Unchained – Anxious? Who’s Anxious – Sermon – Pastor Marlee Page

We are instructed to be anxious for nothing. Or another way of phrasing this according to the text is to not be troubled with cares.

When we are born into God’s kingdom, we have the assurance that God cares for our needs and God has a plan for us.

The Bible says that God fashioned the days for me before I was born. When we surrender to Christ, that surrender includes giving God the controls of our lives and letting Him lead us into the life He has fashioned for us.

The only way to be free from our anxieties is to rest confidently in His plan and submit to His will.

Anxieties will not just disappear when we commit to trusting God.

We must know His word and apply His word to our life.

To be anxious for nothing, we must see God’s goodness, present our cares before the throne of grace and leave them in God’s hands.

There’s the command and don’t our heads understand this completely?

But, what about our hearts and our inner being?

This passage is one that is near and dear to my heart because this is something I struggle deeply with!  I know what He says, I believe what He says BUT I struggle to put this into action all the time.

Lets begin by looking at what it means to let our requests be known through prayer, supplication and thanksgiving.

Prayer. I’m going to be blunt with you – most of us do not do this enough-including me!  We need to talk to God more. Prayer is talking to God. If there is one thing the devil wants you to be slack on, it is prayer.

Everything must be done through prayer. If prayer is neglected, your spiritual life will be weak and what you are trying to do for God will be weak. Look at Matthew 6:5-7

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Jesus instructs us to pray from the heart but also warns us about two errors people can fall into.  God doesn’t honour prayers done to show off our spirituality with fancy, deeply theological words & long-winded speeches.  He also doesn’t honour vain repetitions.

This is not to be mistaken with persistence. Persistent prayers are commended in the Bible.

Vain repetitions were pagan practices. They believed that the power was in the words and they would repeat specific ‘prayers’ or chant mantras. We see some of the same errors today. Contemporary Culture and even some evangelical denominations influenced by this line of thinking believe that power is in words. They believe that positive words invoke good power and negative words invoke evil power.  Words have no power.  The power is in God not in the Words.

God honours prayer that comes from the heart and not prayer or other actions that are done to show off our spirituality.

A common question people ask comes from verse 8.

“If God knows what I need before I ask, why do I need to pray at all?”

Today is Pentecost Sunday. It’s been 50 days since Christ was resurrected and another 10 days since He ascended back to heaven.  I can only imagine how the Apostles were feeling.  And even with all they had seen, we know that their predisposition naturally went to being anxious and questioning everything. I imagine them sitting together those thousands of years ago fretting, still confused about what they are supposed to do and looking for one of them to lead them. I can almost hear them saying, “Peter, you are the Rock- What are we supposed to do?  John, you were the one He loved, What next?”  I believe and hope their response was “Let’s Pray!” 

And that’s when it happened!

Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force – no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

— Acts 2:2-4 MSG

They had been told things but weren’t sure what they all meant. They had a legitimate question and they went to God in prayer!

So when we ask “If God knows what I need before I ask, why do I need to pray at all?” It’s a legitimate question and if you’re asking that, here’s our answer – and it’s not complicated. We are to pray because we are commanded to pray – That’s it! God does not need our prayers. He knows tomorrow and with it every step of our life. God even knows where our decisions will take us even when we choose to disobey and neglect His plan.

Prayer does not reveal our needs to God, but prayer conditions our heart for God to reveal Himself to us. Put another way, prayer teaches us to look to God. If I could go through life and never have to pray, I would take God for granted. In time, I would never think of God at all. Prayer is for my benefit. When I pray, it should remind me to stop and examine my life and my direction.

I can’t pray to ask God to bless what I am doing. I should be asking God to lead me to where He is blessing. – Did you hear that?  We should be asking God to lead us to where He is blessing.

I also think that He wants and encourages us to include Him.  He knows all but just like us, don’t we like when people ask us things and include us in their lives?  God is no different!  He wants us to include Him of our own freewill.

