Have You Prayed About It? | Pastor Bryan Carter | Concord Church

man amen amen I want to invite your friends to open your Bibles if you will to the book of Philippians chapter 4 the book of Philippians chapter 4 we are so incredibly thankful that you were present with us today your present there is something that happens when we gather together as a church family no matter what the weakest look like when we come together great things happen because the Bible says where two or three are gathered in his name he is in a very miss it's a good thing to gather together we need each other as we seek to live our lives for him I want to remind you Philippians chapter 4 I want to read just a couple of verses for us this morning beginning in verse 6 and it reads this way do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus amen we could probably go home from here that's all we need that movie we good from here you may take your seats very familiar verse here in Philippians 4 verses 6 through 7 I want to share just a few word from this subject have you prayed about it that's your neighbor have you prayed about it and that's the other neighbor have you prayed about it have you prayed about it it's a question that is easily overlooked but I want to suggest to you that it's one of the most important questions that you can ever be asked this question speaks of the recognition and awareness that in life we often are quick to act and slow to prayer quick the worry slow to pray quick to complain slow to pray quick to act and have an action plan but slow the prayer today I want to challenge us that you ought to make it an important part of your daily routine to ask yourself and ask others have you prayed about it you see prayer in the life of the believer is not an optional thing in life will believe a prayer is not something that you just use periodically or when you think you need the scriptures convey to us that prayer is like oxygen for the very soul of a believer that prayer is something that you've got to rely on each and every day of your life friends that prayer is the thing that allows you to talk to God but it also allows God to talk right back to you that prayer is that very thing that gives you direction and insight you ought to pray before you make a decision you got to pray after you've made the decision you ought to prayer has to be at the very core of your life for whatever reason my self included friends I don't know what it is but sometimes we become too busy to pray sometimes it's our own busyness that keeps us from frame sometimes it's our own doubts about prayer sometimes it's our own inadequacies about prayer sometimes it's our own struggles that for whatever the reason may be if you're like me sometimes our prayer lives are not where they need to be and I believe that God wants to challenge us through his scriptures and challenge us through his word that friends you and I can not make it without prayer friends alone with your iPhone and your iPad you better find you and I pray and friends you and I must learn how to make prayer part of how we live our lives whatever it is sometimes this is what Paul is calling the church at Philippi to remember he is calling them in this last chapter to remind them of the centrality of prayer to their lives he's reminding them that you're gonna need a healthy prayer life if you're gonna live a healthy Christian life you want to be able to deal with all the stuff that comes your way deal with all the things that happen in your life you and I need a healthy strong vibrant prayer life Paul it's not writing this letter from from a from a palace or from the ritz-carlton no he's writing this letter from a prison cell because Paul understands the centrality of prayer in our lives prison encourage you as you read we read today's text that it be a reminder to you and to each of us about how we need to make prayer a priority in our lives I don't care we can you do it I don't care if you do it every morning when you wake up I don't care whether you gather your family prayer before you leave today doesn't matter if you do it at night before everyone goes to bed doesn't matter if you got a prayer group on your job and you guys gather once a week and you pray for your department and you pray for each other doesn't matter if you got a prayer friend and y'all text each other every day before a certain time doesn't matter if you got a prayer guide where Monday you pray for this Tuesday you pray for this Wednesday I don't care how you do it but friends here's the challenge we must make prayer a priority this is what he's finally just to do but it's easy for us to scroll through the feeds on Instagram scroll through the feeds on the on Facebook scroll through the feed of our favorite app or whatever they do but he says I want you to learn how to spend time with me here's what prayer doves first of all prayer removes our worry prayer removes our worry here's what he says in verse 6 do not be anxious about anything he says I don't want you anxious I don't want you worried about anything I don't worry to be the way your life is described it's not the first time he tells them not to worry matter of fact he'll bring it up in Matthew 6:25 334 he'll bring it up again in 1st Peter 5 and the 7 he says listen I don't need you worried about anything but worry is not a part of the life of a believer that because you're a fellow of Christ worry should not define you here's what you know about worry will wear you out and to make your bites and else I'm gonna make you toss and turn in your sleep gonna make you constantly anxious and nervous it'll make you angry with everybody it make you irritable it'll make your hair fall out it'll make you eat too much and not eat enough worry will make your calls panic attacks worry will will make you anxious about everything don't get me wrong life seems like it's sometimes full of stuff to be worried about seems like we can be worried about our kids we