Anxious for Nothing Part 2

[Music] we live in an age of anxiety it's like an illness you can't sleep you don't laugh anymore stress is your constant companion the reality is there's a lot to worry about loved ones get sick people lose their jobs friends get cancer family struggle so we worry and feel anxious but be encouraged while worry is a part of life it doesn't have to dominate it God offers peace in the midst of the storm he is sovereign present bigger than your problems and always right on time trust him and you can be anxious for nothing alright good morning everyone great to see you guys my name is Tim I am one of the pastor's here and let's welcome all our campuses who are joining us around the state of New Jersey glad you guys are here for week two of our series anxious for nothing now this is a series on anxiety and it's kind of the perfect time right as the fall ramps up it's like all of our schedules kids go back to school sports all the business it can be a bit overwhelming and so what we're doing is for three weeks as a church we have officially declared war on worry all right let me tell you it is a war that you can win with God's help I do believe that as we open God's Word and actually don't just take it into our head but let it move into our heart here's what's gonna happen you're gonna see your peace increase in your stress decrease then that sound good all right now if you strut if you're here today you struggle with stress or you got a busy mind anxious thoughts or you have chronic worry about a certain situation maybe you have fear about what might happen in the future I believe God wants to write a new chapter in this your story this fall and I think he wants to start that today so let's dive in I want everybody to kind of this is a participation kind of church we do stuff together so I want everybody to make two fingers like this and put them on your temples put a finger on each temple every campus go ahead it's not weird just go ahead now now we're gonna pray a prayer that guarantee you have never prayed before okay okay you can pray it out right after me right here we go ready lord I thank you for my amygdalae let's pronounce that funny word again amygdalae amygdalae you're touching them right now you are pointing to the two almond shaped clusters of nuclei on either side of your brain and if you didn't have these two things going on right now you wouldn't be here I guarantee you your amygdalae are part of the brains limbic system right here and they are responsible for triggering certain emotions specifically fear and anxiety in other words whenever you encounter a dangerous you Asian or life feels out of your control you can thank your amygdalae in fact this week it was your MIG July that made you ho jump back onto the sidewalk when that truck race value it was your amygdalae that when the Lightning crack like you you know you ran indoors for cover it was your MIG July when you went to pet the dog any kind of snarl that you put your hand back you didn't even think about it that's because your migdal eyes kind of like a home security system right same you guys have on your house or apartment if an intruder breaks a window or tries to pry a lock open what happens right the bells alarm floodlights get up get out get safe that's what your amygdala automatically does every day without you even thinking about it you didn't walk out to the street and consciously think oh well here comes a Mack truck a little bit bigger than me I think I'm smaller why don't I take a step back and retry it you don't even think about it you just like wow snap the thing goes by you right it's why you're alive the amygdala is something God gave you and it prompts a reaction in your body before it even know that it's needed you know what happens when your amygdala goes off your whole body responds the minute they fire your pupils dialate they're going to take in more light because they want to see the situation your breathing gets faster it's more oxygen for your lungs if you've got a flight your pulse rate increases why it's pumping more blood into your heart because if you got a fight you're going to be ready adrenaline turns you into Hercules you are faster you are stronger your body is ready for fight or flight did you know even when your amygdala goes off your bowel system reacts sometimes embarrassingly right you ever have that I was so scared I peed a little bit you know that's that's your amygdalae emptying your body of unnecessary weight because it's like you got to be faster smarter ready to run or light or ready to fight so you thank God for your amygdalae both of them they protect you what you don't want is a set of amygdalae that's hypersensitive just as you don't want a home alarm system that goes off the minute a dog barks or the wind blows on your screen door you don't want that in your home and you don't want that in your head but that's exactly what anxiety is and where it comes from anxiety has been described as a Migdal eye with an itchy trigger finger in Max Lucado z-- book anxious for nothing finding calm in a chaotic world he says toxic anxiety is amygdalae gone haywire they they see a mole on your skin and think cancer they see a dip in the economy and think recession they hear your teenagers complain and conclude they'll be on drugs before they leave the house a perpetual anxiety is the mental alarm system that never quite turns off now understand the way that God designed your body