First Saturday Prayer - The Lord is at Hand

Philippians 4:4-7

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I just want to say The Lord is Near; Amen?

Now look I’m not sure what you walked in here with… I don’t know where your week is going or what you have waiting for you on the other side of that door… but I do want you to Know that the LORD is Near

If I haven’t had a chance to meet you yet, I’m pastor Nick and i have the blessing of leading the city campus under my Pastor, PC.

I was wrestling with what I was supposed to say today and the Lord eventually brought me to this truth. That he is near. The passage that I he brought me to was Philippians 4:4-7

READ

Worry is about control and uncertainty

We seldom worry over things that we feel are in our control and we know what the outcome is going to be.

THis is the phenomenon of re-watching the same shows over and over… it soothes our anxiety when we have a predictable ending.

See because the lord, the word there meaning the guy in charge.

RIght, Lord isn’t like just a nickname for God, its his title meaning that he’s the boss. He has authority… he is the Lord of All

And He is near… that is why we do not have to be anxious about anything.

that’s a command… which means its a choice

Its not easy… but in Christ its possible

He tells us notto be anxious about anything but in Somethings… no, a few things… no… in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication (church word for asking for things… supply, supplication) and here’s the kicker… WITH thanksgiving.

I want to give a shout out to Pastor Brett and the series he taught on strongholds and I want to recall us back to this

Science will eventually catch up to the bible

God told us to choose not to be anxious… not just wholesale, but to instead be thankful.

That’s because you can not physically be thankful and worried at the same time

So we are being told not to be anxious, to rejoice in the Lord… He doubled down on that bad boy… again I say rejoice.

The Lord is at hand

That phrase is the lynch pin that holds this together… the context as to how it is even possible to make that choice

Not out of blind wishing… but because the Lord of all creation is near

I know there are some things in this world that will lead us to be want to lean into anxiety

Some things that are uncertain or out of our control

We want security in a world that is plagued with uncertanty. Government shutdowns, political landscape, conspiracy theories, inflation, family dynamics, health issues…

Theres a little something for everyone if you want to worry

In matthew 13 Jesus tells us the parable of the sower. In there he tells us that some of the seed falls in the weeds.

That seed is the word that gets choked out by the decietfulness of richess and the worries of this world.

The Lord wants you to know that you don’t have to stress and fret but you can be free from that and you can allow the peace of God which surpasses all understanding to guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

God wants you to know that since he is never far, since his arm is not too short, since he has never fallen off the throne, since he is still LORD OF ALL… that you can allow his peace to guard you. HIs peace to protect your heart and your mind.

And to simply drive the point home

Who can add an hour to your day by worrying. Seek first the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness and all these things will be added.

Now we are going to move into a time of individual prayer.

I’m not sure what you’re praying through personally, I’m not sure what’s on all these cards… but there can be a weight… a sense of worry… a sense of anxiety in not knowing if the prayers that you’re praying are making it past the top of your head, but God wants you to Know that he is near

You don’t have to worry. You can rejoice that the Lord is near. He loves you. He loves each and everyone of these folks who make these requests and he is asking us to simply bring everything to him with thanksgiving

I want to start us off with a prayer of thanksgiving as we bring all of these requests before the Lord.

I’m not going to end it in amen but I’m going to end my portion of the prayer in Jesus Name and then we are going to move into the work of ministry… prayer

Heavenly Father, we come to you and lift your name on high. You are emmanuel, God with us, you are the one who is closer than a brother, You are nearer than our next breath. You are Good and you love us. I thank you for the gift of your presence. Thank you for your Holy Spirit and how you lead us and guide us. Thank you for our salvation found in Jesus Christ. Father I repent on behalf of all of us for the times when we have allowed the anxiety of life to choke out your word. When we’ve allowed the size of the problem eclipse the magnitute of our God. Lord remind us of your nearness. Bless us with a sensitivity to your presence and help us to remember that because you are near that we can rest in your peace and we can come to you boldly with every request. Thank you for hearing us. THank you for your perfect will. Thank you for allowing your people, to come alongside you and what you’re doing in the lives of your people. Move in this place. Lord we love you and we anticipate you to move mountains and to do miracles though the prayers of your people. In Jesus Name:

Now lets move into personal prayer. Come up get a card or many and pray for the needs. feel free to move about the room, lay prostrate, however the Lord leads and don’t forget to pray for the names of our leaders on the screens as they need our prayers as well.

Everyone come back up

Thank you for giving of your Saturday to go to war. To battle on behalf of each person who wrote down a prayer request. Thank you for interceding and for partnering with what God is doing in the lives of our tribe and the families and commuities that we lifted up today.

We’re going to end in corporate prayer. We are going to all end praying together.