I Choose Peace - In Anxious Moments, Part 2

It's one thing for someone to say hey don't worry. But the reality is disease, finances, future uncertainty were all living in a worse today I want to show you from Scripture how God can give you a tool that when worry knocks on the door of your heart.

Prayer stay with thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Living on the Edges of international discipleship ministry entering the Bible teacher.

This program should continue this series I choose peace by wrapping up his message of God's answer last time to address how Lori can oftentimes consume our hope and joy, just medical sure why you trust God and what our circumstances seem overwhelming.

As a quick reminder if you miss a portion of this program. Let me encourage you to catch up but your finger about a great way to listen to Living on the Edge anytime. Well, it's torture for part two of his message and anxious moments from Philippians chapter 4 when Jesus taught his disciples to pray. What did he say when you pray, say, our father, so in the midst of all the craziness of the world, the one who created all that there is the one who sent his son to die for you and rise from the dead, the one who is the sovereign King's all wise, all-powerful and all-knowing of every circumstance real possible and potential. He's your and say to him, who art in heaven do not you not pulled into this or that you're the creator you're in control.

Holy is your name I can I can know hundred percent of time that God will never live in the condo is going to be pure. His intentions, so it's it's this moment where you you pause and you get a high, clear view of God. When anxiety knocks at the door of your heart. Let prayer answered in the first prayer is worship and adoration.

So I have a habit as I'm laying in bed either. Pray slowly through Psalm 23 the Lord's prayer or parts of it and then I don't look at my phone I don't check my email. I have coffee already made because it's a very important part of my early morning and the dog and I are friends. I let the dog out and every morning I take my couple coffee, my dogs out running around and I stand in my patio like I did this morning and I look up and I see the stars and I force myself out loud. Almighty ever living creator little people like me and stared at the sky for thousands and thousands of years and you created and this is just the Milky Way was 100, maybe 200 billion stars in this little galaxy, and they didn't know there's another couple hundred billion galaxies in the one that place these in the sky at this moment.

On this day the object of urine affection.

I do how to pull off or what's can happen. I'm going to go in and I'm going to talk to you and read what you want to say to me I'm going with you, the creator of the world at my pack. Here's what I can tell you as you get a really big God, you will get really small problems.

If you have really big problems. You have a very small God see what happens with tech thought of it means to focus on get obsessed with okay here's a problem. Okay, maybe 85% or 9% of your marriage is pretty good, or support work.

You really do have a good job there's a supervisor or or maybe you know you're single but you have some really good friends with you but whatever the part that really makes you anxious or there's uncertainty. Here's what you do you focus on focus on focus on sonic focus on pretty soon you look at all of life through this thing is anxiety and then when as you look on life the way were made is in your emotions and your physiology begin to respond in your body and your world gets messed up because you think this is the world he says when anxiety knocks at the door of your heart.

Let prayer answer and the first thing you do.

This is the God that can deal with that you think I can heal someone of cancer. We seen it you think God can give people grace to go through cancer you think God can actually take someone that you love heaven and you can recover from it and be okay knowing going to see them later. You bet.

You think I can give you new job if you don't have it you think I can get into the heart of one your kids. It's not walking with God. You think God can, of course, he can intellectually believe that but it doesn't experience it until you worship him, put a little a the left of where it says prayer and circle and I'll tell you why later. The second is petition. This is the second most common word in the New Testament it's focusing on your need. It's a prayer that expresses my need or might want before I ask. It's a sense that I it's the awareness that I am unable that I have limitations in the situation that I need you God I can't handle this much of anxiety is about, here's a problem or here's issue in the resource you unconscious look to the one what might you do, how I fix how I fix it and the more it's overwhelming for them or thought of you control the more you realize you can't fix it.

Guess what happens.

It just grows and grows and grows. So the kind of prayer that answers the door when anxiety knocks and cause you to run to your father is first adoration and this is confession God.

