What God Says about Anxiety – Philippians 4:4-9

"Worry can be a natural first reaction to an uncertain situation, but to persist in worry reveals a lack of trust that God is in charge.” – Tim Clinton and Ron Hawkins

Anxious feelings affect us all, some more than others. Having these feelings isn’t sinful, but when we dwell on them instead of dwelling on God, we are not only sinning, we are bringing discord and chaos into our hearts and lives. To help, Paul gives us a three-step program to orient our hearts, minds, and living on God instead of worry: the Three Ps Program, Pray, Ponder, and Practice.

Pray

When anxious thoughts come upon us, we should turn from dwelling on them to dwelling on rejoicing and prayer. Here’s some great things to pray about while you’re struggling with anxious feelings:

·       Thank God for these negative feelings driving you to prayer. We need reminders to pray and put our trust in God alone!

·       Thank God for his endless love for you, for sending Jesus to die for you, and for bringing you to know him.

·       Thank God that he is greater than any foe, your feelings included.

·       Ask God to help you remember and believe that he does and will continue to provide for you.

·       Thank God that he is sovereign and in charge, and that nothing can separate you from his love in Christ Jesus.

·       Ask God to help you to calm down, breathe, and trust in him rather than your feelings.

·       Use Scripture to guide your prayers, praying through the words of or praying in response to a passage you’re reading.

Ponder

Dwell on God’s Word. Here are a few encouraging passages to read, reflect on, and pray through when you’re anxious:

• ·       Psalm 8, 10, 27, 42-43, 46, 61, 65, 73, 86, 90, 96, 103, 104, 107, 118, 119, 130, 139, 142, 145, 147
• ·       Proverbs 3:1-8
• ·       Matthew 6:25-34
• ·       John 15:1-17
• ·       Romans 8:26-39
• ·       2 Corinthians 4
• ·       1 Thessalonians 5:1-22
• ·       Hebrews 11
• ·       Revelation 21-22

Practice

We are supposed to actively, continually, and faithfully live the Christian life. What does that look like? Here’s some examples:

1.     Be engaged with your church – go to worship service and groups, get to know people and spend time with them, ask people to pray for you and with you as you pray for and with them.

2.     Be united with your church – pursue missions and evangelism projects with your church, help around the church with stuff like taking out the trash or bringing some donuts, and spend time with people from your church family.

3.     Be a person of prayer – pray not just for yourself, but for others, your community, missionaries, leaders, the world as a whole. When we focus on bringing the needs of others to the Lord, we will focus less on our own worries and problems.

4.     Be a person on mission – pray for the lost people in your life and community and strive to share the gospel with them.