Prayer is also the time we spend with God. Prayer is a very important way in which God speaks to each of us. No relationship can grow without communication. God must be the centre of our life in order for us to live abundantly as Jesus promised. There are many people who live in material abundance and are destitute spiritually. You can’t experience the abundance of the Christian life without an intimate walk with Christ. Without prayer, you can’t walk close to Him.

Then there’s this strange word petition or in some of your translations it may say supplication. Petition or Supplication means that we seek God and bring our cares and needs before Him.

Hebrews 4:16 says,

“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”(NASB).

Pay attention here – What the writer of Hebrews is saying is that we can confidently come before God’s throne and freely receive His mercy and forgiveness and then we can seek His grace for our needs.

Psalm 55:22 clarifies this even more by telling us to cast our burdens upon the Lord and He will sustain us. When we trust Him with our need, He will not allow us to be shaken. That is a great promise.

However, the problem most people have is that they are unwilling to cast their burdens on God. They want to first see how God is going to handle the problem or they are not sure if He is able handle it, so they hold on thinking that they can do a better job than God can. Or some simply and willingly give it over to Him and then just as quickly snatch it back!  And this can happen many times before we finally release it from our grasp.

To cast means literally to hurl it away from you. You can’t hold on if you throw it into God’s trust. If you pray and then pick it back up, you haven’t cast you burden on the Lord. God may test you to see if you really trust Him, but it is a promise that He will not allow you to be moved, or shaken.

One thing we must realize is that when we are commanded to bring our petitions and requests before God. This should lead us to examine our motives. In James 4 we are told that we do not have because we do not ask. If we ask and do not receive, it is because we are seeking to fulfill our wants and not God’s will. When we ask, we should be reminded to look at our life and see how this fits into God’s plan. Am I asking for something that is going to fulfill God’s purpose or is this a self-centred request? It is God’s commands that lead us to His blessings. If you want to be blessed, seek out God’s commands. Seek God’s purpose and fulfill it and God will bless you. God eagerly wants to pour His blessings out on you, but we must first be faithful.

When you seek the blessing first, you are not seeking God.

Look at 1 John 3:22,

“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

If you are seeking to do the things that please God, you will ask with the right motives.

Petition is also praying for others. Throughout scripture we are told to pray for others. Pray for their sickness; pray for their salvation; pray for their needs. We are told to pray for those in authority and in leadership. I often wonder If we spent as much time praying for our our elected leaders as we do criticizing them, if we wouldn’t see God moving there.  We are commanded to pray for our spiritual leaders and those who labor with us in God’s purpose.

Dave and I need your prayers – everyday!!

The leadership team and leaders in our ministry’s need your prayers – everyday!!

The leadership in our denominational family – CBOQ, CBWOQ, CBM – they all need our prayers – everyday!

And finally, petition is also praying for God to move.  We pray for God to begin a revival.  We pray for God to open the doors that we cannot open.

Petition is praying and seeking the things that God calls us to accomplish in and through Him. God may command us to run the race and to fulfill His call, but that does not mean that there will not be opposition. Often times, when God calls you to His purpose, He will also lead you to a closed door.

Have you ever found that??Yes, God can move a mountain and open any door, but it is yours and my responsibility to pray for God to move. So when God calls us to act upon His will, He also calls us to pray for Him to fight for the cause that He has put before us and then we trust in His power to do it.  God wants us to see His promises and claim them in prayer.  

Now, Paul says do this with thanksgiving. God blesses a thankful heart. This is not always easy but when you give thanks, you put your focus on things worthy of thanks. Through thanksgiving you begin to see how God is working in your life. An unthankful heart will be unthankful even if they abound with blessings. A thankful heart gives glory to God. God is not glorified in a believer who complains and sees only the negative things in life.

1 Timothy 6 tells us that to be godly and content with what God has given us is great gain.  God didn’t promise us riches, God did promise us satisfaction and fulfillment.  Until we are content with what God provides, we will not see the greater things in this life.

Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:18,

“in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

In everything give thanks. The only way we can be thankful in everything is to first learn how to offer prayer and petition.

