Do Not Be Anxious

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). 

This week I had the privilege of speaking at a Campus Ministry meeting. They asked if I could speak on the topic of anxiety and how Christians should deal with it. We’ve all read, heard, even memorized these two verses in Philippians 4. I read this definition of anxiety: “Anxiety [is] an overt emotional reaction to an uncertain situation. It might be something that threatens our physical health or makes us feel upset or distressed. It can relate to the past, present, or future. Some anxiety over reasonable danger is good (“Stay away from that ledge!”). But irrational thoughts can cause other types of anxiety (“Everyone hates me”).”  

Now, I am confident that at some point we have all dealt with anxiety. Some are dealing with it right now! And can I just mention something here: anxiety itself is not sin, but anxiety can cause us to sin. While the Bible calls us to “not be anxious” (Matt. 6:25; Phil. 4:6) it is communicating the necessity of stopping an action that is already going on. The force of the original Greek word is that we must “stop perpetually worrying.” The ongoing attitude of the unsaved human heart is to be anxious about the problems and difficulties of life. God commands his children to “stop perpetually worrying about even one thing.” If we go on being anxious and full of worry, we are not trusting God. This is sin. What we do in our anxious moments can lead us either to a God-honoring response of faith or to acts of disbelieving sin. While we can’t choose our anxieties, we can choose our responses (Josh Weidmann, The Gospel Coalition).  

Being anxious is not a sin. However, it can cause us to sin based on how we respond to it. So how does Philippians 4:6-7 teach us not to be anxious? Paul gives us the means to not being anxious: prayer. Notice that he uses four different words for prayer: prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, and requests. Now if we’re being honest, majority of our prayers are supplications (asking God for things). But the key to a deeper prayer life that can become a means to not being anxious is not just praying that God would remove the anxiety; but we pray with thanksgiving. Why is that important? Because when you’re thankful, you are hopeful. So even when you are anxious, if you are thankful, you will hold on to the hope that God not only is listening to your prayers, but He is with you and working in you. You pray trusting that He is good and faithful. You are thankful because you remember God’s faithfulness in the past and trust He is still faithful today. And we look ahead knowing the future hope we have in Christ. 

We also pray prayers of adoration and confession. Look at the Psalms. Almost all the psalms include adoration and praise of God as well as confession of sins. These prayers reset our minds and hearts to be reminded of who we are praying to. So when we are anxious, we must pray. How is your prayer life? How deep in your prayer life?  

Paul adds one more thing in verse 7: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace of God is the fruit of prayer and casting your anxieties onto God. If you skip a few verses, Paul talks about learning what it means to be content in all circumstances and situations. And I think this is the heart of finding God’s peace. But did you catch that last phrase in verse 7? It’s the peace of God that will “guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” What is Christ guarding your heart and mind from? Well, in this context, is it not our anxiety? Do be anxious, pray, and Christ will guard your heart and mind. Wow. What it would be like if, moment by moment, we lived this out!

Christians deal with anxiety through spiritual practices like prayer, meditation on scripture, and focusing on gratitude and God's promises. They are encouraged to cast their worries onto God because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7), change their thought patterns to focus on truth, and find support in community.    

May we all experience the peace of God and strive to find contentment in Christ as we, in everything, especially when we are anxious, pray and lay our burdens down and hand them over to Jesus!  

With Blessings,  

Pastor Tim