limited anxiety is actually helpful right if they pretty protects you you need to be alert of danger but what you don't want is toxic anxiety living in a constant state of hyper alert here's why part two of today's biology lesson science nerds you enjoying this some of your like this is awesome something like I've failed that in high school this is free science people okay here listen God created your brain to replenish itself actually with natural mood elevators like dopamine and serotonin actually like tranquilizers they restore a sense of joy and peace and harmony everything's right with the world but if your amygdalae doesn't stop going those tranquilizers don't do their work and your brain never arrests it's always on it's spinning with anxious thoughts it's scanning the horizon for the next possible catastrophe that you're convinced is coming and so you become very edgy restless anxious this is where anxiety comes from that's the bad news but I have good news the good news is this the same God who created your amygdala can calm them as well amen see anxiety is a part of life it doesn't have to dominate it though yes oh god doesn't want your life to be dominated with anxiety or itchy amygdalae he wants to comment but he doesn't do it with a sedative he doesn't say pop a pill rather he wrote a prescription for peace found in Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 through 8 this is kind of our anchor passage for the whole series I introduced you to these verses last Sunday some of you actually spent this past week trying to memorize them and that's a good idea cuz God's Word is a weapon in the war against worry but today we're gonna read these out loud again all of our campuses in Union sins so let's kind of sit up straight come on put your shoulders back deep breath okay fill your lungs with air and your heart with hope let's read it like we mean it Church here we go ready be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus finally brothers and sisters whatever is whatever is whatever is whatever is whatever is whatever is if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things this is dot you give God a hair that's a prescription man it's awesome now listen this is dr. Paul's prescription for peace in an age of itchy amygdalae the Apostle Paul wrote those words be anxious for no thing but I know what some of you're saying the guy over here in section 4 is saying be anxious for nothing Yeah right you tell me with my daughter in the hospital how be anxious for nothing says the the unemployed man is C for over here anxious for nothing this is a mom with a baby born with special needs o today anxious for nothing now that divorce proceedings are underway I mean it's one thing to be calm and peaceful when life is going good but what about when life gets hard a lot of you know what hard looks like this fall don't you I talk to a lot of students and teachers last week starting school right there's all the anxiety you know when my kids fit in will they keep up with the workload will they fall in with the wrong you know some people sent their you know first year of college they got their daughter in college you know and and how are we gonna pay for college that's anxiety we took out a student loan more anxiety will he or she get a job what about my job my career it's the fall I hope my business doesn't tank will I make my numbers behind just for nothing my marriage is in trouble someone over here is saying yeah bro at least you're married okay I'm still single and I'm worrying if I'm ever gonna have a relationship do you feel you're amygdalae starting to itch right so did Paul see we read a verse like this and it seems like a Hallmark card you know don't worry be happy but we forget what the Apostle Paul was going through when he wrote these words you remember he penned this passage from anybody prison he was in jail Paul was an exhausted old man in his 60s when he wrote these words from a prison in Rome he had been repeatedly whipped flogged beaten and stoned left for dead his crime preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and if you peered in that prison window and saw Paul huddled in the corner you would see that his back looked like a fillet of flesh it was a spiderweb of scars from his beatings bent over going blind awaiting execution and while handcuffed to a Roman guard he with its free hand he writes these words be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and here's the promise and wherever you are whatever is happening to you the peace of God which passes all understanding it's supernatural it's going to guard like a century your hearts your emotions your minds your thoughts through Christ Jesus what was Paul's secret I mean what did that old jailbird know about finding peace in a prison well here's the answer from his gloomy prison cell Paul discovered a secret that true peace does not come from the absence of problems but the presence of a sovereign Savior they they could take away Paul's freedom but they couldn't take away his Christ and Paul believed defiantly he said I a hundred percent believe I serve a good god who was in complete control over every detail even when life seems out of control now we learned a fancy word for that last week you remember it we call it sovereignty can you say it sovereignty and you see that word reign or rule somebody ruling from a throne and Paul's basically like hey I'm here in prison but my God in heaven is still