Title: “God’s Remedy for our Anxiety” Scripture: Phil. 4:6-7
Type: Expos/Series Where: GNBC 28, 2021
Intro: What is “anxiety”? Anxiety is a reaction to concerns we feel. Often our anxieties are focused on necessities we feel that we are lacking.This may be food, clothing, shelter, etc. (Mt. 6:25). Possibly we feel uncertain about the future (Mt. 6:34). At its root, anxiety is the stress we feel when we are not in control or are in control but incompetent to handle the assigned task. How do people deal with anxiety – medication, self-medicate, breathing exercises, exercise, yoga, etc. Friends, God has given us a sure-fire remedy that might surprise you. It is something that every believer has access to: Prayer! Illust: An elderly Grandma was about to go on first flight to see dying sister on the coast. She was quite anxious about the idea of flying. After visit, family met her at the airport. One of the family members kidded her by asking, “Well, did the plane hold you up okay?” She grudgingly replied, “Well, yes,” and then quickly added, “But I never did put my full weight down on it!” A lot of people live life like that grandma. Never fully trusting. Never confident. Always anxious. (Adapted from Steven Cole, Lesson 24.)
Prop: In Phil. 4:6-7 we’ll see God’s solution to one of life’s most perplexing problems.
BG: 1. Prayer is irreducibly relational. Conversation with God.
2. Prayer is an untapped resource by many Christians today.
Prop: Let’s look at Phil. 4:6-7 to see God’s solution to one of life’s most perplexing problems.
I. The Perplexing Problem: Anxiety. V. 6
A. Anxiety is one of man’s most perplexing problems.
1. What is “Anxiety”?
a. Anxiety is an emotional reaction to the concerns we feel. At its root, anxiety is the stress we feel when we are not in control in a given situation. The Greek word, “mariminate” meant to be drawn in two different directions or to be divided into two parts. We can relate to that definition, can’t we? Anxiety pulls us in different directions. At its most basic level it pulls us from our trust in God in any given situation.
b. Illust: The Anxiety and Depression Assoc. of America states that 1/3 of all US citizens suffered from anxiety or depression during the Pandemic. (Flowers/Wan 5-26-20, Washington Post). 1/4th of all MS and HS students in America suffer from some level of anxiety disorders. There are a whole host of physical problems that may be linked to Anxiety: Eating disorders, headaches, IBS, sleep disorders, substance abuse, Fibromyalgia, chronic pain, etc.
2. What is our reaction to Anxiety?
a. Few of us are strangers to anxiety. It creeps in over big and little things, gnawing away at our insides. Someone graphically described anxiety as “a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained” (Arthur Roche, Reader’s Digest [6/88], p. 64). Words like “stressing”, “panic attack”, and others are commonplace in our speech. We often have feelings of anxiety over finances: money to pay rent/mortgage, school loan, tuition, will my business grow. retirement (Isn’t that funny! We spend decades worrying if we will have enough money to retire and never know for sure will make it to retirement!). Worry about our health – heart disease, will I get cancer, Alzheimers… Worry about our kids: When they are young…will they be healthy, how will they do in school, will they have friends, will they get a job, marry, get into a “good college”, will they have children, what will the world be like for their children???? Ad infinitum! Truthfully, you are probably becoming a little anxious as I talk!
b. The first step to becoming free of anxiety is to give your life to Jesus Christ. Once you’ve taken this step, the next is to practice fixing your thoughts on Christ and his promises. (John 14:2-3). In the battlefield of our minds, we are to practice awareness of our thoughts and take them captive. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:8-9, ESV)
B. God’s Assessment: Anxiety is a Problem God wants the Believer to “put off”.
1. Look at the passage: God doesn’t want us to be anxious about anything.
a. “be anxious for nothing”- The theme of the Philippian letter is “joy”. Paul doesn’t want the Christian to lose his/her witness in a watching world. If a non-Christian sees you and me weighed down with concerns and worries, will not be attracted to want what we have if we are more anxious, saying we know Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, saying that He is able to provide, than they, who are outside of Christ. It’s a bad testimony.
b. Anxiety is a sinful response to a given situation and God wants us to “put it off”. Illust: One of the principles of Christian growth is called the “put off and put on” principle (see Eph. 4:22–24). Behind the principle lies the fact that there are always sinful attitudes and actions we need to put off, and there are always positive traits of righteousness we need to put on more firmly. Jesus uses this principle in Matthew 6, where the words “do not” or equivalent expressions occur ten times. With this expression, He is, of course, emphasizing the “put off.” But He doesn’t just leave us with the “do nots.” He also addresses the proper attitudes and actions to put on. The chapter begins with the word of warning: “Beware.” Anytime we see that word, we know there is danger ahead. And Jesus is telling us there is spiritual danger in the practices He warns against.
