11.20.22 - Philippians 4:5-7

Open your Bibles to Philippians 4:5-7.  •I will be preaching from the second half of v5 through v7 this morning.  We’re finished with Mark’s Gospel. And we’re near the end of the year.  •So, for the rest of the year I kind of get to choose from week to week what I’ll be preaching on before we get into another series in January.  •And when I get these kinds of opportunities, I like to preach on topics or passages that I think are timely for our congregation, whether they be about Christian living, ethics, or doctrines with which I think we might be lacking clarity or precision.  •This morning, we will be considering something quite practical.  •Now, don’t misunderstand me, all theology and Scripture is practical. God gave His whole Word with purpose. BUT the practicality this morning will be quite easy for all to see and understand.  •I will be preaching to you about anxiety and how to be free from it.  Now why this topic? A couple of reasons: 1. Anxiety is such a temptation to fallen human beings, that there is hardly a time when a sermon like this would not be beneficial to many in any congregation.  2. But more specifically for us, I’ve noticed something when I interact with you all.  •As you know, I reach out to the membership of this church, privately through text or email, at least once a month. And I ask you for your prayer requests.  •And in almost all of them, there is a note of worry. There is a note of anxiety or despair or fear about something in your life.  •What’s more is that when I get to have good conversations with you, and our talks turn to the future in some regard, worry is often expressed in some way.  •More than that, a significant portion of my pastoral counseling revolves around fear, worry, and anxiety. (Those are somewhat interchangeable and synonymous.) Brothers and sisters, we worry.  •Many of you are full of anxiety. And, praise God, most of you are honest enough to admit it.  •Some of you would resonate with something RC Sproul once said: “I’m not happy unless I have something to worry about.” •But, my dear brothers and sisters, the Word of God commands us to NOT WORRY. God Himself instructs to not be anxious.  •And that means that our worrying is sin. It’s disobedience to God.  •Sitting around and allowing ourselves to fret about the future, worrying about our problems, having a perpetual pit in our stomachs, carrying around anxiety in our chest, all of that IS SIN.  •And it’s sin, as we’ll see later, because to do so is to be full of unbelief. Anxiety is the fruit of a lack of trust in our Heavenly Father.  •And so, brothers and sisters, we must wage war on our worry. We must attack our anxiety. And we must wield the weapons that our Lord gives us.  •We must look to the Word to be armed for the fight. And then we must wage the good warfare with what He gives us to fight with.  This morning I hope to be helpful to you. And to glorify God by reminding you how much He loves you and how trustworthy He is. •I hope to instruct you in what to do when you worry.  •This sermon will serve as something of a big, church wide, counseling session.  •And, for all those who will submit to the teaching of the Word of God, I want to go ahead and tell you what He promises to you: Peace.  •If you will obey and submit yourself to what God says in Philippians 4:5-7, He promises to give you peace in the midst of your trials.  •So may God have mercy on us this morning, grant us faith to believe and obey His Word, and give us peace.  Now, if you would, and are able, please stand with me for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.  Philippians 4:5-7 [5] The Lord is at hand;  [6] do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PRAY) Our Heavenly Father,  We come before you this morning acknowledging our need for instruction, wisdom, and faith.  Holy God, would you have mercy on us and help us? Speak to us this morning through your Word, grant us faith to believe you, and change us.  Help us to trust you, to cast our cares upon you, to believe that you will be God to us and help us, and to rest in your love given to us through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  By your Holy Spirit, work in us and sanctify us today as we humble ourselves before the Scriptures.  Glorify yourself in us.  We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake.  Amen.  1.)This text is full of hope and comfort. And I’m excited to share the truth of it with you this morning.  •But before we dive in, let me say something very important:  •This passage presupposes that those who read, hear, and obey it are CHRISTIANS.  •The final verse says that God will “guard your hearts and minds IN CHRIST JESUS.” •The peace promised here, the help promised here, the promise that God will hear your prayers, the Lord being near to you, all of that presupposes that you are in a right relationship to God through faith in Jesus.  Hear me: God only promises to hear the prayers of those who trust in Christ. He only promises to bend His ear to His People.  •He only promises to come to the aid of His People.  •He may listen to the prayers of unbelievers. But they have no promise of it. They have no certainty that He will bend His ear to listen to them.  •To be blessed by the Lord, to receive peace from Him, to receive help to get through life from Him, you must first be reconciled to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.  •For it is only through faith in Christ that you are adopted into His Family and made one of His children. And He dearly loves His children.  But we are not naturally His children.  •God is the Father of all men in the sense that He is our Creator. But He is not the Father of all men in the sense that they are His children by covenant and promise and affection and love.  •Ephesians 2 tells us that we are naturally children of WRATH. Children of God’s wrath. Alienated from God because of our sin and our sinful nature that we were born with.  •And we must be reconciled to God in order to be made His children.  •We are naturally His enemies. We are naturally hostile to Him and rebel against Him with everything we have.  •And peace must be made between us and God before we can rightfully be called His children.  And that peace comes ONLY through Jesus Christ.  •Only Jesus Christ can make sinners clean and acceptable to God.  •Only Jesus Christ can take away our sin and guilt.  •Only Jesus Christ can bring about the forgiveness of our sins.  •And He has done this by His Cross. He has taken the sins of all who would ever believe on Him and has paid for them in His suffering and death.  •He has absorbed the righteous wrath of God on behalf of all who will trust in Him.  •And He has purchased peace between God and men, by His blood. For those who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, no wrath remains for them.  •Why? Because Jesus Christ has suffered God’s wrath for their sin in their place at the Cross.  •And where there was hostility and enmity, the Lord Jesus has brought those who believe near to God. Jesus has made peace between God and men for those who believe.  •But apart from Christ, there is no salvation. Apart from Him, there is no peace with God. Apart from Him, there is no help to be found from God. There is only a fearful expectation of wrath and judgment.  So listen to me very closely:  •If you are still holding onto you own will, your own attempts to make yourself right with God, your stubbornness and refusal to repent; if you are still holding on to your life, your desires, your sin, and have not come to Christ in repentance and faith, then the promises of this passage ARE NOT YOURS.  •You will never have true peace in your life because you do not have peace with God through Jesus Christ.  •The blessing of God will never rest on you because you stand condemned under His wrath for your sin.  •And when you die, you will die as an enemy of God and be condemned to eternal damnation in Hell where there is no peace at all.  •As Isaiah tells us, “There is no peace”, says my God, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:21) But even now, the gates of Heaven are swung open for you and the Lord Jesus beckons you to enter by faith in Him.  •If God is not yet your Father, come to Him through Jesus Christ.  •Repent of your sins, agree with God that you deserve Hell, but believe that Jesus has made you right with God by His death and resurrection. And you will receive peace with God.  •Do it now. Today is the day of salvation.  •And may this sermon make you jealous to become one of the People of God and be loved so dearly by Him.  •If you have not already, may God grant you repentance and faith this very morning.  2.) But I now turn my attention to those who believe. I’m talking to Christians now.  •The passage before us gives us so much comfort and encouragement. And I want you to take it. Take it by faith. Believe what the Word of God says to you this morning.  So let’s begin with the foundation. We’ll start in the second half of v5.  •We’ll start with something sure and steady. An anchor for us as we deal with anxiety.  •The Apostle tells us, [5] The Lord is at hand;  •“At hand” means “near.” And it can be understood with regard to nearness in time or nearness in space.  •Something is near to happening (the Return of Jesus Christ) or something is near TO YOU (Jesus is close to you.) This word translated here “at hand” is sometimes used to signal either idea.  •But I don’t believe this is a reference to the Second Coming of Christ. That doesn’t seem to fit the context.  •The Apostle is telling us that the Lord, Jesus Christ, is NEAR to us. He is “at hand.” •And this is connected to the following command to not be anxious.  Brothers and sisters, the foundation for why we should not be full of worry is the fact that the Lord is near to each one of us.  •Think about that. I think that we often forget it. Jesus is near to you. Right now. He is closer to you than you realize.  •He is with you every second of every day. He is omnipresent in His divine nature. And He dwells in you by His Holy Spirit.  •He is with you always. You are never alone as you go through life. He is always standing by you.  What comfort this should give every one of us! •The God of all things is near to us.  •The Sovereign King who rules over every single thing is near to us.  •The One who reigns over the nations of the world is near to us.  •The One who controls every molecule and millisecond, the One who has planned your life and is guiding it every step of the way, the One who saved your soul, the God who is God over all, IS AT HAND.  He is near to you like a husband is near to his wife.  •He loves you. He will allow you to be alone. He watches over you always. You are precious to Him.  •You may be common to the world, but to Him, you are His precious Bride.  Hear what your Lord says to you: •“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) •“Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) •“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer…” (1 Peter 3:12) •He says in multiple places in the OT that His People are the “apple of His eye.” The center of His eye. And we know that all of us protect our eyes, don’t we? •The Proverbs speaks of a “friend who sticks closer than a brother” (18:24). And this finds its greatest fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the best and most faithful friend who will never forsake His own. He is nearer to us than our dearest family member.  Brothers and sisters, “The Lord is hand.” •He knows what you endure. He knows what you suffer. He sees it. He stores your tears in His bottle.  •He is not far from you. He is right there with you to give you aid as you endure the trials of life that we all must go through.  •Therefore, do not be worried. Do not be afraid. You are not alone.  •The Lord of Heaven and Earth is with you.  •The One who loved you and died for you will not abandon you to your circumstances.  •So do not be anxious.  Before we go any further, let me help you reason with yourself.  •You need to learn to preach the Word to yourself when you’re tempted to anxiety.  •You need to learn to reason with your own heart from the Scriptures.  •So let me ask you a question: If the sovereign Lord who loves you so much that He died for you is NEAR TO YOU, what are you afraid of? •Why should you be afraid? Why should you worry? •The One who governs your life and holds it in His hands and has proven His love for you at the Cross, is near you always. What are you anxious about? •If we really believe that the Lord is near to us, if we are convinced that He walks with us, if we are convinced that God Almighty stands beside us always and loves to help us, we should never be afraid or worry about anything.  •If we had perfect faith, nothing would ever rattle us. Yes, we would still suffer. But we would see the pain coming and still not be worried because we have entrusted our life to the Lord who is near.  Brothers and sisters, “The Lord is at hand.”  •Remember that. Preach that to yourself.  •He has not left you alone. And He never will.  3.) And now, with that foundational truth, we come to the command of our passage: [6] do not be anxious about anything,  •Charles Spurgeon said, “Oh, that God might teach us how to avoid the evil that is here forbidden, and to live with that holy careless which is the very beauty of the Christian life—when all our care is cast on God, and we can joy and rejoice in His providential care of us.” The Apostle here commands us to “not be anxious about anything.” •So what is ANXIETY? Well, as I’ve hinted at already, anxiety is synonymous with WORRY.  •To speak like a Puritan, anxiety is literally being “care-full.” Full of cares. That is, full of worries.  •From what I understand, the Greek word here means something like “being torn apart” or “being pulled violently.”  •To be anxious, then, is to be pulled and torn apart by the cares of life. It is to have your heart shredded by worry and fear. You’re beaten and controlled by cares for the future and current circumstances you’re in.  •To be anxious is to fret. To be full of distress.  Now, I freely confess that, since the Fall, anxiety is a natural human emotion.  •But don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that it’s acceptable.  •The Word of God has just told us “DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING.”  •But, nevertheless, like sinful anger, envy, and a host of other sinful emotions, anxiety is natural to fallen humanity.  •So, what are you anxious about?  •Or, to put it more charitably, what are you TEMPTED to be anxious about? Here is a short list of possible anxieties: •Coming persecution on the Church. •Politics. The economy. Your job.  •Family infighting. Your health. The health of your children. The salvation of unsaved loved ones.  •Finding a spouse. Whether or not you’re a good parent. Whether or not you’re a good spouse.  •Failure at something. Some new responsibility you’ve taken on. Conflict with a friend.  •Worry of how your faithfulness to Christ will affect your reputation in the world.  •Your work schedule. Education and testing. Marital problems.  •How you’re going to have a hard conversation with a friend.  •Planning for retirement. Wanting to have children. The future of your marriage. How you’re going to endure some hardship you see coming.  And those are just general things I came up with in a few minutes in my office.  •We could get much more specific if we sat down and each made a personal list.  •All of us are tempted to worry and be anxious. And many of us often give in and are full of worry.  •And almost everything we worry about are things we can’t control or are about future things and we don’t know how they will turn out.  But as naturally as this all is to the human experience, we are nevertheless COMMANDED to “not be anxious about anything.” •Again, this is a COMMAND from God.  •You are to control your emotions.  •To not obey this command is to sin.  •Hear me clearly: To worry is to sin against God. To be anxious is to sin.  •The Word of God explicitly tells you to not worry, to not be anxious. So then, to allow yourself to be consumed with fear and worry is manifestly a violation of what you have been commanded to do.  Now, that is an unpopular thing to say in 2022.  •And that’s because so many have bought into secular psychology that tells you that you can’t help how you feel and you’re not responsible for your emotions.  •But that is shown to be nonsense if you take the Bible seriously.  NOTE: There is a difference between what I call “concern” and worry.  •There is a difference between wise planning and fretting.  •There is a difference between responsibly thinking about possibilities and proper responses to situations VS being consumed with worry about those things.  •Planning ahead, thinking ahead, as much is proper for a human, and NOT TRUSTING GOD are NOT the same thing.  •Planning and seeking to be wise about hard situations and future difficulties is commanded and commended in the Bible both explicitly and by example, while worrying is condemned as sin. Something else I want to be clear about: God is not commanding us to act like everything is just fine.  •God doesn’t command us to LIE. And, pretending like life is peachy when it’s not, is a LIE.  •Life hurts. Life is hard. Many things cause us great pain. (Read the Psalms!) •God isn’t telling us to be Pollyannaish and walk around with rose colored glasses about everything.  •We can admit that things are bad. (Read the Psalms!) We can admit that we’re hurting and that we don’t enjoy the pain.  •And we can do that without being full of worry. It is possible.  Brothers and sisters, you cannot really control that a thought flies into your mind.  •A worrisome thought about the future or your current situation may come into your mind out of nowhere.  •But you do indeed control what you will do with it.  •Will you be anxious? Or will you obey the Lord with regard to your thoughts? HEAR ME, CHRISTIAN: You are not a helpless victim.  •You are a Holy Spirit indwelled citizen of the Kingdom of God who has been given resources by God, purchased by the blood of Christ, to enable you to please the Lord, even when you’re tempted to be anxious.  •God has armed you with His Word and Spirit so that you can overcome your flesh to the glory of His name.  •Enough of believing the worldly lie that you can’t help it. God will help you overcome.  Don’t believe the lie of the world that says,  •“Some people are just worriers. Some people just have anxiety and that’s all there is to it.” •That doesn’t have to be the case.  •Are some people more tempted and predisposed to worry and anxiety? Sure. I don’t doubt that one bit.  •Just like some people are more predisposed to sexual sin than others.  •Just like some people are more predisposed to find lying or stealing desirable.  •But that doesn’t change what the Word of God says to you about worrying any more than what it says to a twenty year old man about sexual purity.  •Our predispositions to sin do not nullify the righteous commands of God.  But this brings up a question, I think: Why does God hate worry and anxiety so much? •If He commands us against it, He must hate it. And He is not arbitrary. He must have a reason.  •So why does He hate it so much?  •I’m convinced that the Lord hates worry because when we worry, we are forgetting who HE IS. In those moments we’re not believing what He has revealed about Himself.  •When we worry, we are not believing that He is kind, wise, good, powerful, loving, and compassionate toward us.  •We’re not believing His ability to work all things for His glory and our good.  •We’re thinking very little of who He is and how He loves His children and how He wisely governs all things in HIS WORLD.  •And that, brothers and sisters, is a great sin.  God has never done anything to us to make us think so lowly and hatefully and shamefully of Him.  •He has always done us good. He has always cared for His People. He has always glorified Himself and sanctified His People through hardship. He has always granted relief at the proper time. He always exalts the humble.  •How dare we doubt His sovereign control? •How dare we doubt the holiness and perfection and goodness of His will? •We dare not. And so, we dare not worry.  •We must entrust ourselves to the Living God who loves us.  •Brothers and sisters, HE IS GOD. Why would we ever doubt Him? Worry is often the fruit of practical atheism. (Living without a real thought toward God.) •Worry is often the fruit of the false belief of self-sufficiency. (That you can handle your life.) •Worry is unbelief. And God hates unbelief.  •So remember, “The Lord is at hand.” God is near to you. He loves you. He is ruling over you.  •So then, “do not be anxious about anything.” 4.) So we’ve seen the command. We are not be anxious.  •But how are we to do that?  •Well, God has graciously instructed us in what we are to do instead of worrying:  •[6] do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  •We are to commit ourselves to prayer. Prayer with faith that the Lord is near. Prayer with faith that God will help us. Prayer with faith that God is good. THIS is what you do instead of worrying. When the anxious thought arises, THIS is what you do: •You go immediately to prayer.  •You don’t give it an inch. You don’t give it another thought without first going to your God and Father and talking to Him about it.  And we are to do this for literally everything that tempts us to worry.  •The Apostle says, “Be anxious for NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING pray.” •Everything. That’s such an inclusive word. It’s the most inclusive word we have. Everything. •Not one situation is left out. If it tempts you to be anxious, if it worries you, if it makes you afraid, PRAY.  •Every sickness, every sorrow, every uncertainty. Your family, children, friends, and coworkers. Every difficulty. Every fear. Every pain. Every hardship. Every everything.  •Don’t you hold one thing back, Christian.  •If you hold something back, you’re only hurting yourself and sinning against the Lord.  •Nothing is too big and nothing is too small to take to God in prayer.  •The Apostle here tells us in every situation. In every circumstance. In every trial. In EVERYTHING pray.  And in this verse, Paul uses three words for prayer: Prayer, supplication, and requests.  •I don’t believe that these are different aspects of prayer. Many commentators think is simply a stylistic form of REPETITION.  •Paul is basically telling you to pray in three different ways. He’s emphasizing the necessity and importance of prayer when you are tempted to be anxious.  •Hear that: Paul is emphasizing how important it is that you be a prayerful person. Instead of being full of care, you should be full of prayer.  Paul tells us to lay our problems out before the Lord.  •Lay yourself bare before the Lord.  •Unburden your soul. Tell Him what is bothering you. Tell Him your fears. Tell Him your uncertainties.  •Confess to Him that you don’t trust Him like you should. Ask Him for grace to repent and renew your faith.  •Make your request known about your situation. Tell Him what you’d like for Him to do.  •Cry. Let your tears flow before the throne of grace.  