I can handle this. I don't know what to do in this marriage.

I've tried everything under the sun. I can't get one of my kids attention for the life of me, you know what unless you like to transfer my supervisor to Siberia.

I you know he didn't like me she doesn't like me.

I feel like I can't handle this.

Lord, I need you.

You and that is called in Scripture, humility, dependency, and you know you can't cast your cares on Jesus as long as you're holding onto them and assuming that someway somehow my ability, my moxie, my personality, my brains can solve this.

So the kind of person first warship and then confession and you say you care for me I can handle this and then positioned you to begin to ask him to really asking for help.

The third word is Thanksgiving. It's a very interesting compound word. It means to be good or well and combined with grace.

I love one commentator. He says the way this is phrase it's like sprinkling like salt-and-pepper into the rest of your prayers where you're constantly giving thanks and I find myself when I look at the stars when I'm worshiping God. All the sudden him to bring to my mind, you know you got almost 40 years with your wife after all that you guys have been through. When you think about what that day when your one son was in ICU work you know you thought this was impossible problem, thanks some worshiping but I just sort of fall into Thanksgiving or or how about when you're confessing I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this, God reminds me a member like two years ago for three months ago when it was an impossible situation and you can do you member what I did you wear faith thank you. In fact, let me show you a little tool and I know some of you are not writers enough verbal processors. I don't think people need to keep a journal to be godly.

Okay. But if your little ADD. If a company you know you don't like and services like this sometimes you say I want to ask your question but don't raise your hand, try the opposite I'm to ask you question and I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand. Does anybody else except me, did your mind wander. When you pray, gosh, I just and and then I feel so guilty coming up and down the stars were still some time reading the Bible, God, I can't do this and then my mind all the way over to Karen this over the road here is already in my realize is I can't concentrate very well so when it comes to I'm just a minute paralyzed and then I feel bad I can't concentrate mental got I'm sorry and that is like confession. Sometimes it is give up and anxiety doesn't leave and here's what I've learned to do. I've learned what I'm going through that. I realize that anxiety and biblical prayer cannot coexist and anxiety can't live with thankfulness. So for example I just couldn't concentrate. Lord, I'm overly aware of what I am not in varying degrees of what awaits me. I was away for a few days of what I returned I had like right anxiety like 200 emails, three meetings, holy father, please forgive me for my self focus, and please renew my heart, my mind I'm viewing things through a negative lens and is producing negative emotions and so this is what I did.

Thank you for the rest the walks the time to read relax and laugh with Teresa thank you for Teresa that she said she's feeling better physically than she has in a long time. Thank you for the long and beautiful pool to swim in rehab my back. Thank you that I rarely had to take Advil for the last few days. I mean can you imagine thanking God for no Advil. What he is trying to get this is how life really works. It's in the details of life for you so we know that that's big thank you for the insight and encouragement to listen to the book by John Warburg the life you've always wanted in the resilience and encouragement is brought to my heart. Thank you for the God impulse to help people that we met on the streets that are poor. Thank you that despite all the unpleasantness I see in my life my mistakes in leadership, personal struggles and failures as a Christian as a husband as a father and as a leader that you love me delight in me and have acceding mercy upon me, my family my life my ministry and that you not surprised or shocked that I don't measure up. You remember even when I forget that I'm but dust. I cannot in this life measure up. I am in need of your mercy and your grace every moment of every day. The truth is, many of the things that bother me about me the bonhomie because their true anybody else have that so it but you know what when I got that I was a piece part of all your psyche's office.

I don't measure up to do this.

I do sometimes just being honest and you know what this is who God is. I have great need. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. I'm been a think my way into the presence of God in the last word is a powerful word in the last word. He talks about a so what you do it's requests you outline your specific needs and I mean this is like you know why some of you don't experience much of God you prepared like it's Lord bless my family help me have a good day. Help my children someday someway somehow to meet someone Lord called me to grow spiritually. Somehow, someway, communist like my wife sending me to the grocery store and say could you buy some food that we will all like and that I will cook well I'm whenever she sends me and if she was here she decided on Sunday very often and I got a list and is like. Here's the label it's gotta be organic. It's gotta be this she wants very specific things. Once you have this is who God is.