on his throne ruling over the whole universe and even what I'm going through because he is good and completely trustworthy he's working even this together for my good so I have peace in His perfect plan even though Paul could wring his hands and be anxious and worried and panicking he says you know what I actually feel calm see a L M I am calm could use some calm in your life this fall because God wants to give it to you when anxiety attacks Paul says let me teach you how to stay calm and his prescription is right here it has four steps he says the first thing you need to do is you need to acknowledge control that God is still good even when life isn't he's working it all together to her good he's sovereign so you need to ask him for help What did he say I want you to present everything pray about everything present all your requests to God and then watch leave L your worries with him in prayer something supernatural happens it's not us crossing our fingers when we pray we make a trade with the sovereign God of the universe we give him our worries he says I'm gonna give you my peace and then finally M he says you got to think about what you think about this is a mental battle I want you to meditate on good things whatever is true whatever is excellent whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is animal notice he didn't say I want you to think about Netflix and cable news and Instagram feeds and black he doesn't say any of that the reality is you can't fill your mind with all that junk if you want to have that's next Sunday's message it's think about what you think about we're gonna give you a mental strategy by which you take captive negative thoughts and you make em obedient to Christ so you can win this war on worry see ALM control a sleeve meditate this is Paul's prescription for itchy amygdalae and today I want to unpack steps two and three in a message I'm calling keep calm and carry on you guys seen this before on the internet probably bunch of memes out there it's actually not from the internet this is a British war poster from 1939 you know that as the Nazis were about to bomb London everybody was filled with fear and anxiety they didn't know what would happen next were they're going to be demolished firebomb and so King George this is a symbol of George's office the crown the sovereign crown he said I want you to make posters and he had this one commission that said keep calm and carry on right it's kind of like that British stiff upper-lip you know kind of where it comes from and I went to London this summer and these are everywhere they're on buses and posters and mugs and pillows they tattoo them on dogs is everywhere well I think the poster only got in half right and the spirit of Philippians I think it should read Keep Calm and pray on because prayer is your most powerful weapon in the war on worry I mad say that with me keep calm and pray on now before we jump in I want to make the same disclaimer I made last week I don't want to give you the impression that if you're here and you struggle with anxiety you can just like you know wave it away with a magic wand or some simple saying or a memory verse specifically if you're here today and you struggle with mental illness or you are one of 40 million Americans who struggle with a medical anxiety disorder let me just be super clear God's healing path for you may include the help of medication or therapy and that is completely fine if you're here today you take meds you do therapy do not think for a minute that you are somehow a second-class Christian you are not less Christian because you have panic attacks you you are not less of a believer because you have depression or anxiety you are not somehow weak for having mental illness you are created in the image of God he's crazy about you you are fully worthy of his love amen . . so when i talk about anxiety in this series understand I'm not talking about medical anxiety where there's mental illness or a chemical imbalance I'm mainly talking about situational anxiety where certain situations cause you a rational fear or worry in the general population we all have that for instance I had a young woman email me this week she said pastor Tim I'm not an anxious person I actually have a good job at great friends I sleep very well at night by default I'm a positive peaceful person except when it comes to my relationship status I'm approaching 40 and I'm still single not married and whenever I start thinking about it my mind starts racing I worry about being all alone I fear the lack of a partner I'm frustrated I get worried it actually makes my heart palpitate when I think about it a lot I feel angst about the future that's situational anxiety and that's part of being human now I'm not a doctor obviously I'm a pastor so what I want to do is teach you about the spiritual part of this equation right there's a biochemical part there's an emotional and there's a mental part but today I want to teach you about this spiritual part of Paul's antidote for anxiety you want peace here's what I prescribe here's what Paul says be anxious for nothing got it but in everything by let's say the highlighted words together by prayer and with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God Paul says there's four things that you got to take action with against anxiety see up to this point we've just been reminding ourselves about God's character his sovereignty is love is perfect plan but Paul says now now