Ask God for help. (Prayer) Philippians 4:6
Staying calm in the chaos means we must begin with worship.
The 2nd step is just as critical: Taking our cares and worries to God.
Taking our cares and worries to God
1. Pray constantly “Don’t worry about anything but pray about everything.” (CEV)
2. Pray persistently “through prayer and petition”
3. Pray expectantly “with thanksgiving”
Intro (Russ) Last week we began this series called CALM. Turn to Philippians 4:6 if you will. With all the anxiety and worry and depression and angst going on in our world and in our own lives, we have to find the path to the calm and peace that God desires for us. You can change jobs, but that won’t fix the problem. You can change spouses, but that won’t fix the problem. You can medicate yourself with weed or alcohol or other drugs, but that won’t fix the problem. In most cases, these actions only make the situation worse. Everyone experiences fear, anxiety, and worry—it’s what you do about them that counts.
Last week, we started this journey toward calm and peace at square one. We looked at Phil. 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!” Rejoice in who? The Lord!! Staying calm in the chaos means we must begin with worship. When we focus on Him, His attributes of goodness and sovereignty and love and power: the things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
I used to run track. Have you ever run the hurdles? Here is what I learned about running hurdles: if you look at the hurdle, you’ll end up in the hurdle, under the hurdle, mangled by the hurdle. You have to look ahead if you want to run successfully. Remember last year we studies Hebrews 12:2 “Keep your eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.”
Rejoicing in the Lord in the chaos, keeping our eyes on Him in the midst of the chaos of life is the first and most important step on this journey toward peace and calm.
The 2nd step is just as critical: (build) Taking our cares and worries to God.
Our text for the day is Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Right off the top, God says “Don’t worry.” Argh! Don’t worry—who’s He kidding? But as I’ve said this before: this is a big deal to God. In fact, the most often repeated phrase in the Bible is “Don’t be afraid.” He kept telling the Old Testament saints as they faced challenges and captivity and enemies “Don’t be afraid!” When Jesus came He continued the refrain and put it this way in Matthew 6:25-34. “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God,o and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Over and over we read, “Don’t be afraid. Stop worrying.” Here in Philippians God says, “Don’t worry about ANYTHING” Yeow!!! But wouldn’t that be awesome!!! A life, an inner tranquility that cut right through the waves of anxiety and fear and filled us with a gladness of heart and peace of soul?
Absolutely! How? Taking our cares and worries to God
Phil 4:6 NLT
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.
1. Pray constantly “Don’t worry about anything but pray about everything.” (CEV)
Origin of the word worry is “strangle” “to seize by the throat and tear” - isn’t that what worry does? Think about how you feel when you’re worried – anxious, fearful…. worry “strangles” gladness of heart and peace of soul.
When our loved ones, parents think about your children- if they have problems, do we tell them, “Please keep worrying and fretting about that – let it strangle you and rob you of joy?” Of course not! If we are able to help them in any way we do – with tangible help and in words of comfort and encouragement.
So how much more does our loving Father, the God of the universe, who knows everything and can do anything, want us to tell Him our concerns and ask for Him for His help!
1 Peter 5:7 “cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us.”
Cast – get the picture of a fisherman throwing out his line – forcibly in a specified direction.
If we’ll do this with our cares and concerns –cast them on Jesus and trust that He has our best interest at heart, and that He’s working out His plan for His glory and our good, we will begin to pray more and worry less.
Cast all - there’s nothing too small to take to Him and nothing too big – after all, what’s big to God?
So pray about everything, cast all…that’s pretty constant praying! Praying is communicating with God – talking to Him and listening for His answers because we trust He hears us -Ps. 116:1,2 “I love the Lord because He hears my voice. Because He bends down to listen I will pray as long as I have breath.”
And it’s so important to be in His word – (hand illustration?) in order to hear from Him -
Hawaii story …newlywed game
What you may not know, or remember about Ohana Church, is that many of their people are former convicts – for some pretty serious things! They recognize that they are now in Christ and in order to hear from Him, they need to make sure they’re abiding in Him through His word! They’ve been on the other side – as we all were before Christ – and they don’t want to go back!
So pray – communicate with God- constantly – don’t worry about anything, pray about everything.
2. Pray persistently “through prayer and petition”
Stuff from Pathways on prayer
Jesus “ask and keep on asking” Luke 11:5-18
Matt 7:11 says, “If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.”
3. Pray expectantly “with thanksgiving”
Thanksgiving
Remember Phil 4:6 says to “present our requests to God with thanksgiving.”
I Thess 5:18 “be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for us.”
Why? Why would it be God’s will for us to be thankful?
Heb. 11:6 offers a little insight – it says, “ Without faith it’s impossible to please God for those who come to God must believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him.”
This is a great statement of faith: Faith is acting as if something is so even when it is not, so that it will be so.
If we are thankful for whatever place we find ourselves in and the things we’ve already been given, it means our focus is on God and our faith is in Him and what He’s doing in our lives.
Studies have shown – even secular studies- that those who have an “attitude of gratitude” are more likely to be happier and healthier.
When we are thankful, even in tough times – and we all know this world is a tough place sometimes – Jesus told us in John 16:33 “in this world you will have tribulation”
but if we will begin to find things to be thankful for – look for them and write them down – keep a list – we will begin to see that even if our circumstances don’t necessarily change, our attitude and outlook will.
A game changer for me was when I heard someone say, “You get to choose what you think about.” We can either choose to focus on all the things we don’t have – or we can be thankful to God for what we do have and expectant about what’s to come!
Barbara Johnson – (a little of her story) – but she was able to get to the place through all of this that she could be thankful and trust that God was in control. She said, “Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.” One of her books is entitled, Splashes of Joy in the Cesspools of Life.
Remember Phil 4:6 that tells us to “not worry about anything but pray about everything – to tell God what we need and thank Him for all He has done”
and the very next verse says,
Phil 4:7, “And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
A heart and mind at peace – who doesn’t want that?
Trust in the one who holds tomorrow (Matt. 6:34), wait expectantly for His answers, and be thankful in all things – for this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus!
Russ close
One Thing (application): Get them to start a prayer journal. Keep praying through the attributes of God.