worried about our lives if you learn about our finances worried about our mothers our fathers we can be worried about our brothers our sisters we can be worried about our our jobs and our careers we can be worried about our children or our grandchildren we can be worried about our health the health of someone that we love we can be worried about what could happen what nots gonna happen what will happen when this gets found out there seems to be life seems to be full of things to worry about what I want you to understand this scripture says I don't want you to be anxious about anything but God is saying that you doin me that as followers of Christ we don't have to worry about anything and matter of fact when we're he shows up we shouldn't entertaining it we should evict it because we know that weary does not belong in the mind of a believer because where he is us putting more faith in our doubts than we put faith in the God in which we serve if the God that we serve woke us up this morning gives us strength and stamina gives us minds and the right capacity gives us health and shrimp if God can take care of us if God can take care of blades of grass and sparrows in the air then cannot God take care of you and take care of me and take care of the stuff that consumes us sometimes see the reason the enemy wants you to worry because he knows if he gets you worrying he'll get you off track on what God can do he'll make you forget God's Word he'll make you forget the track record of God's faithfulness in his life and you'll be so worried about the situation that you'll think that you've got to get yourself out of the situation and you'll forget you've got a God in heaven that looks down on you and sees you and says I'll never leave you nor forsake you I will walk with you I will be with you I will protect you I will heal you I will Shepherds you you are not in this by yourself somebody can go home now you are not in this by yourself you have a god that's wet Prince we get over concern where we try to do too much and then where we begin to invade our minds we begin to say what if and what if this doesn't happen and what if they find out this and and what if my business doesn't go well and what if I failed and what if I'm humiliated and we get concerned about all the what-ifs but the good news is this friend all that you can handle is the present you don't know the future you can't have the fast but the Bible says Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever more the good thing about being a child of God is the stuff that I can't handle I've got a God that can handle me and humble the stuff at the same time it'd be different if you had to do it all on your own no you've got a God who cares for you so our scriptures say cast your cares on him because he cares for you friend you better watch out for weary because where he wants to invade your heart where he wants to invade your mind where he wants to invade your circumstances and whenever you see it's show up in your mind and in your heart you got to remind yourself that I don't have to worry because the scripture conveys to me that I I don't have to worry I don't have to give in to the anxiety and the anxiousness there was to keep me up there was to make me Restless that wants to consume me that wants to make me think the negative and wants to make me think that this that the worst is going to happen in my life who iam ward says this about worried he says worried distorts our thinking this roughs our work this quiets our soul disturbs our body this figures our face destroys our friends demoralizes our life destroyed defeats our faith rehabilitates our energy and unfits us to meet our difficulties remorse says worth weary is faith in the negative that word anxiety means the care but it means to over care young girl received a beautiful flowering plant for her 12th birthday she was so excited she she had never taken care of her playing all of her own so she was determined to keep this plant alive and beautiful and she knew that living in Florida that people often watered their lawns like once a week so she decided that she would have the same thing for her planet she watered it every single day that's two weeks she noticed that a couple of leaves started turning yellow so she decided that she would that what she was watering it wasn't enough so she began to water it twice a day and beginning to add fertilizer to within a week all the leaves fell off a turn the next week all the leaves are gone she killed the plan because she over cared for it some of us are guilty of over caring for some stuff it's okay to care but some of us over care for our children over care for a relationship over care about our finances over care about our family over care for our health issues and friends you got to know that you and I have a limited capacity but there's a point where you gotta realize what you can do ends and what God can do shows up and sometimes you got to learn how to say I care but I'm not going to take on too much responsibility because I can't fix nobody I can't change the body I can't decide for nobody I can't live know about his life but I've got a God that can work where I cannot work I still care and I still love you but I am NOT gonna take on so much all my life that I know I cannot handle that's God's territory God can you give me the grace to be able to trust you when I know I can't do nothing about it God can you give me the grace to be able to trust your work and your presence and your power when I am limited in my power and capacity Lord in the scheme of the grace not to over care this is this is false II worry makes you doubt what God can do where he makes you doubt that God that what you're facing now is bigger than the God that you sir it may be new to you but it's not new to the God that you sir matter of fact if you would just take time and begin to think back over your life you would realize that this is not it this may have a new face but