you got a fight you got to put on the gloves it's time to take action when you are faced with worry what do Christians do differently than the rest of the world we choose prayer over despair can you say with me we choose prayer over despair God's pathway to peace is paved with prayer be anxious for no thing instead pray about everything it reminds me of a father who's teaching as a little girl how to pray the Lord's Prayer right you've probably done that parents he'd repeat the lines and say no say these after me and one day his little girl says I do it myself daddy you know and he listened with pride as his little girl repeated each word you know our fathers in heaven right up to the very end of the prayer when she prayed and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from email how many say amen to that right you're like I got peace in my life man tonight God tells us I want you to pray about everything in everything by prayer supplication with Thanksgiving you let your requests be made known to your God notice the four different types of Prayer prayer supplication Thanksgiving and requests they are similar but they're not the same thing Paul is about to teach you about the four kinds of Prayer that settle the soul with God's perfect peace notice he says supplication and again this is just a fancy word most people read me if they got it's like the King James or something like that means the same thing as prayer it doesn't it comes from a Latin word which actually means to humbly plead on your knees it's when you get on your knees before somebody who has great power and say I need you to do something that I can't possibly do for myself I need you to marshal all your power and resources to do for me and those I love what I can't do for myself there's humility in it it's like one of those movies you watch right in a medieval times or something when a peasant woman like kind of comes into the throne room of a king and he's up on you know the altar and he's got his throne and scepter and he's got a crown on and she's in rags and and she says my lord I came and look at you right you're a righteous and a generous solver and it seat you would you please have mercy on me and grant my request you see movies like that that's supplication now watch the connection to prayer in prayer the Christ follower gets on her knees in the throne room of heaven and pleased with the sovereign King of the universe who also happens to be her daddy and says I need you to do for me God what I can't do for my own family would you use your power to do something I can see when the world worries the world rings its hands but when Christians have worries we Bend on our knees in supplication we humbly ask for heaven's help we call on our king we draw on God's power we call on our daddy God to help with our situation because where our resources are limited his are unlimited so here's an example of a supplication prayer you might pray father I am facing a gap in my finances this fall I I don't have the tuition father I don't I can't we can't make the mortgage payment and and God I'm doing all I can to increase my income and lower debt but God I need heavens help with my finances so father it says the Bible you own the cattle on a Thousand Hills would you please provide a job for me what would you pour out your favor with my customers god I can't do that you can that supplication and notice it's done with humility it's it's a humble request you never make demands of God we humbly ask for heaven's help for an infinite God to do something is finite kids can and we make specific requests point number three if you're taking notes when Paul says let your requests be made known to God he's saying I want you to tell God exactly what you need don't be vague don't be fuzzy don't be general pray the particulars of your problem I want to show you how practical this is if you're single how do you pray for a partner how do you pray in a girlfriend or a wife you know or a husband I'm bright let's be practical I want to show you an amazing prayer in the Bible this is amazing highly specific request in the book of Genesis and Genesis Abraham wanted to find a wife for his son Isaac right and so he tells us servant I want you to go find a wife for my son and so the servants like okay how do i how do you pick a wife for somebody else and so in genesis he goes down to the local well it's like the watering hole where everybody is in standing alongside the well listen to this prayer that he prayed to god in genesis listen to his prayer he says Oh Lord God of my master Abraham he prayed please give me success today and show unfailing love to my master Abraham it's not for me it's for him see God I'm standing here beside this spring and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water here we go this is my request I'm going to ask one of them please give me a drink from your jug and if she says yes have a drink and a water your camels to let her be the one you selected for Isaac's wife now is that a specific request or what man that's like right I mean that is pretty like hey if a girl says I'll water your camels - that's it right like here's a sign what's the point notice notice he didn't pray generically God someday I'd like to be married he said this is my specific request god I'm going to find a lady and I'm going to ask for a drink from her jug okay now who's laughing over here somebody was just like some of the filthy mic here I don't know let's