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Prayer…The Guard against Worry Based on Philippians 4:4-7 Rev. Laura Green Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Center City and Star, Texas Our Gracious God, Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my
redeemer. Amen. Have you ever worried about
something? Have you ever worried about a
particular circumstance or situation that you were facing? Worry is never a fun emotion to
experience. It has the power to control
us and hold us captive. Most of the time
we feel powerless to do anything but be a slave to the desires of our
worries. In our epistle lesson Paul
explains that we can guard ourselves against worry through prayer. Throughout Philippians Paul has been
consistently encouraging and challenging the Philippians to do two things. First, be joyful. Continue to rejoice in the Lord regardless of
what your circumstances might be.
Second, stand firm. Always stand
firm in your faith and continue to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul begins Philippians chapter 4 by
discussing Euodia and Syntyche. These
are two women who have been loyal to Paul and who have “struggled beside me in
the work of the gospel”. Paul mentions
these two women specifically because there is some disunity that has developed
between them. Our passage begins with Paul
continuing to tell the Philippians to rejoice and to be joyful. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will
say, Rejoice.” For many of us, it can be
strange to think that someone, such as Paul, who has been through so much in
his life, could be telling others to rejoice.
That is exactly what Paul is doing.
Paul was able to remain joyful throughout his life because he knew that
Jesus Christ would always be with him regardless of the situations (good and
bad) that he would face in his life. It
is for that reason that Paul is urging the Philippians to remain joyful in
their life as well. Part of being joyful in all of the
circumstances and situations that we encounter is not worrying or being anxious
about our circumstances. When we worry
or when we are anxious about something, in many respects we “paralyze”
ourselves. We can convince ourselves
that our situation or circumstance will end in a certain way. We worry and fret over that possibility. Nine times out of ten, the very thing that we
were so worried about does not even take place. Let me give you a personal
example. I have always described myself
as the “ultimate worrier”. If there is
something out there for a person to be worried about, chances are I am worried
about it! As many of you know, I am
attending Perkins School of Theology.
Perkins is the seminary of Southern Methodist University in For Paul, one way that we can guard
ourselves against worry is through prayer.
The best thing that we can do for ourselves is to talk about why we are
worried about our situation or anxious about our situation. God is the best person that we can talk
to. God understands our situation. God sympathizes for us. God cares for us, and most importantly, God
wants to help us if we will come to him.
All we need to do is go to God and say, “God, I am not sure how to
handle this situation. Please lead me,
guide me, grant me your wisdom and help to show me how to best handle this
situation.” When we leave our situation at the
throne of God and give him the opportunity to help us, we can experience the
true peace of God. We can know that God
is in control at all times. At some point in our life, many of us
have worried or felt anxious about something.
Maybe there was a big project coming up, maybe there was a big meeting
coming up. Maybe you had projects for
around the house or had several other things planned and you were not sure how
you were going to finish them all. Worry can consume us in many different
ways. It can have the power to control
us. We do not act the same. We do not talk the same. We do not think the same. We do not look the same when we worry. Most importantly, we become a slave to its
desires. Maybe there is a situation or
circumstance that is going on in your life that has you concerned, anxious, or
worried. Once again, in those times that
we are worried about something we can convince ourselves that our particular
situation will end in a certain way and we worry about that end result. More times than not the very result that we
were so worried about does not even occur.
We waste so much energy worrying. As humans we always want to be in
control. If we feel that we are in
control we can decide how our situation will end. If we are in control, we feel that we can
dictate what goes on within our specific situation. On the flip side of that equation, if we do
not feel that we are in control of our situation, worry sets in. Worry is a natural human response that
we experience when we have several projects planned or several different things
coming up and we wonder how we will get everything finished in time. Unfortunately, we cannot overcome
worry or even defeat worry in our own natural human strength. We must have God’s help. It is for that reason that prayer is so
important. Prayer does two things that
can help us when we are worrying about something or when we are on the verge of
worrying about something. First, we are
talking about the very thing that we are so concerned about. We can express verbally why our situation is
concerning us, causing anxiety, or causing worry. We do not do ourselves any favors by keeping
our emotions bottled up inside and not talking about why we are feeling the way
that we do. The second reason that prayer is so
important in guarding ourselves against worry is God becomes involved. Not only are we talking about our situation
and how we feel, but we are also talking to God. Only God can help us with our worry. Only God can give us the peace and strength
to help us overcome our worry. God cares
for us and wants to help us overcome our worry.
We must first come to him and ask for help. Allow God to lead us, guide us, and grant us
his wisdom so that we can overcome our worry. If your situation is within your
control, pray and ask God to help you find the best solution to your situation
and then act on what God is telling you to do. If your situation is not in your
control, do not worry about it. Put that
situation in God’s hands. Tell God what
is going on in that situation and allow God to handle it the best way that he
knows how. The worst thing that we can
do to ourselves is worry about a situation that we have no control over to
begin with. What about you? Is there a situation or circumstance that you
have been worrying about today? Is there
a situation or circumstance that you have been worrying about this week? Turn those worries into prayers. Ask God for his help. Ask God for his guidance and wisdom. More importantly, tell God why you are so
concerned, anxious, or worried about your current situation. Allow God to become involved in your
situation so that you can overcome worry and experience the true peace that God
longs to give you! Let us pray. Our
Gracious God, Thank
you for your Word. Worry is something
that we all experience from time to time.
It is never a fun emotion to experience.
Worry controls us, consumes us, enslaves us, physically wears us out,
and makes us sick. Help us to remember
that we cannot overcome worry or even defeat worry in our own human
strength. We need your help. We need your guidance and your wisdom. Help us to always turn our worries into
prayers! In
Christ Name we pray, Amen. |