it's the same thing you faced two years ago and the same God that was faithful in that is the same God that will be faithful today prayer prayer removes our worry but then secondly prayer refocuses us only God every focuses on God look at the next part of the verse don't be anxious for anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your requests to God Paul says listen I don't want you to worry about anything and you're saying wait a minute if I'm not gonna worry what am I supposed to do you telling me not to worry you don't know what I'm facing you don't know the news I got you don't know what I've been dealing with and Paul says here's what you ought to do instead of worrying I want you to pray and it says though Paul knows that many of us are kind of slow so so Paul says listen I'm not gonna tell you one time I'm gonna tell you three times and he uses three different words for prayer as though so we won't miss it he says pray which means the acts of God then he says petition which means also the ask of God then he says present your request which means the ask specifically of God he uses three Greek word for the same word they all mean the same thing basically pray it's almost as though he didn't want us to miss this that the way you deal with worry is that when where he comes in your life it means you got to raise your prayer life it means that that when you become consumed when you become overwhelmed when life starts throwing stuff at you when you feel like I don't know about this he says your your your answer and the way that you the resolve it is to learn how to pray to God and depend on God and look to God and so here's the challenge many of us we specialize in emergency prayers we we treat prayer like it's the spare key you know when we can't get the door open ourselves we without prayer and so i'ma pray to door open we we treat spread prayer like a spare tire and so when we have a flat in life now we want to whip out prayer and use prayer to be able to get us out of a jam but notice the text the text says worried about nothing pray about everything which means you serve a god that's interested in the very details of your life that this God that we service not just wants to be talked to when there's big stuff in your life no he's concerned about every detail of your life he concerned about what school you're choosing for your kids he's concerned about your health and your strip he's concerned about your dating life and your financial life and your health life and your physical life and your mental life he's concerned about the decisions you're making it work and the decisions you're making at home and the decisions you're making in your family he's concerned about what the doctor said what your boss said what your friend said what your sister said you serve a god it wants to be involved in every detail of your life and friend don't just talk to him when there's a case of emergency friend talk to him every day when you own your way to work tomorrow you need me friend Lord guide me as I go to work today Lord order my steps order my path order my conversations keep my mind keep my temper lord give me success in the place you've planted me to pray over your kids God be with my kids as they go to school keep them safe keep them focused give them integrity give them good character god guide me in my singleness Lord protect me and honor me help me to fulfill the purpose you got in my life for now and if you have something later do that to friends prayer keeps you from whirring he says the three times to listen I want you to pray I want you to pray I want you to pray I want you to make prayer part of your daily habits part of your daily walk sometimes the enemy what he does is he tries to convince you that you're not a good prayer you know I don't feel like I know how to say it and I don't I don't feel adequate enough listen prayer is real simple it's just you talking to God it's you it's you saying God this is who I am and God this is what I'm facing and God this is what I'm dealing with and this is it's you talking to God about God it's about you saying god I praise you for for you being great and for you being strong and for you being holy it's you honoring God anybody can talk to God when you're a follower of Christ use anybody can trust him but God wants to be involved in every part of your life but notice what he says I want you to pray about that this is when that thing tries to get the best of you I want you to pray about that and you can't get to sleep at night he said perhaps into the scroll and I want you to pray about that he says when that thing or that relationship I want you to pray I know what you love about scriptures the scripture gives you a totality of the stuff you ought to pray for he says you ought to pray for your friends and pray for your enemies he says you ought to pray when you're healthy and strong and you ought to pray when you're sick or when someone in your family is sick he said you ought to pray when you're full of joy and when things are going well but you also ought to pray when you feel like God is absent in your life we feel like God is distant when you read the Psalms which is basically a prayer book or a hymn book to God you found all kinds of prayers you find prayers when they missed the mark and sinned against God and they were struggling to try to figure out how do I overcome the fallenness that I faced and you sign other prayers when they were going into worship and they were going in and honoring God friends I won't he says I want you to start making it a habit to pray for those things that try to bog down your heart and in mine but look with Texas with Thanksgiving someone says though he says listening to miss of all you're asking please don't forget to thank God for what God has already done in your life for how he's already worked in your life he said I want you to mix these two together he said don't just come just ask as asked he says in the missile