This is your need, I'm thanking him what you want.

God I ask you specifically to move my supervisors heart to give me favor with him and that I would have great affirmation in this meeting got I'm asking you for X amount of dollars because this is what's happening in our family situation. I need that got I'm asking you for the best doctor in all the Bay Area help me get bring someone in contact.

How do we do with this cancer right specific things and expect specific things and then like a grocery list given to the God is all wise, all knowing and your son, his daughter, and he'll help you. My little the next thing I do in my journal is this is my eye to eye. I pray once I've gotten there. These are all little boxes I turn all my concerns all my anxiety into prayers. Here's a box there it is. Here's a box.

Here it is. And I'm turning them into requests, and this is a month old all about to have checkmarks next to the box you know what I'm experiencing God to live in my life.

God is showing up all guarantee he showing up in your life. You just don't know what you don't track it you don't pray specifically here's what he's saying. When anxiety knocks at the door of your heart.

Let prayer this kind of prayer adoration, confession, Thanksgiving, supplication, let prayer answered and then run into her father's arms, run into your father's arms is like member for some of us we had small kids are some of you have small kids when they have a bedroom whether they wish to like. Therefore there three that a bad dream.

They get up. They run what they do there at the bedside. What they want to do. They want to get back with you. So what you do but when the covers. You know brother to take up the whole bed and then they lay next to you and 30 seconds later what you hear. You think that's an accident scene. They think that their parent loves them is in control.

It's a safe place in their piece in the God of the universe as come, come, stop fretting stop worrying. Stop trying to figure out how you can solve it all. In fact, the promise here. Peace and anxiety cannot write the word coexist. Peace and anxiety can't coexist. Second, anxiety and biblical prayer cannot coexist now give you a warning because you and I hope some of you going okay I get it. You know this, I ask you to put in a a okay anxieties come in my life.

A adoration the next put the C next to that one under the petition confession T for Thanksgiving and then asked supplication. What I'm actually an asset a C CS suits is just a little.

Ask this is my when anxiety knocks, the door my heart. I'm going to let and ask kind of prayer adoration, confession, Thanksgiving supplication, I'm going to let it answer I'm gonna run to my father's arms. Now here's the deal. If you never played golf.

If you never went bowling.

You never played an instrument, or if you didn't like 35 years ago would you expect to go and roll a 300 or sheep are or would you expect it is a skill to learn about a skill to practice the skill to develop and that over time you would get better and better and better and better. You don't have to live in anxious life, but you have built and I have built lifelong habit patterns to respond to anxiety in ways that are very dysfunctional and very painful and they're bad for you. Your soul, your relationship with God. Your family and with other people. So what I just described. You can have to go into training and begin to practice so when you feel peace, leaving because, by the way, you can do all four of those kind of prayers in about three or four. Five minutes right you can you can take a break.

I've had situations where I've been in a situation. I'm anxious like this, not with that excuse negative bathroom.

I'm going bathroom. Why wash my hands. God help me to remember not just walk through that and asked the peace of Christ. I need your power. I need to hide in you. I need your peace in your power in Jesus that he's given it to us freely. To summarize, on the very back.

Biblical prayer is God's antidote to anxiety.

Is it simple and yet profound biblical prayer is the antidote to anxiety every time you feel anxious this week. Here's the word picture when can can you fill it any without me saying when anxiety pounds at the door of your heart. Let father forgive them.

They know not what they do.

Okay Lysistrata let's try that again that's the most un-affirming response to someone speaking of ever had my whole life and I know you are you deep in thought.