When I can leave my problems at God’s throne, I can trust in His promise that all things work for my good. Even when I don’t understand that…Praise and thanksgiving is the best sacrifice we can offer to God.

Look at Hebrews 13:15-16

Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

This is God’s desires from us. That’s because he knows that being thankful shapes our heart and our thinking so that we can look at the deeper things of God. When we are lost in our self-worries, we can’t see anything other than our problems.  When I am thankful, I am freed from my burdens and I can seek God.  Thanksgiving leads me into a deeper relationship with God.

It’s easy for me to stand here today and tell you simply, Don’t worry – “do not be anxious about anything.”

But think about this, Paul himself wasn’t lounging under a palm on the Isle of Capri sipping a cool drink, dictating, “Don’t worry, be happy!” Paul’s not hovering at some altitude far above the day-to-day trials of these people. Paul’s whole existence was on the bubble; danger was everywhere. Few things were going right for him, humanly speaking. So, understand that the apostle’s command came with feeling.

In fact, he literally declared, “stop worrying about anything!” – which assumes that the Philippians were anxiously wringing their hands. Indeed, as residents of Philippi they had more things to worry about than we do – poverty, hunger, ostracism, interlopers, agents provocateurs, heretics, and a very Roman “city hall.” Nevertheless, Paul’s absolute prohibition of worry stood and comes down to us with full force.

But allow me to finish this message with the the gentleness and compassion of our Lord.

You see, Paul’s command is an echo of Jesus’ teaching to his disciples in Matthew 6:25–34. There Jesus identified worry as simply pagan (v. 32) and asked his hearers to consider the birds of the air as examples of God’s provision, then asked, “Are you not of more value than they?” (v. 26). Here it may be helpful to imagine how the birds consider us.

Imagine the robin saying to the sparrow:

“I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so.”

The sparrow replies to the robin:

“Friend, I think that it must be that they have no heavenly Father, like the one who cares for you and me.”

Three times Jesus forbade worry:

• “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious [worry] about your life” (v. 25) 
• “So do not be anxious [worry]” (v. 31)
• “Therefore do not be anxious [worry] about tomorrow” (v. 34).

And Paul cuts to the chase, “Stop worrying about anything!”

Recall a few weeks ago we talked about Peace! The force of Paul’s command produces a truly awesome result: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v. 7). The blessing here is nothing short of incredible. It also includes “the peace of God.”

This is the peace that God himself possesses, “the serenity in which he lives,” so to speak. In this sense it is the same as the peace that Christ embodies and gives:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid”

— John 14:27  

This peace transcends all rationality, passes all understanding.

Moreover, God’s own peace that transcends thought and imagination “will guard [garrison] your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

This is an apt metaphor because the Philippians daily saw the Roman garrison and their gleaming military hardware, just as we view today’s peacekeeping forces on televised world news. The “hearts and … minds” (the whole inner person) of those in union with Christ are garrisoned by the personal, indescribable peace of God.  There is no more powerful peace! And note that this peace is given irrespective of whether the specific requests are granted or not. God’s peace will mightily flood over those who with thanksgiving make their requests known to God.

The commitment to obey the command to rejoice back in vs. 4 – to obey the command to be gentle to everyone in vs. 5 – to obey the command to not worry about anything – to obey the command to pray with thanksgiving and thus receive the marvelous peace of God – these commitments elevate the unity and life of the church for sure but incredibly they also build an inviting port in the storm of life for a world that needs Jesus.

So how does this look?

Prayer: “God, I don’t want to be anxious about this. I come to you.”  

Petition: “I need your help.”  

Requests: “Here are the specific issues to help me sort through this.”  

With thanksgiving: “I’m grateful that you know things I don’t know and that I can trust you to do good.”

Are you anxious, are you worried, are you lacking peace? Then talk to the Lord about it.  Lay the matter out before him, ask for what you need and thank Him for who He is.  And you will find that God’s unexplainable peace will simply overwhelm you and penetrate deep within.

Let’s pray.