The Biblical Worldview on Overcoming Fear & Worry: Worries Into Prayer

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Go to harvest.org. Worry is a failure to trust God. Don't worry about anything. Pray about everything. Pastor Greg Laurie points out that worry is an excellent waste of time, energy, and emotion. We need to avoid it. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow.

It empties today of its strength. The next time you're tempted to worry, pray instead. Turn your worries into prayers. Author Irma Bombeck was quoted as saying, worry is like a rocking chair.

It gives you something to do, but doesn't get you anywhere. Matthew 6, 27 is pretty frank. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us overcome fear and worry. In a new series, we're learning to adopt a biblical worldview. And we'll learn today that worldview doesn't include worry. We'll see worry and faith are mutually exclusive.

Let me start with a question. How many of you have ever been gripped by fear? You?

Yeah. You know the feeling well. That your blood goes cold. The shiver down the backbone. Your mouth goes dry. The hair in your head is steadying up.

In my case, that's one singular hair. But still, you know, it's a terrifying feeling. Maybe it happened when your life was in danger or you were gripped with the fear of death or as you're listening to this, there's something you're afraid of right now. The amazing thing to me is we'll spend our hard-earned dollars to be scared. You know, we'll go to that super scary movie. And then when the scene comes on, that's the worst scene in the film, we cover our eyes.

Wait, didn't you pay money to see that? Or you go to an amusement park and go on the most insane rides. A number of years ago I decided I am just done with roller coasters.

I don't know that I ever really liked them. But I was on a roller coaster and I was at the very top right before the drop. I remember looking down and looking at people standing there looking up there about the size of ants. And I thought I would give anything to be down there with them instead of being up here right on the big drop and all that was so fun.

It wasn't fun. It was scary, right? So we know what that feeling is. And then the thing that goes along with fear is worry. And there's so many things to be worried about. The state of our country, the economy, of course, terrorism.

What's going on in this crazy world we are living in right now? Maybe that's why one of the top Google searches recently was, is World War III near? Then there are the other fears that we have. The fear of flying. I read that there's a lot of other things you probably should be afraid of. Did you know 600 Americans die each year from falling out of their beds? So maybe you should have a fear of going to bed tonight. Or many die due to the fatal plunge down the stairs, the bite of sausage lodged in your throat, the tumble on the slippery sidewalk. And then you think, Greg, wait a second.

I came to hear a message about overcoming it. You are giving me more things to be afraid of now. And then there are shark attacks. We have a lot of shark activity now off of our beaches here in Southern California. There was a video that was recently shot and there were some guys out doing stand up paddle.

You know what that is? You stand up on the board and you paddle to catch waves. And they were waiting for a wave and a helicopter flew over.

It was the Orange County sheriff. And so this is the exact announcement they made actually of a transcription of it. So imagine you are out on the water on your stand up board and you hear this ominous message from a loudspeaker of a helicopter.

It is a direct quote. Be advised that the state parks are asking you to make an immediate exit because you are surrounded by 15 great white sharks. They are as close as a surf line. Just remain calm. Thank you for your cooperation. Why don't they just say you are surrounded by 15 great white sharks. You are going to die. Repeat this out loud after me.

Our Father who art in heaven. Seriously. It is bad enough to say one or two or five. Fifteen great white sharks. Then they can psych them out and play the Jaws theme over the loudspeaker.

No. That would be horrible. But a lot of things to be afraid of today. And then there are the fears about our own life. Maybe our family or our personal health. It is funny with all that is going on in the world I read that the number one thing that people worry about is their appearance. Their appearance.

So it is like yeah I may be eaten by a shark or you know killed by a nuke but how do I look in this outfit. Right. It is funny how we are. So there are all these things that we worry about that don't help us at all actually. In fact John Curtis, director of the University of Wisconsin Stress Management Institute says quote, I believe that 90 percent of stress is brought on by not living in the present moment and worrying about what has already happened, what is going to happen, or what could happen.

So here is what you need to know. Worry is not productive. And in fact worry is a failure to trust God. It is interesting that the word worry comes from an old German word that means to strangle or to choke. Sometimes my grandkids like to choke me from behind. They find this entertaining. And they will come up and say, Papa we want to choke you. No. Don't do that. Because sometimes you know I pass out.

No I haven't really. You know but that is what worry does. It chokes you out. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow.

It empties today of its strength. I think we should take a cue from the Australians or the Aussies as they are called. When you go down under these are very relaxed people and very friendly people. And whenever you ask an Aussie for something, maybe directions or anything else, after they give you what you ask for they will say this, no worries mate. Hey thanks a lot man. No worries mate. Good on you. And I like that.

No worries mate. And that is actually theologically correct. It has been said worry is the advanced interest you pay in troubles that seldom come. So let's try to stop worrying.

You say well it is easy for you to say. Well I know but I want you to consider who wrote the words we are about to read. They were written by the apostle Paul under adverse circumstances. When Paul wrote the words we are about to read he was under house arrest.

He had gone to Rome to preach the gospel and instead was arrested. And he didn't know what his future held. He might be acquitted. He might be beheaded. This could be his last day.

He knew nothing about his future. But he gives to us some of the most inspiring words found on the pages of Scripture. A series of verses that every believer should know and even commit to memory. I am talking about Philippians 4 starting in verse 4 and we will read down to verse 8. Paul writes, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing. Or literally don't worry about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Look at this promise. And the peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. I love these verses. Paul is not in some ivory tower spinning off impractical theories. He is not laying on some beach in the Mediterranean eating a falafel and having a nice tea.

This is a guy who as I said was incarcerated. Yet he is able to say rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. By the way that is a command from God Himself.

So understand this. Rejoicing is a scriptural command and it is not a suggestion. Let me put it another way.

