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 Dallas.  The first week of December was finals week at Perkins.  I worried and was very anxious about my final exams.  I worried and I stressed as I prepared for each of my exams.  Once I completed my exams, everything turned out okay.  The time that I spent worrying about my exams I can never have back.

          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.