Often when someone comes to my office they’ll say something like “I’ve got a lot to talk about.” And I often say, “Lay it on me, man.” •Here, your God and Father says to you, “Lay on it me, my child. I can bear it. You can’t bear it. It will crush you. Lay your world on me. I can hold it. Tell me your problem. I can help you. Ask for strength. I can give it. Lay it on me. For I love you.” •Christian, lay down every pretense of self-sufficiency and arrogant assumptions of personal strength. Stop lying to yourself about your ability and unburden yourself before the Lord.  •Pray. Make your requests known to Him. Seek Him for help. Unload your heart at His feet.  •He wants you to do this. You are not bothering Him. Just like a good father wants to hear from his children, God wants to hear from you.  And Paul tells us to do this with THANKSGIVING.  •Every prayer should be full of thanks to God.  •As we make our requests known and seek help from Him, we are not to complain against Him because of our present situation.  •But instead we are to thank Him for being our God, blessing us, ruling over us, providing for us, bringing us this far, and many other things.  •And above all, we are to shower God with praise and statements of gratitude for saving us through Jesus Christ and giving us every spiritual blessing and comfort in Him.  Thanksgiving is the basic heart posture of the Christian. And, as such, it should be the mark of all prayer.  •We recognize that everything is a gift from God. Even our present trials are gifts of sanctification.  •And so, we know that God is due praise for it all.  •We are to thank Him for who He is, what He has done for us in the past, and what He promises to do for us in the future.  Again, praise and thanksgiving are to mark every prayer.  •This is a great antidote to worry.  •Reflecting on God’s past kindness toward us encourages us to believe that He will be still more kind in the future.  •Reflecting on past grace and strength He has given emboldens us to believe that He will do it again! Christian, with a heart full of gratitude, take your troubles to the Lord in prayer.  •Your Father is the King of all. Your Father is the Governor of the universe. Your Father is the Sovereign.  •And He LOVES YOU.  •Go tell Him what you need.  •He is the only One who can really do anything about it, isn’t He? •So why do you delay? Why do you hold onto your worry for so long? Go and lay it on Him in prayer.  Along with Paul here, remember the words of Peter: •“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the might hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7) •He cares for you, Christian. You are His child.  •He already knows what bothers you. But He wants you to unload them for your sake! •Holding on to your anxiety and fear will break your spiritual back and crush your soul into despair.  •It’s too heavy for you. You’re a weak human being. But He can carry it. He can hold your cares. And He can help you.  Prayer is an expression of trust and a humble submission to the fatherly care and will of God.  •In prayer you are admitting that you are weak, but God is strong. You are unable, but God is able. You are helpless, but He is the great Helper.  •In prayer, you are entrusting your life to God with faith that He will do what is best for you. •The antidote to worry, says the Apostle, is specific petitionary prayer offered with thanksgiving to God.  •Oh, that we would believe this! 5.) And that leads us to the promise for those who believe and obey the Word of God here: •[7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. •This is the promise of God to those who submit to His command to pray and trust Him in stead of worrying: •He will give you peace and guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  In the midst of all your hardship and difficulty, in the midst of all your uncertainty, He will give you PEACE.  •He will clear your heart of all fear as you trust Him and unburden yourself to Him.  •He will give you a peace that defies your situation.  •He will give you a peace that you cannot explain.  •He will give you a peace that your human reasoning and thinking and plotting for the future could never give you.  •He will give you a peace that doesn’t make sense to those who do not know God.  •He will calm your heart. He will teach you contentment. He will teach you to trust Him.  •Like a mother with a nursing child, He will soothe you.  •And you will not be afraid, for you will be full of confidence in your Heavenly Father to do what is good for you in everything.  And Paul says that God will “guard your hearts and minds.” •“Guard” is a military term. God will set, as it were, a battalion of soldiers over your heart and mind and guard your peace.  •Your heart and mind are the inner person. You will have inner peace and God will guard it.  •Catch that: Nobody and no thing will be able to take the peace from you, for God guards you.  •This peace will remain yours so long as you continue to cast your cares upon Him in faith.  •As long as you continually go to Him in prayer, He will guard you in peace and let fall back into anxiety.  Does this sound too good to be true? •Try Him. See what He’ll do.  •Just as God challenged the Israelites in the OT to resume their tithing and said “See if I won’t provide for you,” so now I challenge you: •Try Him. See if He won’t give you peace.  •You’re commanded to do it. You don’t really have an option if you’re a disciple. You must not worry but must instead pray.  •But in addition to that, the Word of God challenges you: See if God won’t do exactly what He said He would.  •He will. Commit yourself to prayer and watch Him do it.  How could this peace not be yours? •You’ve taken your cares to the One who loves you and gave His only begotten Son for you.  •You’ve taken your cares to the One who promises to do you good in the end in all things.  •You’ve taken your cares to the Only who can actually help you, for He alone is God.  •You’ve taken your cares to the One you can actually trust to know and do what is best and right for you.  NOTE: The Apostle DOES NOT say that God will give you what you asked for.  •He might. But He might not. That’s His decision. And He will do all His holy will for your life.  •And, often, His will is not the same as our will. So we must submit our will to His in faith and trust, like a child trusts his father.  •And good fathers often say, “NO,” to their children. Not because they are mean, but because it would not be good for the child to do has been requested.  •The father can see things that the child cannot. So the father is good in his “No.” •So also, our Father’s “No” is a good one. Remember that. He is the best Father.  •So, no, He may not give us what we want. But the Apostle says that He will give us PEACE! And that’s really what we want, isn’t it? Now, some may say, “But I’ve prayed and I still have no peace.” •Well, keep praying! •Maybe you’re just speaking to God but there is no faith. That is not prayer. That is a merely external religious exercise. Prayer must be coupled with the belief that God can and will help you in someway, according to His will.  •And if it’s the case that you’ve been praying with no faith, TELL HIM!  •Confess your lack of faith and ask Him to grant you faith to believe that He will help you! •Be honest with the Lord. And keep praying.  •Pray until you have peace.  •Like Jacob, wrestle with the Lord in prayer and say, “I will not let you go until you bless me!” And remember this: After prayer, our lives may not have changed. Often that is the case.  •The storm may still be raging around us. The night may still be dark. The path that lies ahead still might be full of danger and suffering.  •But through prayer, God has changed us. He has caused us to hope in Him. He has caused us to humble ourselves before Him. He has made us more conscious of our dependence upon Him.  •And He has given us peace that surpasses all understanding.  •Our situation maybe won’t change. But God will change us through prayer and give us peace.  •And that’s God’s goal in our prayer: To change us to trust Him and rely on Him and submit ourselves to His will.  The medicine for our anxious hearts is to pray for our needs and thank God for His goodness toward us.  •Oh, how different we might be if we would just listen and obey! •What peace we often forsake because we refuse to take this heavenly medicine.  •As the hymn says, “Oh, what peace we often forfeit! Oh, what needless pain we bear! All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” •Christian, take this medicine, pray and give thanks to God, and see if He won’t give you peace as He has promised.  6.) In closing, let me summarize and remind you of what we’ve learned: Christian, the Lord is at hand. •You are not alone. The Almighty God of all things walks with you always. Do not be anxious.  •Recognize your worrying as the sin that it is, and repent of it, asking the Lord for more faith in Him.  •Unburden yourself before God, remember that He is the Father of His children. And you’re not a better parent than Him.  •Remind yourself that He will take care of you and help you, and lay yourself bare before His throne, while thanking Him for His kindness and grace toward you.  •And pray, expecting His peace to fill your heart as you submit to and humble yourself before Him.  •He will give it. He is no liar.  •Entrust yourself to the Lord in prayer. And be anxious for nothing.  May God grant us to look to Him at all times, refusing to be anxious about anything, but praying in all things, casting our cares upon Him, for He cares for us.  •Amen.