Abundant Peace

Abundant Peace

Philippians 4:4-8

“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

We all have times in our lives which cause us to worry, but it’s not God’s will for our lives?

God wants our lives to be peaceful and absent of worry.

Paul writes of being joyful in verse 4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

Is peace truly possible?

With everything that goes on in our lives, is it really possible to be joyful continuously?

Can we have true peace even in the midst of the storms in our lives?

Some people never truly enjoy life, but seem to just endure it...They seem to never have peace and joy.

Let’s talk a little bit about worry. In verse 6, Paul tells us not to worry. “Don’t worry about anything.”

Paul is telling us that worry should not ever be a part of our lives.

Worry dampens our joy and is a major source of stress in our lives.

Worry is useless: It will not change the past & it can’t control the future; All it does is ruin the present.

Worry takes lots of energy and it can cause nothing but a tremendous amount of stress on a person.

It seems all worry does is make the problem or issue get bigger and bigger.

Jesus taught about the needlessness of worry in His Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 6:26-34.

“26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Jesus is telling us to rely on God and take one day at a time...Worry has no place in our lives.

So how do we remove worry from our lives?

How can we live with a peace mind no matter what?

Paul gives us two simple practices to follow on a daily basis to rid ourselves of worry and in order to have abundant peace.

>First, Paul tells us to pray. Verses 6 & 7

“ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Paul is saying, “Quit worrying and start praying.”

He is telling us to ask God for what we need and thank Him for what He’s already done.

The two most overused excuses for not praying are:

1. “I don’t have time to pray.” The truth is, if you have time to worry, you have time to pray.

2. “I don’t know what to pray about?” Holy Scripture makes it very clear, “Pray about everything.”

Paul tells us to pray about everything...To tell God what we need and thank Him for what He's done in our lives.

When we follow these teachings, we can have abundant peace that goes beyond our understanding.