well listen listen don't misinterpret this you understand like you don't take a verse like this and be like oh I get it I go down to the watering hole but a little the bar and start asking about women and jugs and don't be stupid people God gave you a part of rest of your brain it's not just the amidala all right you get the point all right back with me track my point and I have one is that man envisioned an exact dialogue and he prayed a specific prayer in faith for relationship direction and scripture says before he had finished praying he saw a young woman named Rebecca coming out with her water jug on her shoulder God answered God heard his prayer from heaven and he said I'm gonna do for you what you couldn't possibly pull off yourself and that servant went home and this is why we're here today is why were Christians there was an important point in the lineage there why does God asked us to do specific requests here's why I think he asked us to make specific requests because when it gets answered we will have no doubt it's him it has nothing to do with us I keep a prayer journal so I write prayers I just I'm a little ADHD that's shocking to you and so I kind of it helps me when I write my prayers that just kind of focuses them and I started a new journal to prayer journal beginning of every year I got about 15 of them doing for about 15 years it's full you can see yep I pray about some of you behind your back and all that kind of stuff and I write them down here and what's so fun is this week I was like going back and I'm looking page after page like that was God oh my gosh then he did this I didn't I didn't even connect the dots I prayed about that four months ago and I look in these and it's just basically a record of how God has moved without a doubt how he has moved mountains in my life and come through for me and I know he asks for you too so I want you to be specific this week in your prayers you know if you've got a praise absolutely he had guys and we're gonna pray today listen I'll tell you about some of them in a minute let's say what's your big source of anxiety this fall right maybe it's work let's say you're facing anxiety at work understand it's one thing to pray lord please bless my meeting tomorrow you know but that's how most Christians pray right so I'm going in Monday and you're like bless the meeting it's gonna be a hard one I'm challenging you get specific tell God exactly what you need you say Lord I have a conference with my supervisor at two o'clock and she intimidates me she does Jesus would you please give me a spirit of peace so I can sleep well tonight I don't wake up at 3 o'clock god grant me the wisdom so I can enter that meeting prepared with the right answers in my mind and in Holy Spirit would you do something I can't would you actually go ahead of me and soften her heart and you give her a generous spirit help us have a gracious conversation in which both of us benefit and your name is honored in Jesus name Amen guys that's a specific supplication and I guarantee you you will know at 3 o'clock whether God answered it or not see in my prayer journal I have all sorts of specific prayer requests I have a specific daily prayer that I pray for for one of my kids every morning I've prayed it for three years she entered high school and I felt like my anxiety rising you know you got you you with me okay send your daughter in public high school and you know she's got her in high school and I'm getting nervous I think I'm like you know what I'm gonna pray but it wasn't enough because I used to pray like you know bless the kids at school so here's the prayer that I've been praying for three years ever since my daughter entered freshman year I pray Lord Jesus would you lead my daughter to the College of your choice not my choice not her choice of your choice where she will discover your purpose for her life and a faithful porn free husband that is my three why are you laughing that's a serious prayer request I'm serious I'm serious man kidding me you got to pray that in man that is a free part prayer request it is highly specific I pray it every single day you can ask me in 10 years how it turns out okay but that that's how you got to go to war for your kids remember God is a good good father he loves the sound of his children's voice and so Paul says you tell them exactly what you need I mean right now if Jesus showed up here on this stage he said Tim you're done okay Jesus I'm here he's in the middle of this anxiety series and he looked you in the eyes he said Jay what do you want me to do for you what would you answer him he said Sam what do you want me to do for you not Tim Jesus is speaking how would you answer that do you know that's not like a wish fulfillment that is a direct question that Jesus asked in Luke chapter 18 it's actually a strange story Jesus is walking along the street and there's a beggar there he's blind everyone knows I know if he's holding a sign or his eyes were out whatever everyone knows he's like the blind beggar in the town and Jesus walks by him and in Luke 18 it says Jesus asked him what do you want me to do for you and I remember thinking reading that and thinking well duh right I mean isn't it kind of obvious everyone knows this guy is blind how many of you know that when Jesus asks a question it's not for his benefit it's for yours he wants to hear you say it Jesus already knew that man's need but he wanted to hear him say it for himself he said