand against me he begins by worshiping and he goes on and he
Has specific requests in this prayer and he also shows that he prays about everything now come down
to verse
18 and
Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord
Worshipping the Lord and the Levites from the sons of the kothites and the sons of the Korahites
Stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a very loud voice
The enemies were still there my friend they were still in circles around the city and what were they doing they were praising the Lord
Now it says they rose up early in the morning went to bed that night got up early in the morning went out to the
Wilderness of the co and when they went out Jehoshaphat stood and said listen to me
Oh Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem put your trust in the Lord your God and you'll be established
Put your trust in the prophets that's trust the Word of God
The prophets brought the revelation of God put your trust in the Lord put your trust in the Word of God
they're one the same thing trust the Lord trust his word and
Then it says in verse 21 when he had consulted with the people he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised
Him in holy attire as they went out before the army and they said and said give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness
Is everlasting and when they began singing and praising the Lord said ambush
It was when they began singing and praising that the Lord set ambushes
You say God works
When
his people pray he loves to hear his people praising and
If we want to overcome worry, we have to become a people who know what it is. Praise God
We have to become a people who are really thankful and all the tragedy of seeing so many of God's people walk around the long
faces
All the tragedy of hearing some of God's people moan and groan and complain about this and that and the other thing
No wonder they're filled with work
Don't overcome worry. We need to first of all learn what it is to pray biblically
But then secondly to overcome worry, we must learn what it is to think biblically in Philippians 4 and verse 8
The Bible says whatever things are true. Whatever things are honest. Whatever things are lovely. Whatever things are of good repute
whatever things are
Worthy of praise whatever things are right, whatever things are excellent. Let your mind dwell on these things
Paul's saying if you want to overcome where you're gonna have to think properly
And we've got to understand how important the mind is in
The Christian life the Bible lays a tremendous stress upon
Focusing your mind
Upon proper thinking
in Romans 12 and verse 2 the Bible says we are transformed by the renewing of our mind in
first Peter 1 and verse 13 Peter says gird up the loins of your mind and hope
To the end
For the salvation that is to be revealed at the appearing of Jesus Christ
Now Peter says you're gonna have to gird up the loins of your mind. It's gonna take work
Gonna take mental sweat
It's gonna take effort that Peter says you better watch your mind because if you don't watch your mind, you're gonna lose your hope
The Bible says in
2nd Corinthians 10 verses 4 and 5
that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds and
In that context the strongholds that are being referred to are the strongholds of the mind
The
Bible says the weapons of our warfare
are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds and then it says casting down every imagination and
Every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ
Paul saying if you're going to overcome in this spiritual battle
You're going to have to cast down the strongholds of your mind the wrong kinds of
Imaginations the wrong kinds of speculations and you're gonna have to bring every thought into captivity
You're gonna have to control every thought and bring those thoughts into obedience to Jesus Christ
Now you can't do that on your own
But you don't need to do that on your own because you have the Spirit of God
living in you
Now, you know why a lot of people are great worriers. It's because they haven't learned to control their mind
and
if you think wrongly
my friends you'll feel wrongly a
biblical
Picture of feelings is this
some people think
That you catch bad feelings the way you catch a cold
You know, you're walking along one day and all of a sudden you get the sniffles
You know where they come came from but there they are and you can't explain why you have the sniffles and why you get in
The cold and there's some people who think that they're walking along one day and all of a sudden
They've got these bad feelings. They're anxious and they're worried and they just kind of hit you. That's not true
If you compare your life to a train
The engine on the train of your life is not your feelings
The engine on the train of your life is your mind and your thinking and
If you think right and live right you will feel right
Your feelings are the caboose on the engine of on the train of your life
And if you're feeling badly my friends, it's an indication that you're thinking badly and if you want to turn around
Who think about
Speculations and imaginations they're looking to the future. What if this happens or they're conjuring up
Bad things that might happen. That's the focus of their attention. I might get sick. I might die or whatever
They're thinking about things which are unprofitable
They think about the flaws in other people the flaws in the church
The impurity that's in the world the evil that's in the world the sin that's in the world and in other people
They think about the things that are unlovely constantly the hardships in in life the unpleasant things in life
They think about everything that's unfair and unjust the focus of their attention is negative. They're being critical
they're
thinking about failures and deficiencies and inadequacies and
Inefficiencies and defects and imperfections and burdens and problems and difficulties and restrictions and that's where their mind dwells
Now if you let your mind dwell on those things I
Mean you can't help if you worry and you can't help it be depressed
Now Paul says that's not where your mind should dwell. Paul's not saying that you shouldn't be realistic. That's not his point
He's not saying we shouldn't face the fact that there are imperfections inadequacies and flaws and sin and impurity in the world
That's not his point
But what he's saying is that we ought to make our mind dwell upon the things which are true
The things which are honest the things which are a good report now, what are the things that are true?
Well the things that are true are the things that are found in the word
Things that are true are what God says about it, you know and God says that he's gonna work all things together for good
That's true, my friend
And there's some
No, that's not true that that's a lie it's not hopeless for a child of God he does work all things together for the good
They
Think upon everything that's ugly. God says you to think upon the things which are which are lovely. What's lovely?
