Your God is a big God, but your anxieties will try to make Him look small. The devil will take your anxieties and try to convince you that your God does not love you, has not forgiven you, does not really understand you, will not help you, and is not good to you. When you are experiencing anxiety, fear, or worry you will be tempted to doubt the greatness of God. You will ask, “Does God really love me? Does He care about me? Am I beyond help? Can He forgive me? How can anything good come from all this?” Sometimes these thoughts will come to your mind when you are confused, hurt, grieving, or lonely. The devil wants your anxiety to win. But God has something different instore for you. He wants you to experience His peace. He wants you to be aware, calm, and present for Him and others. One of the ways you experience that peace is knowing Who you are praying too.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9, NASB)
God gives you seven practices that help you defend yourself against your anxieties.
- Practice #1 is the practice of joy.
- Practice #2 is the practice of gentleness.
- Practice #3 is the practice of awareness.
- Practice #4 is the practice of calmness.
- Practice #5 is the practice of prayer. God’s Word says in verse 6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (NASB). We have already looked at the need for prayer and we saw that we need prayer “in everything.”Then we looked at the different types of prayer. The phrase “by prayer” is a general term for prayer and refers to all kinds and types of prayers in the Bible. We examined five key prayers for dealing with anxiety.
- Adoration: “God, you are wonderful!”
- Lament: “God, I am hurting!”
- Deliverance: “God, I feel trapped!”
- Confession: “God, I have sinned!”
- Guidance: “God, I need direction!”
- Supplication: “God, I need your help!”
- Gratitude: “God, I am thankful”
Today, my goal is to remind you of who you are taking your concerns too. The devil would love for you to think wrongly about your God. Philippians 4:6 says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Who is it that you are taking your requests too?
You are taking your anxieties to Someone who loves you
First, when you are taking your request to God, you are taking your anxieties to Someone who loves you. Over and over again throughout His Word, God tells you that He loves you. The reason why God tells you over and over again is because you don’t believe it or you believe it but don’t really accept it. Let me show you something.
Look at Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (NLT). He doesn’t just love you, He has a great love for you. This great love began while you were still a sinner. He loved you at your worse, and He loves you now. You are taking your anxieties, your fears, your worries to Someone who loves you.
Listen to 1 John 4:16, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love…” (NLT). When you know how great God’s love is for you it is easier to trust Him with your concerns. You can trust God’s love. He is going to love you right. He is going to love you the way you need to be loved. Listen carefully, God cannot not love you. He has to love you. That is God’s character. That is God’s nature. God is love. There is nothing you can do and nothing you can say that would cause God to stop loving you.
One more, Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord disciplines those he loves….” (NLT). Let’s say you are anxious about something you did, you made a mistake, you sinned, or you did something you should not have done. When the Lord disciplines you it will be out of His great love. His discipline doesn’t come from anger or selfishness, it comes from a place of love. He is committed to your development. He wants what is best for you.
When you are taking your request to God you are taking them to someone who loves you. Have you ever been loved by someone? When you are in their presence you feel safe. That is what God wants for you. He wants you to know that when you are bringing your concerns and your requests to Him you are in a safe place, you are in a loving place. When you are anxious, don’t run from God run to Him.
You are taking your anxieties to Somone who forgives you
Number two, when you are taking your request to God, you are taking your anxieties to Someone who forgives you. The devil wants you to be anxious and worried about your current sins and your past sins. The devil will use guilt, shame, and condemnation to get you to believe you are not worthy, not valuable, and that you are not significant. That guilt, that shame, and that condemnation will produce anxieties and fears that will keep you out of God’s will. Listen very carefully, do not let your past determine your future. Don’t let the sins of the past keep you from doing what God wants you to do. Let God determine your future, not your sins. Let me show you something.
Look at Psalm 130:4, “If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped” (MSG). God’s habit is forgiving you. He has forgiven you over and over and over and He will continue to forgive you. If your anxieties are caused by something you did in the past, God says, “Come to me, let me love and let me forgive you so we can move on together.”