be specific show me you're serious tell me your specific supplication Lord he said I I want to see and Jesus said all right receive your sight your faith has healed you and instantly the man could see and he followed Jesus praising God and all who saw it praise God two guys Jesus wants to do the same thing for you God wants to hear your voice it's an invitation let your request be made known to me when you pray and you share your heart with your father you understand God never puts you on hold he doesn't say I'm gonna mean text me later as a child of the king you have 24/7 access to the throne room of grace your sins have been forgiven by Christ you're covered by his blood there's no condemnation you're filled with his spirit and at any moment you can barge into the throne room of grace and ask him for help so think about that thing that causes you anxiety and worry this fall and I want you to imagine Jesus was standing here asking you that question what do you want me to do for you how would you answer that for some of you I know the answer comes right to mind right you're thinking of a situation someone your family needs healing there's a there's a child being bullied in school over here or your suspect your kids are vaping or using drugs and I and I believe Jesus is asking so tell me what do you want me to do for you heal your marriage dismiss the lawsuit help your business rescue a spouse who's tied up in temptation or one who's in hormonal free fall help her what do you want me to do for your aging parent who needs helm care is there a mountain in your life that needs moving because that's what I'm an expert at what is overwhelming you something in your life that is too big for you but it ain't too big for your God don't be shy you ask him for his help there's a guy named bill Frey who wrote a book called the dance of Hope and he tells a story as a young kid of how he was trying to pull a tree stump out of the Georgia dirt one day he was 11 years old and basically his chores as a boy was gathering firewood in the forest - house and so he'd searched the woods after school for tree stumps and that were cut down and basically chopped them up for kindling and so one day he finds this large stump behind the house he tries unearth it and he literally for for hours he's pushing he's pulling his crowbar and trying to lever it out but it won't budge why because the root systems of the stump were just so deep he couldn't get this thing to move an inch and he was still struggling and sweating with it when his father came home from work and he spotted his son out in the woods there and he came over to watch me he said how's it going so he's like I can't get this thing to even movies it's all I think I see your problem and the boy was like you know what and he said well son you're not using all your strength and the eleven-year-old exploded the way that between Agers - I've been working all day and he showed his dad's got blisters and bloody hands he says no no son you're not using all your strength that is you haven't asked me to help you yet and he rolled up his sleeves and got the stump out guys anxiety management is like pulling out tree stumps there are some problems that you have that have very deep root systems and they seem a movable and pull them out as hard hard work but you don't have to do it alone Paul says ask your father for help he's got the strength and he has a solution will he solve the issue yes he will will he solve it immediately maybe we solving the exact way you thought maybe or maybe he'll give you the grace to endure maybe he'll answer with fresh patience in a in peace or a wisdom to deal with the problem in a way you can't even see right now I want to challenge you don't be like that little boy with the orphan spirit I'm all alone know what trying to wrestle it out in your own strength as I was writing this I think God is somebody's here today and you are wrestling with a deep-rooted problem this fall that is causing you all sorts of anxiety and God is saying to you you're not using all your strength that is you ain't asked me into the fight yet remember prayer is the difference between the best that you can do and the best that God can do here's what I can do my own strength in printer's what God can do in his unlimited strength ask your father for help summon his strength and when he answers don't you forget to thank him did you catch that last part of Paul's prescription he says in everything by prayer supplication with what Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God Paul says in this little recipe I'm giving you for prayer here's what I want to do when you pray here's your vow to prayer I want you to sprinkle in gratitude all throughout the thing in other words among all your requests God helped me God please give me Lord won't you show me you should make sure you got plenty of these two wonderful words that melt the heart of your father thank you thank you Lord giving thanks or gratitude is not just calling to mind the problems you faith it's calling to mind the blessings you already have most believers when they pray they just focus on the hole in their bucket this is what I don't have stop look what's in your bucket already is there anything in there to say thank you Lord for you know do you see your friends you see your family do you see your church your salvation eternal life that your forgiving the love of God the Holy Spirit season your prayers with gratitude Paul