you're asking make sure you learn how to thank God because sometimes in a missile you're thinking it helps you to deal with the thing you were worried about because sometimes while you were worried about it when you start thanking God for what God has already done it registers you begin to leave begin to believe why am I worrying about that when I thank God for what God has already done how God has already worked and what God has already seen me through friends that made me a habit for some of you today when you get home today you might want to pull out your phone and just begin to make a list of the things that you can thank God for you ought to just begin to thank God for the things he's singing you through from the doors he's open for the ways he's made you ought to just look over your life and begin the same God and I promise you as you begin to thank God for what he's already done you're gonna get to a point were you beginning to say in the midst of your prayer God if you don't do anything else I've looked at the list and if you don't do anything else based on this list you've already done enough imma stop worrying you know what now that I think about it God I was here five years ago I was here two years ago I've seen trouble before but I've seen you come through before and so God I'm stopped worrying and I'm just gonna praise you in advance if you do it i'ma praise you if you don't imma still praise you if I keep the job i'ma praise you if I lose the job i'ma still praise you if you heal my body i'ma praise you and if you don't imma still praise you because God you've been so good to me already that even if it doesn't work out I'll still give you Oh father saying to you when you talk to God don't just fill up your list with all the stuff you want from God and all the stuff you need from God but in the midst of you talking to God spend some time thanking God for the work and the move and the things he's done in your life then danny simpson was a 23 year old ken canadian and danny simpson with the jail for robbing the bank and danny then went to jail he he was arrested for robbing a bank for six thousand dollars they sent him to jail for six years but in the midst of his robe where he used a 45 caliber Colt semi-automatic gun that was actually an antique the gun was from 1918 but fact the pistol in his hand was worth $100,000 if if Danny Simpson had just known what he was carrying in his hand he wouldn't have robbed the bank because he would have known he had everything he needed already in his hand who am I talking to today friend you're looking at everything that you think you need but sometimes you got to look in your hand and just begin to thank the Lord but what the God has already put in your hand for what God has already done he's already blessed you he's already kept you he's already opened doors he's already seen you through difficult times he's already healed your body and you just gotta learn how to tell the Lord thank you for what you have already done this ought to be your declaration before God that you ought to learn how to how to walk with this attitude of gratitude with this disposition very well you can't help yourself but to tell God thank you you ought to wake up in the morning saying lord I thank you when you begin the walk in the house you ought to be able to say lord I thank you when you can hear what's happening in the house you ought to begin to say Lord I thank you when your words start coming out you ought to be able to say the Lord I thank you when you get in your car you ought to be able to say Lord I thank you when you arrive at your job you ought to be able to say Lord I thank you when you get a paycheck on the first and the fifteenth you ought to be able to say Lord I thank you when you've got a roof over your head you ought to be able to Clare lord I thank you when you look at your resume and what God has done in your life when you look at your LinkedIn and see your profile and what God has done you ought to be able to declare the Lord I thank you when you think about when you were sick but now you're well you ought to say lord I thank you you ought to think about when you are depressed and broke down even suicidal but God gave you your joy back God gave you your mind that God gave you your hope back and all you can do is say Lord I thank you when you think about your enemies that tried to take you out tried to make you lose your focus lose your job lose your mind and yet here you are today and all you can do to save the Lord will be my shepherd he'll walk with you and talk with you he'll prepare a table in the presence of your enemies and all you can do is say look at what the Lord has done hallelujah somebody somebody ought to tell him thank you [Applause] somebody somebody just tell them thank you you've come too far and don't you dare think you got this far on your own the grace of God has been on your life the grace of God has kept you in your life and you just ought to tell the Lord thank you your neighbor don't know what you've been through your friend doesn't know what you've been through but you know what the Lord has been doing in you and through you help to raise those kids helps you get startled your way gave you back your self-esteem when they broke up and tried to leave you gave you back your focus when your father wasn't there God has been good to you and sometimes you just gotta tell him thank you God [Applause] thank you God for keeping us thank you God for walking with us thank you God for giving us confidence and boldness when we wanted to give up when stuff got hard when we didn't know what to do when we wanted to give up God has been faithful and sometimes you got to tell the Lord thank you I don't know about you but I can think of my own story I shouldn't be standing in this pulpit it's about the grace of God that I am here today when they called me to the church I wasn't qualified I didn't have the seminary training they had to rewrite the