BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING

Phil 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Some of us are world champion worriers. We have been taught by experts. We had mothers, fathers, aunts, brothers or sisters who were always worrying, fretting about something. And so we learned how to worry. You notice that most kids under five don’t worry. They sleep well. They don’t have a care in the world. But they get to the age of knowledge and they can learn to worry. Some of us are worrying and don’t even know that we are worrying. We say “No brother I’m just thinking about my future”
So let’s take a closer look at this scripture today and see what the way to peace is.

I. DO NOT BE ANXIOUS
The first The first part of the scripture says do not be anxious. First of all, we can choose not to be anxious. How do I know that? Because according to our scripture, it is a command. If God commands us, it's because He has enabled us to obey Him. Don't be anxious.
Now some might say: But Pastor I don’t have that kind of faith. But Pastor I can’t do that. Yes you can. Remember we said that everything that the Bible says you can do, you can do. And the Bible would not command it if it wasn’t possible for you to do. So the first thing we must do is take responsibility for our worrying.

Matt 6:25-27 "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? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Now Jesus is saying do not worry. Why? Because worry does absolutely nothing for you. It can’t add a single hour to your life. In fact it can take time from your life. You see worry is a device of the enemy. He is the thief and the robber.

What we fail to understand is that worry can actually tie God’s hands in bringing forth the answer you are desiring. Because worry is a cousin of doubt and unbelief. And James says the man who doubts should not expect to receive anything from God. Sometimes worry and anxiety can actually keep you from receiving from God.

But Pastor Dan, I have to think about the future. I have to plan don’t I?” Of course you do. Don’t misunderstand. It is good to plan and to give consideration to your ways. What I am saying is that we should not cross the line from planning into worrying about it.

And it can be a fine line. You see I have done that. I remember planning with Sheila. We were discussing the future and planning and then we got to the point where Sheila said "you just spoke for the devil." I said "what do you mean?" And we realized that at this point we were being counter productive. What we called planning had degenerated into simply worrying. Now you can dress it up any way you want: "Yes we are discussing the various subtle implications of the choices available vis a vis the issue at hand.” OK. You mean you are worrying. C'mon folks . We got to get real. May the Lord give us sensitivity to these things. We began to thank God for the answers to all of our prayers. And we turned our meeting right around.

We gotta say NO to anxiety. Because greater is He that is in you than is in the world. Above all people we have hope. We have a risen Savior. God made you to be a person of quiet trust. Not a person of anxiety. You see we have to believe that God is in control. He wants you to have victory in your life. He wants you to have life and that abundantly. He has made you a new creation. He has made you a temple of the Holy Spirit . He has given to each a measure of faith. Oh the joy that belongs to those who trust in Him. We already have so much to be thankful for.

II. IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER
Our scripture says in everything by prayer. But some of us want to give only the big things. “These little things I can handle” Some of us are the opposite--we want to give only the small things and handle the rest on our own. "Don’t want to lay that on God you know, I’ll take it from here." But God said In everything we should pray.

I tell you. If you begin to get a hold of the promises of God. And start talking about how great our God is, anxiety will never be able to find a foothold in your life. He is Jehovah Jireh. The God that owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The silver is mine. The gold is mine says the Lord. The heart of the King is in God's hand. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Surely I am with you to the end of the age. You are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. Anxiety. . don't even try it.
Lets look at 1 Peter 5:7: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Who does the casting here? We do. God is not going to take your cares away from you. God says for US to do the casting.

Some people ask for Prayer they say “pray that God lightens my load”. Or they might say “Pray that God gives me the grace to carry all these burdens”. But both of those are unscriptural prayers. You see God is not going to take the load of cares off your back. You must cast them off.
I’ll say that again. God is not going to take those cares off your back. You have to cast them on Him. This is something that we must learn to do.

On the other end. God is not going to give you the grace to carry something that he doesn’t want you to carry. If you are burdened with the worries of finances. God doesn't say he will give you grace so you can take on more worries. That doesn't make sense. No He wants you to cast it on him

God does not want any of his children to be full of worry and anxiety. Weighed down with the cares of life, worry, anxiety or concerns.

God says He will do something about your cares and worries only after you give them to him
Sometimes people come up for prayer . They have prayed and immediately instead of receiving the peace of God. They are on to the next worry. My friends, I am here to tell you that praying like this is not doing anybody any good. And it is not resolving the problem.
You see only one person can have your problem. Either God has it or you have it. If you have it, guess what?-- God doesn’t have it .

III. WITH THANKSGIVING
Here is a key part of our verse..." by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving" Thanksgiving is an important weapon with dealing with anxiety. You see here is the struggle for many of us. We cast our cares on the Lord, but then we can either thank him for the answer or we can pick it up again. Your thanksgiving is evidence that you've really cast it on God. --and you are keeping it there.

Some people don’t pray with thanksgiving. They don’t close their prayers by giving thanks. They close their prayers by sighing. Or by moaning. Or they jump to the next topic. You are already undermining the prayers that you just prayed when you do that! We need to give thanks to God before the answer is materialized.
Thanksgiving builds faith. Anxiety destroys faith.

IV. THE PEACE OF GOD THAT TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING.
Here we have a wonderful promise of Peace. You see in order to get the peace of God we can’t just receive it . We have to do what the word says. If you do what verse 6 says to do you will receive what verse 7 promises!

Now notice that the peace is beyond all understanding. That means it is a spiritual thing.
This is the kind of peace that bypasses your mind. It bypasses your mind and rests in your spirit.

If we do the above things. We refuse to worry. We cast our cares and pray about everything. And give thanks. Then we will have the peace that transcends understanding.
Yes we go through things. Yes times might be difficult. But keep your mind on God. Trust in God. Refuse to worry! Don’t take on the burdens of the world .Of all people Christians should be the most joyous!!! Don’t let worry rob you of your answer!

Isa 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

Blessings!