says because you know what happens when you pray with gratitude it's like you slap handcuffs on anxiety and kick his butt out the back door get out and don't come back here's why gratitude and anxiety will never coexist they won't share the same room they won't share the same heart it's a minute.you pepper in your prayer Lord and I thank you for this you've done it before you'll do it again he's like you suck the oxygen out of worries world in gratitude you remember God's blessings you recall his breakthroughs in your life and said you did it before God do it again my prayer journal is full of those kind of prayers let me tell you how this works so on Monday I'm writing my prayers out and I'm writing about this one big thing it's causing a little bit anxiety for me it's not a big deal it's just like there's this big like decision that's coming up and it's a project that we've been working on for like 10 months and we've worked super hard super proud of the team but the outcome is completely out of my control I don't love that I prefer prayers that I can have some influence over and so I keep my prayer journal I'm like Lord I can't I can't control this and there's this contingency and if this happen and I actually as I'm writing out that prayer request my anxieties going up I feel like my blood pressure rising and so I'm like pause and I start going back through my prayer journal and I review what God's done over the last nine months and I look back at the start of the year remember when we were praying and fasting and I look back in January and without getting specifics my son had a huge need at school like I mean it was one of those like read God we need all the stars to align okay and I look and literally within 15 days God threads the needle he answers with this specific provision I'm like just the miracle father who are you and Who am I that you would do this for your son thank you Lord thank I felt my confidence coming off because the Lord's done that before he'll do this again it was in February we had the bright idea to invite Mariano Rivera to liquid church he's a Yankees pitcher so we know it's close to the Lord's heart and I'm like like would it be awesome like he's so cool I'm like it's a long shot you know he speaks all over the world we don't have money to even pay him or anything like that we're just like would you just come as a fellow Christian you know and right and I'm like just prayed about guides Mariano Rivera is coming to liquid for free in two weeks that's favor that's God doing something that only he can do see in prayer you don't just rehearse your problems you remember God's answers you recall his breakthrough in and in your life you remember these are the mountains you moved for me my life is littered with them so is yours if you are not careful your prayers can become this one big laundry list of problems and complaints you know god I don't have this and I need this and change that it's all petition and actually raises your anxiety so Paul says I want you to sprinkle in a generous dose of gratitude in your prayer thank you Lord when I do that my heart fills with peace and confidence because I see his provision my problems actually don't seem so big anymore but my God seems huge that's what gratitude does it right sizes your problems and super sizes your Savior you pray about the cancer and you say and Lord I of course I'm asking for healing but Lord so the cancer came back that's okay I will not worry because you did it before Lord do it again amen he's a and so you know my company cut back this fall er my job got transferred that's okay I can look back 18 months ago God you helped me start over before Lord do it again so I got I got blindsided by the breakup and my heart hurts Lord but I believe you still have a hope in plans and a good future in store for me do it again Lord do it again that's what you're doing in prayer you are asking him for help and then L you are leaving your worries with him it may not be answered overnight church but since trust his heart you can leave it with him you can make that supernatural trade you'll never get this trade anywhere in life where your God says give me your problems and in exchange I'm gonna give you my peace you got a problem I want you to cast it to the cross and let Jesus worry about it he saved you he can save you from that situation the Apostle Paul are at Peter so when talking about Paul you guys know Peter he actually wrote a verse on anxiety I just want to share this this is so cool the Holy Spirit has popped this out for me this week Peter wrote this he said cast all your anxiety on Jesus because why because he cares for you do you notice the verb cast like isn't that a weird word like cast your anxiety anybody remember what Peter was he's a fisherman got it some you're like oh I see like he cast no he didn't he didn't use a rod and reel first century people he used to cast the net that's how you went fishing and so I imagine Peter actually writing that verse and he's imagining being out in the lake right because he he would he would cast the net as far as he could out into the lake and if you remember when he went fishing without Jesus he'd bring it back in all night it's like it's empty again and Jesus like I got an idea why don't you cast it on the other side and so it's like okay Jesus because you say so your carpenter I'm fishermen I'm gonna do it okay he cast it out and what happened it came back what full of fish it's