2. We must recognize that our Anxiety is often a lack of trust in God’s ability to Provide.
a. Illust: “We are to put off the tendency to store treasure on earth and instead are to put on storing treasure in heaven through our generous giving. Jesus does not condemn ordinary prudence. He does condemn the ambition to accumulate wealth for wealth’s sake. Today, for the vast majority of Americans, our problem is not undue accumulation of wealth but undue spending on things we do not need. According to studies of America’s giving patterns, most professing Christians give about 4% of their incomes. We are not storing up treasure in heaven; we’re spending it on ourselves.” (Jerry Brides, “Put Off and Put On”, Ligonier.) Most of us don’t have the money to pay for when comes in so ads even more anxiety.
b. Read Mt. 6:25-34 (30&33). Jesus made I very clear that my anxiety stems from a lack of faith in God’s ability to provide. Anxiety is essentially saying that God is not capable of providing for me or worse, doesn’t care about me. That is simply not true, dear one. Illust: Haven’t told this story in about 10 yrs. Shadrack Rhuto was a Kenyan friend of mine back in seminary. Seminary would not allow students to go into more than $$ of debt. If you surpassed that amount, had to withdraw. Due to Visa status, Shadrack not allowed to work. Totally dependent upon God to provide. 1 month before deadline Shadrack told me: Pray for this. “Are you worried?” “No, my God will provide.” Would then do to his campus PO box and thank God for the money was to receive. This went on for days. Two days before deadline I saw him. Bright and joyful. How much money has come in? None. But I am thanking God anyway! Next day, as was custom, Shadrack went to PO box, and there, that day, were 2 envelopes. 1st contained few $100. Grateful but not enough. Opened the 2nd, nearly $2k, and combined they met the exact need!
C. Applic: Anxiety is a perplexing problem everyone struggles with from time to time.
II. The Positive Prescription: Prayer
A. God’s Prescription for the Perplexing Problem of Anxiety: Prayer.
1. God’s Prescription for Overcoming Anxiety is Prayer.
a. When we pray our anxiety is resolved by our verbalized trust in God. IN times of anxiety, it is easiest to retreat to a corner of complaining to ourselves. However, when we bring the matter to God we find release. The Christian’s gaze is to always be upward.
b. What is Christian prayer? *Prayer-the word used hers is a general word for prayer, always used with reference to God, with reverence. When Paul says to make our requests known “to God,” the Greek word means “face to face with God,” to come directly before Him. Therefore, when we pray we need to remember that we are coming before a holy God, where even the holy angels cover their faces and cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:3). Yet, unlike anything the angels will ever know, He welcomes you and me to come to Him, because He is our Heavenly Father. Through our High Priest, the Lord Jesus, God invites us to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).
2. As followers of Jesus Christ we are to put off anxiety and put on dependence on God’s care.
a. If God feeds the birds and clothes the lilies, shall He not much more clothe and feed His children? We are to seek His kingdom and His righteousness and trust His promise to provide for our needs. Easier said than done! We actually have no other option if we are to avoid anxiety. This attitude of seeking first God’s interests should even be reflected in our prayers, as Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13). So, let’s seek to put off our preoccupation with our temporal needs and put on a preoccupation with God’s glory and God’s will. We do this by praying to a loving Heavenly Father.
b. Illust: By the end of the War, Abraham Lincoln was the most powerful man in America. He who could move armies, proclaim laws, and liberate whole peoples; he could throw into jail, without trial, any citizen, or release any prisoner, without excuse. Yet, he had undaunted affection for his partially disabled son, Tad. At 12yrs. Tad was a wild, illiterate, badly lisping, warmly loving hellion - which seemed to please his father no end. "Let him run," Lincoln would say; even if the running took place during a White House Reception, or interrupting cabinet meetings. Once the boy hitched 2 goats to a dining room chair and rode it through a state dinner reception to the approval of his father. When Lincoln died, one person said of the President, there was never a kinder or more loving father in the entire world.” Actually there was and is: God. He is the Master of the Universe with unlimited power…and yet He loves His children and listens to their prayers whenever we call upon Him.