That's it. Okay are you ready let's try this again when anxiety pounds at the door of your heart. Let all their beautiful Lord answered as you run into your father's arms what I understand is there might be some people that grew up like me is if God is not your father. If you've never received him as your Savior this thing work because these promises are for people outside of Christ, and so that the prayer that relieves the biggest anxiety. It was my most amazing experience, even though I've been to church even though intellectually believed in God. I didn't realize I need to turn from my sin, my self-will and running my life and I need to turn and say Lord Jesus. I believe that you came from heaven that you are in fact God and you died upon the cross, and as you hung up on the cross you paid for my sin and you covered or atone for my sin and what you said is that as many as believe and would invite you into their heart and life. You would literally take up residence and that's how your piece starts. If you've never done that. We would love to help you on your journey to make that decision because he brought you here today because you matter and he loves to go any further.

Today I want to ask you exactly what I asked the people that were in the room when I taught this. I'm not asking you if you're a nice person, or whether you're trying to be moral and kind to others what I want to ask you is have you ever placed your faith in Christ where you would say to God, Lord, I don't just believe in you in some generic sense or or that you're a deity out there or there's some systems and forces at work where there's positive or negative energy, but I believe that you are the creator of all the world and the universe and that you, God the son came and lived a perfect life on this planet and you lived upon the earth, and you help the poor, and you spoke words of life and you heal people to reveal and declare what God the father is really like and that you and the father are one in Jesus. What you did was to come and show me what God is like, and then to give your life on the cross to pay for my sin. But then you told me that I need to receive that as a free gift.

If you have never done that. Could I urge you the greatest anxiety in the world is what happens after you die and Jesus says I want to give you peace, my peace I give to you and the PC wants to give you first and foremost is to say come to me just today, right now, call upon me, ask for my help just say Lord Jesus, I need you, I have sinned. I know I've done things wrong, will you forgive all my sins right now and will you please come into my life. I believe you died in my place. I believe you rose from the dead, and I'm receiving your gift of eternal life right now and then thank him in your heart of hearts, Lord, thank you so much and then what Jesus would say to you is you don't have to worry. You don't have to worry about what happens after you die, you have to worry about the economy. You don't have to worry about your family, you have to worry about your health. You are mine. I'm going to take care of you. It doesn't mean that everything's going to be easy.

It doesn't mean that everything's gonna quote go your way, but I am now with you for ever and ever and ever and and here's what he want you to know he wants to speak to you. He wants to give you power. He wants to help you in the way he does that he speaks to you through his Word the Bible, so let me encourage you to open the Gospel of John to just get a New Testament and begin to read it. He wants to love you and encourage you through his people so you want you to find a group of fellow believers. A good Bible teaching church and say hey you know I just I just prayed to receive Christ. I don't know much about this.

I know I need love and support.

Will you help me and find a group of people that say yes he has them near you. I guarantee it.

And then finally go to LivingontheEdge.org and I personally have some free resources just to help you understand this step you've taken.

So Lord I pray I pray for the courage of my new brothers and sisters who prayed and ask you for forgiveness and I thank you. You've granted it in Jesus name, amen. If you prayed with Chip, we look to put a free resource in your hands.

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I know because you write and tell me in your people who give financially to Living on the Edge and as I have communicated the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God's salvation and we know that when we share the gospel like this on a broadcast literally hundreds and hundreds of people come to Christ and so you're part of that and we have reaped not because were special, but because the gospel is the power of God to salvation but I want to just celebrate that reward. And thank everyone of you who pray and thank every single person who gives to this ministry people's lives will be different for ever and ever and ever because of you. Thanks so much with you're already a financial partner. Thank you. With your help Living on the Edge is ministering to more people than ever before. And if you're benefiting from chips teaching but haven't yet taken that step. Now would be a great time to join the team to send a gift or become a monthly partner donate online at http://livingontheedge.org Donate on the app or just give us a call a 8883336003.

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