breaking the boat it's a miraculous provision I want you to keep that image of casting in your mind Peter says cast all your anxiety on Christ because he cares for you when you give God your problems he gives you his provision you give God your worries he gives you his peace you give God your weakness he gives you his strength Jesus is saying to you test all your anxiety on me because I love you I gave my life for you and you think this is big you got a problem Church you got a mountain that needs moving cast it to the cross and let Jesus your savior worry about it he'd love to trade your problems for his perfect peace amen guys that's how you create calm in your life control belongs to God so I'm gonna ask him for help and I'm gonna leave my worries with him so keep calm Church and pray on the pathway to peace is paved with prayer amen so we gonna pray today we're gonna have a little old prayer sesh now because I was I was writing this message I honestly I felt God say to him don't just don't just preach on prayer I want my people to pray I mean we're in God's house so we're gonna talk to Daddy is that Alright and here's what I want you to do in your head I want you to imagine Jesus is right here in this room actually you don't have to imagine he is in this room amen he's right here how do we know he said wherever two or three are gathered I'm right in the middle of them so Jesus is here the lines are open you have a hotline to heaven and I want you to imagine Jesus is asking you this question directly what do you want me to do for you and here's what I want you to do I'm gonna ask you in 30 seconds to turn to your neighbor it could be the person you came with if you're alone it's stranger might be sitting next to you then you're like now I have anxiety duh just like step over don't worry about it being weird okay everyone here is weird so just roll with it all right I here's what you do I want you either share a request and answer this question short just a few words maybe a phrase what do you want God to do for you this fall I mean he may just be like I want God to give my son a new circle of friends III want God to heal my father who's in the hospital just be specific put it up we want God to help us start a family just what your quick request is or a praise report maybe you're here today and you're like I got a gratitude I got give thanks to God what he's doing right now in my life I got a new job I got a praise God for that maybe you're saying you know what my child is finally walking in sobriety I'm praised thank you Lord for that share a blessing you may be like we fat we're pregnant you know all right so I'm gonna give you 30 seconds for this turn to someone sitting around you and share either a prayer request or praise report don't let it cause your anxiety 30 seconds and then we're gonna pray together go ahead Church go ahead okay all right now listen here's what we're gonna do back with me guys we're gonna pray right now and this is a big deal right now this is this is the body of Christ coming together there's not two or three there's not 20 or 30 s naught to 100 300 there's two three thousand five thousand people we're gonna cast our worries on Christ we're gonna kick anxiety out the door and we're gonna claim the promise of Jesus and so before you pray I want you to listen to the words of Jesus Matthew 18 Jesus said this if two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask for my father in heaven will do it for you because he's that kind of father for where two or three come together as my my followers I am there among them so Jesus is here he's saying you ask anything in my name and I'll do it for you I might not answer it exactly how you thought I would but I'm gonna a respond so church we're gonna lift our voices were actually gonna lift our prayers verbally to heaven at every campus I want to hear the room full of God's children lifting up prayers supplications requests and praises to God cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you let's do that now pray with the person that you just shared with if you don't see someone in your group just invite them right on in good lift it up guys it's not weird just bow our head father we thank you you are a mountain-moving god Mountains bow down at the name of Jesus every knee bounce at the name of Jesus father God you have given us life you have conquered sin and death and Satan and father God we are free to come into your throne room of grace and these are our requests god I pray that you would answer them in your perfect sovereign will and wisdom and father that you would do it not just for the good of your kids but for the glory of Christ let us look back at the end of this fall and I remember praying about that I opened it up to a stranger I put that seed in the ground and look what the Lord did what can't he do you haven't failed us God you haven't lost a battle so we commit these things to you father hear our requests empower us now with your spirit as we represent Jesus this week in Jesus name everyone said together amen give him a praise God your God he's powerful he's powerful

Channel: Liquid Church

Views: 1,474

Rating: 4.8518519 out of 5

Keywords: Liquid Church, #LiquidChurch, New Jersey, Christian Church, Tim Lucas, Pastor Tim Lucas, Non-Denominational Christian Church, Christianity, Contemporary Christian Church

Id: IsPcbaMYL8o

Length: 48min 2sec (2882 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 17 2018