Well, Jesus is lovely God's plans and purposes. His promises are lovely
I mean what he's saying is to let your mind dwell upon the promises and purposes and
Precepts of God begin to view life from God's perspective
And if you see things from God's perspective you see your problems through God's perspective
You see your difficulty from God's perspective perspective sure
There is some heartache sure there are things about which you to be concerned, but you don't have to be overwhelmed
You don't have to sorrow as those that have no hope because your God is still in control
So what Paul is saying is we've got to watch what we think about if we're going to
Overcome the giant worry now. I
Suggest the people who are having a problem with worry that they do two things primarily
First of all, they make a think list and they make a thankless
And I have some of my council he's do this they make a thinkless the thing list of things that they should think about that
Are in accordance with the Word of God and then they make a daily list of the things for which they should be thankful
And they keep that list so think properly but then thirdly to overcome worry
You must deliberately respond with biblical action
First of all whenever you have something that could be potentially worrisome you go to God with the right kind of prayer
Secondly you make sure you can see the sink rightly and then thirdly you respond with biblical action that's found in verse 9
where the Word of God says
The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things and the God of peace shall be with you
You know what worry is?
In many cases worry is a smoke detector
Now we have a smoke detector in our home and suppose I was there in bed at night and the smoke detector went off
And I'd get out of bed and walk outside of my room and take one of my great big
Cowboy boots which I got down in Louisiana and which I don't use for much else
But suppose I use them to smash that smoke detector whack up and then I go back to bed. Ah
How wonderful that that noise isn't bothering me anymore now suppose I did that
My wife and I and family would be burned to death because the problem is not the smoke detector the problem is the fire
That's
Causing the smoke detector to go off
Now worry and anxiety in our life is often a good gift of God to tell us that there's something wrong in our life
It's often an indication by the Lord to tell us that we're not living the way that we ought to be living I
mean I had a fellow who came to me for counseling who was a
Full of fear and one of his main fears was that he was going to go to hell
And as I talked to him he had a right to be afraid because I believe that's exactly where he was going
Unless he closed with Jesus Christ and his worry and anxiety over going to hell was the thing that caused him to speak the Lord
Or here's the person who
Is concerned about his finance where how am I ever gonna pay my bills?
But then you discover that that person isn't
Handling his finances in a biblical way. He's running up big charge accounts. He's using his credit cards indiscriminately
How does he get over his worry over finances?
He gets over his worry about finances by making a budget and living according to the money that he's bringing in
Or here's a person who's concerned about
His children's lack of spirituality. Oh my children are so ungodly and so unspiritual
But then you discover that this person is not relating to his children biblically
He doesn't spend time with his children. He'd rather be someplace with the boys. He'd rather be down at work
He'd rather be down at church
He'd rather be almost any place in every place except with his children
Does he play ball with his kids out in the backyard?
Does he develop a relationship with him is does he really become their companions and their friends?
Is he around to counsel them to admonish them to teach them no, but he's worried about his children
The way he'll get over his worry about his children is by becoming the kind of dad that God wants him to be
Or here's the person who's concerned about his lack of accomplishment in life
I'm really not accomplishing anything and I have many people who come to me at 58 60 years of age
I had a woman who came 73 years of age and she looked back over her life and she said it's a total failure
And they're worried over the fact that they haven't accomplished anything in their lives
but then when you suggest well and you ought to be doing this or that or having people into your home or
Beginning to have devotions and a prayer and and seek to reach out for Christ. Well, they don't want to do that
They're worried about their lack of accomplishment. They won't work and they have a reason to be worried
Or here's a person who's concerned about his or her lack of close friends
People say I'm so lonely
Nobody likes me. Nobody cares for me. I don't have any close friends and
Then you say well, you know
The scripture says that you to esteem others better than yourself and you're not to look on your own things
But look on the things of others and you're to be given to hospitality. Oh, I
Could never do that in my home. I don't have the money, you know and all kinds of excuses
But they're worried about the fact they don't have any friends nonsense
Or here's a person who's concerned about his or her lack of a biblical marriage
I know I'm not the kind of husband ought to be I know I'm not the kind of wife ought to be and oh
It just grieves me so much and I'm worried about that
But then
They won't obey biblical directors
Or here's the person who is concerned about the fact they're not getting everything done during the day
There's a lack of organization and I have so much to do that. I can never get it done
And then you talk to them about planning their day and planning a schedule and operating their life according to a schedule and say oh
I could never do that. That's too much work. I
Mean the reason they're worried is because they're living wrongly and if they want to get over their worry
They need to begin to practice what the word of God has to say and if they obey the Lord in many of these matters
They'll find that their anxieties and their worries begin to dissipate. Well, we could go on but
Describe other situations, but we're not going to do that
Tradition tells us of a man in the first century
Whose name was Thaidias?
Now Thaidias before he became a Christian
Apparently was a great worrier
but when he became a Christian the early church gave him a new name and
The name which they gave him was Thaidias Amorimnos
Now to some of you that may not mean much but let me tell you what it means
The Greek word Amorimnos is a combination really of two parts
the one part Amorimnos means worry and
The little letter a which is tacked onto the front means not
This fellow was so dramatically changed when he became a child of God that the early church gave him the name Thaidias
the man who does not worry
And I want to say to you my friends tonight on the authority of God's Word
You can become Jane Amorimnos
Harry Amorimnos, John Amorimnos
Mary Amorimnos, I don't care whatever your name you can become a person who overcomes worry if you will
consistently habitually
obey God and
pray biblically
think biblically and
live
biblically scripture says if you'll do that as
You are in union with Jesus Christ empowered and enabled by Jesus Christ
You will experience the peace of God
Which passes all understanding if you've had a habit of worrying it may not happen in a week
It may not happen in two weeks
It may not happen in three weeks
But I have seen people dramatically change as they've taken God's Word seriously and by the power of the Holy Spirit
Implemented in in their life may God help us then to hear his word and experience that peace which is the portion of the child