B. How Do We Come to God in Prayer?
1. We come to God in Prayer through Jesus Christ alone.
a. Praise the Lord, the believer in Christ can come directly to God in prayer. Christ is our mediator, our High Priest (Hebrews 7&8). The Holy Spirit who dwells in every believer prompts and moves us as we pray, interceding for us. We saw that in Roman 8. Thus prayer is a personal drawing near to the Triune God. We should never pray to Mary or any of the “saints.” We do not need to go through any human priest. As believers, we all are priests (I Pet. 2:5, Rev. 1:6) before God, able to draw near Him in prayer.
b. What does this word “supplications” mean? This word gives prominence to the sense of need and also looks at specific requests. Sometimes people ask, “Why pray, since God already knows what we need?” John Calvin has some of the most profound and practical words on prayer that I have ever read (Institutes of the Christian Religion III:XX). He points out that whatever we need and lack is to be found “in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom the Father willed all the fullness of his bounty to abide” (III:XX:1). It is through prayer “that we reach those riches which are laid up for us with the Heavenly Father”. Prayer is not so much for God’s sake as for ours. It shows us our total need for God Himself, and not just for certain temporal benefits. It casts us in dependence on Him, so that we will “seek, love, and serve Him, while we become accustomed in every need to flee to Him as to a sacred anchor.” This means that our supplications must be in line with God’s will and purpose.
2. When we come to God in Prayer we come with Thankfulness.
a. “Thankfulness” is an attitude that needs to be practiced and reminded, especially in times of anxiety! In times of anxiety being thankful/grateful to God takes faith! Yet thanksgiving causes us to reflect upon 3 truths.
b. “What are those 3 truths? 1. God has been faithful in the past. – Thanksgiving reminds us of how God has met our needs in the past. 2. We must submit to God’s sovereignty in the present. God is in charge and He has a plan for our lives. Are we submissive to His plan for our lives even if it is not what you or I would want? 3. We can trust in God’s sufficiency for the future. A thankful heart rests upon the all-sufficient God, knowing that even though we don’t see how He is going to do it, He will meet our every need as we cast ourselves on Him.” (Steven Cole, Lesson 24, Bible.org) Illust:
C. Applic: Are you and I taking our anxieties to God in prayer?
III. The Pleasant Product: Peace
A. The Pleasant Product produced by Following God’s Positive Prescription: Peace!
1. Exchange the Foolishness of Anxiety for the Peace of Trust in God.
a. What is the promised product of prayer: Peace! It is not some behavior modification resultant from coping mechanisms, it’s not repeating a mantra, its not medication,. How do I know? Because Jesus Said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (Jn. 14:27)
b. Why is anxiety foolish? It is foolish because it is futile in view of the Father’s loving care and knowledge of our needs (cf. 6:25, 26, 27, 28, 30). He teaches us such worry is the product of being people of “little faith.” Worry is the product of failing to reflect on the fatherly care God must have for us as His people since He shows such wonderful care for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Finally, He shows that due to God’s loving care and the temporary and evil nature of this world, our greatest priority and concern must be the spiritual (6:33-34).
2. Do you need Peace in your life today?
a. “Peace” is illusive in the world of fallen man. Whether it be nations, ethnic groups, classism, families, or even the individual. Everyone wants peace, but so few experience it. Illust: Rockefeller seeing a bum eating from a can of beans. Illust: A woman told her friend: “My therapist told me that the key to finding peace in my life is to finish what I start. So far I have finished two bags of cookies and a chocolate cake, and I am feeling great!” (Pinterest). Actually, gluttony is not the solution to finding peace.
b. A Person is the solution to finding peace. Romans 5:1 declares: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” Friend, you may not even know this, but the reason you have so much turmoil in life and relationships is because you were created to know God and have relationship with Him. That ONLY takes place through Jesus, His Son.
B. God’s Desire is that We would have Peace in Christ.
1. This peace has a purpose. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v.7). What does this mean? The word guard was a military term that described a Roman soldier holding his weapon, walking back and forth in front of an open gate so that no one could enter. Paul is saying that this is how God will guard your hearts and give you His peace. Our Father is a Father who delights to give good gifts to His children. He’ll guard your heart against whatever is troubling it. He’ll not allow any menacing worry to enter. This verse commands us to ask for anything and guarantees an answer. God promises to give us His peace. This means that if we don’t get what we asked for, we’ve got something better—satisfaction.
2. Illust: This peace can be known by a person. When daughter Katherine was a Sr. in HS there was a Chinese exchange student that was living with Steve and Jan Buckman. Sadly, during the year, Steve had a massive heart attack and died. Was on life support a couple of days. PuSu, the Chinese student watched this experience with grief and awe. After Steve died, PuSu placed her faith in Christ because she said she had never seen the peace Jan and the family experienced in the midst of life’s greatest trial. She said that in China people yell and curse at doctors and nurses and blame one another. She had never seen this type of peace before and wanted it.
3. Applic: “Paul is talking here about a peace that comes from the God who is never subject to anxiety because He is the sovereign, omnipotent Creator and Lord of the universe. Nothing takes Him by surprise or makes Him bite His nails, wondering how it will turn out. This is the peace that Jesus promised, “not as the world gives.” It is humanly not explainable. But, praise God, it is real, and every child of God has known it and has known that it comes from God alone…” (Cole, Lesson 24, ibid)