Listen to this in Luke 7:48, Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven” (NLT). If you are a believer, your sins are forgiven. I think Christian needs to hear this. Listen to me, look at me, “Your sins are forgiven.” Let me say that again, “Your sins are forgiven.” Let that guilt go, let that shame go, let that condemnation go. Let that feeling of unworthiness go, let that feeling of insignificance go. You are forgiven.
When you are taking your anxieties and your worries and concerns to God you are taking them to Someone who loves you.
You are taking your anxieties to Someone who knows you
Number three, when you are taking your request to God, you are taking your anxieties to Someone who knows you. God knows what you are upset about. He knows what you are afraid of or afraid of what might happen. He knows the uncertainty and confusion you feel. All those feelings can create anxiety. He knows what you need and what you don’t need.
Look at Psalm 139:1-2, “Lord, you have examined me. You know me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up. Even from far away, you comprehend my plans” (CEB). God knows you. He knows when you sit and when you stand. He knows why you sit and why you stand. Even when you are far away from God, you knows your plans, He knows what you are thinking. He knows you.
Your God loves you, He forgives you, and He knows you. He knows the encouragement you need, the hope you need, the love you need, and the peace you need. When you bring your anxieties and request to God, you will not be telling Him anything He does not know. He knows you.
You are taking your anxieties to Someone who can help you
Number four, when you are bringing your request to God, you are taking your anxieties to Someone who can help you. God has a solution! God has an answer! He can get you through whatever it is you are going through. It may not be exactly how you thought, but God is going to make a way for you. He can help. He has the power to do it.
Look at Psalm 147:5, “How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!” (NLT)
Luke 1:37 Jesus said, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (NASB).
Mark 10:27, Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” (NLT)
Don’t give up on God. He is all-powerful. He has a plan. He has a purpose. The devil is going to tell you that God cannot help you and will not help you. This is where you remind your heart and soul that God loves you, has forgiven you, knows you, and has the power to help you.
You are taking your anxieties to Somone who is good to you
Number five, when you are bringing your requests to God, you are taking your anxieties to Someone who is good to you. Your anxieties and the devil will try to convince you that God is not good. Your God is a good God. He is not trying to hurt you. He will not reject you. He will not abandon you. He is good God. He may have you do things that are difficult or allow you to go through a difficult season in life, but He is going to cause good to come out of it. He is a good God.
- Psalm 27:13, “Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living” (NLT).
- Psalm 119:68, “You are good and do only good” (NLT).
- Nahum 1:7, “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him” (NLT).
- Romans 2:4, “You surely don’t think much of God’s wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don’t you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?” (CEV)
God is a good God. He wants you to experience His love, His forgiveness, His presence, and His direction in life. He desires that more for you than you do.
You are taking your anxieties to Someone who is faithful to you
Number six, this is not on your outline or on the screen I feel like I need to add this today. When you are taking your requests to God, you are taking your anxieties to Someone who is faithful to you.
Now listen closely to 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is” (NLT). God is faithful. When you turn your back on God, He does not turn His back on you. When you walk away from God, He does not walk away from you. When you give up on God, He does not give up you. When you are unfaithful, He remains faithful. God why are you so faithful, when I’m unfaithful? Because I love you!
Your anxieties and the devil are going to try to convince you that your God has quit on you and that He given up on you. The devil wants you to believe that God is only going to be faithful if you are faithful. God is saying I am going to faithful to you. I am going to be with you, love you, help you, know you, forgive you and never leave you. I am faithful to you. God’s faithfulness to you is not determined by your faithfulness to Him. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful.
Conclusion
Your God is a big God, but your anxieties will try to make Him look small. The devil will take your anxieties and try to convince you that your God does not love you, has not forgiven you, does not really understand you, will not help you, and is not good to you. When you are experiencing anxiety, fear, or worry you will be tempted to doubt the greatness of God. You will ask, “Does God really love? Does He care? Am I beyond help? Can He forgive me? How can anything good come from all this? Can you still use me?” Sometimes these thoughts will come to your mind when you are confused, hurt, grieving, or lonely. The devil wants your anxiety to win. But God has some different instore for you. He wants you to experience His peace. He wants you to be aware, calm, and present for Him and others.