qualifications or the qualifications would fit me I just came by to tell somebody I know what God can do [Applause] I know what it's like to be overwhelmed in life pastoring this church get overwhelming sometimes hearing people's prayers and hearing the people are going through trying to lead the way God wants you to lead nothing can get overwhelming sometimes anybody that's in leadership knows you can get overwhelmed leading your family leading your department leading in your situations anybody if you lead in anything you you know that leadership can overwhelm you sometimes but I love this text he says because you got to learn how to thank God for the journey that you've been on and when you don't know the answers and you don't know what and you don't know when and you don't know how and when stuff happens in your life that you didn't plan on you didn't anticipate you didn't see coming you didn't know how he says I want you in the midst of all you're asking for me to do something in the midst of that just stop start thanking me for what I have already done in your life and then he says and the peace of God and peace of God that passes all understanding and the peace of God that passes all understanding don't you read the Bible too fast cuz he doesn't say that he'll pray and you thank him and he gonna answer your prayer immediately the text doesn't say mama was healed the text doesn't say your merits got better text doesn't say that you stopped going to the doctor the text doesn't say that you stopped chemotherapy and radiation the text doesn't say that you were able to get your job back but the text says and the peace of God in other words in the midst of what you were worrying about you gave God your worry and God gave you his peace hallelujah somebody today Oh whoop-whoop you'll give him your words you give him yo anxiety and you you give him your cares you you give him what you don't understand you give him your plans that you can fix you give him that and he will begin to give you back his peace a peace that surpasses all understanding he'll make your leap when you sit and believing he'll make a smile when you send me smiling he'll make a habit when you send me happy he'll make it run when you shouldn't me running he'll make a dance when you should't me dance he'll make a shout when you shouldn't be sound and all you can declare is that the peace of God has surrounded your life somebody here this morning can testify I prayed and I gave it to God and God showed up in my life and he gave me his peace hallelujah somebody today he'll give you peace let the world then give you and the world can't take away he'll give you peace while your enemies are still talking he'll give you peace with no money in the bank he'll give you peace when you don't know what lies ahead you ought to thank God for his peace hallelujah [Applause] [Music] he says this piece there's no guards your heart go guard your mind in Christ Jesus softly he's will give you a peace in your heart he'll give you a peace in your mind let's go guards you know guards your heart so your heart ain't got to be anxious your heart ain't got to be worried your heart ain't got to be consumed your heart ain't got to have answers your heart ain't got to have no itinerary I know you want to be in control I know you'd like to plan everything out but sometimes you can't plan everything out sometimes you don't have an itinerary sometimes you don't have a schedule sometimes it's not in your Outlook calendar sometimes you ain't got an app to fix this but what you do have it's some piece and this pieces go guard your heart so guard your emotions so you don't have to lose yourself you know what's happening at home but you go walk in your job and still be productive why because the peace is with you so guard your mind so you're not anxious and your mind is not weary your mind has not consumed your mind is not all over the place you you can't even know you can't even think straight but when you give this to God he's will give you a piece on your mind but your mind is available to be able to think clearly you gonna be able to recall the promises of God that you need for this season in your life and so when the enemy tries to make you wearing you gonna be reading to recall cast your cares on him when the enemy wants to thoughts doubt in your mind you can say the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want when the enemy tries to remind you of what could happen you go say you mana for evil but God meant it for good for the saving of many lives when he tries to make you doubt what God can do you go declare to yourself and we know that all things work to the good of them to love the lord of the call according to his purpose when you're in the mists of Laden and you can't be patient you go say and they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength peace Lord peace give those worries to God today and begin the walk and the power and presence that he calls you to you don't have to be like everybody else walking around threatened and worried and anxious know you've got a God that cares for you you've got a God that knows your name you've got a God that knows when you get up and when you lay down you've got a guy that knows the number of hairs on your head you've got a God that says you are fearfully and wonderfully made you've got a god that knew you while you were still in your mother's womb you've got a garden as a plan for your life you've got a god that is looking over you and watching over you and sends angels to encount all about you you've got a God that when you fall he'll lift you back up you've got a God then when you're saying hey don't forgive you you can have peace because you got a god that's for you you've got a god that's with you you've got a God that cares for you

Channel: Concord Church

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Length: 38min 53sec (2333 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 18 2020