To not rejoice is disobedience to God. But we will justify worry and we will say no it is ok for me to worry because I am in a difficult situation. Well in many ways we all are. Some more than others. But maybe we just all need to lighten up a little bit when we can. You know I think all of us know people that are just a downer to be around.

It is Debbie Downer and her husband Bobby Buskill. Right? So whatever is going on they see the dark side of it. No matter what.

They can't appreciate it. You know you have a great meal. Man that was a great meal wasn't it? I am so full and Bobby Buskill will say, Yeah it is too bad there are people starving in other parts of the world right now.

Thank you Bobby for living up to your name Buskill. Oh look at this beautiful sunset. Look what the Lord made. Love not the world. Neither the things that are in the world says Debbie Downer.

Will you stop already? You know you can find joy. You can find humor. You can find something to rejoice about in some very difficult circumstances. Paul is saying in effect, look guys if anyone knows what it is like to be afraid it is me. But yet I am telling you rejoice and the Lord always.

Listen. Anyone can rejoice when things are going reasonably well. But when you are facing adversity or sickness or hardship or death and then you rejoice, well then you are obeying God. Habakkuk 3.17 says, Even though the fig trees have no blossoms and there are no grapes on the vine, even though the olive crop fails and the fields lie empty and barren, though the flocks die in the fields and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.

Man he was having a hard day wasn't he? We could update that with words something along the lines of this. Even though the economy is bad and they are downsizing at work and insurance rates are up and the car is out of gas and I am sick, I will still rejoice in the God of my salvation. You don't rejoice when things get better. You rejoice no matter how things are going. It doesn't say rejoice when you feel good. It doesn't even say rejoice when things are going well.

It says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. It is in the Lord. The Lord is on His throne. God is in control. The God who is in control loves you and cares about you and is watching out for you. So rejoice in the Lord. In just a moment, Pastor Greg highlights a three-step biblical plan for overcoming worry.

Practical insight is just ahead. I want you to know tonight one thing. God loves you. In a new book on the life of Billy Graham, Pastor Greg Laurie brings us a deeper appreciation for the man and his message. No matter what you've done, no matter how you've lived, no matter what the color of your skin, no matter what your racial background, no matter what language you speak, God loves you. And He wants to come into your life.

He wants to give you a new beginning. Billy built bridges to people and he always shared the gospel and he always emulated Christ and I think we can learn from his example. So I write about that a lot more in this new book I've written called Billy Graham.

The Man I Knew. It's an evangelist's book at the life of history's greatest evangelists. Get your copy of the new biography, Billy Graham, The Man I Knew.

Go to harvest.org. And now Pastor Greg continues his message called The Biblical Worldview on Overcoming Fear and Worry. So now Paul is going to tell us how to overcome worry. This is The Biblical Worldview on Overcoming Fear and Worry.

Three elements I want to bring to your attention. It's right praying, verses six to seven. It's right thinking, verse eight.

And finally right living, verse nine. So right praying, right thinking, right living. Let's start with the first one, right praying. The next time you're tempted to worry, pray instead. Pray instead.

Turn your worries into prayers. This is called developing a conditioned reflex as compared to a natural reflex. We all have natural reflexes. You know when the doctor tells you to cross your legs and then he hits you with that little device and your leg shoots out. It's a natural reflex.

It's amazing. Or if you touch something hot, you immediately pull back. You don't have to teach that even to a toddler. They know when they touch something hot it hurts. They pull their hand back. That's a natural reflex. But then there's a conditioned reflex. Now that is something you're taught to do and after you've done it so many times it becomes natural to you. For instance, standing during the national anthem.

That's a show of respect. That's a conditioned reflex I was taught to do that are putting my hand over my heart when I say the Pledge of Allegiance. That's a conditioned reflex. I learned to do that.

Now I automatically do that. You could compare it to driving a car. Do you remember the first time you drove a car what a mystery a car was? I was out on the road the other day and I saw a car ahead of me. On top of the car it said student driver on the right side of the car.

Big sign. Student driver on the left side. Student driver on the back.

Another sign. Student driver. Student driver.

I gave wide birth to that car. Because I know they don't know what they're doing yet. And sure enough they're driving along they stop for no reason. The right turning signal is on. They turn left. So you give them a lot of space.

They're figuring it out. And I remember what it was like for me when I first learned how to drive. And the thing that was really hard for me to figure out was a manual transmission. You know a stick shift. Because it's like okay you push the clutch in and then you let on the gas but you have to be in gear and the brake pedal and the clutch are different.

Don't hit one instead of the other. So you're jerking and stopping. But after a while you get in your car. You're driving. You're eating a burrito. You're talking on the phone. You're changing the radio. All at the same time of course.

This is not recommended. But you know the idea is that it comes naturally because you taught yourself to do it. You say okay what's the point of this? So here's our natural reflex. When something scary comes, when something threatening comes, when something that alarms us comes, we freak out and we need to teach ourself to pray. The natural reflex is panic. The conditioned reflex and I might add the biblical response is to pray. So Paul says don't worry about anything.

Pray about everything. And I like the fact that he says in everything by prayer. Let your requests be made known to God.

Verse six. He did not say in only the big things. In only the super big gnarly scary things in prayer. Now in everything God's interested in big things. God's interested in little things. God's interested in whatever concerns you. Because sometimes little things turn into big things rather quickly.

Don't they? Little problems can suddenly become big problems. Maybe you're struggling a little bit with drinking and it seems like you're getting a hold of you and you think well I'm okay.

I'll take care of this on my own. Or you have this little issue of looking at porn on the internet and it's becoming worse. A little thing is becoming a big thing.

You need to start praying right now and ask God to help you deal with that situation. Or you watch your children grow up and when they're really small they look so sweet and innocent you think do I even need to pray for them? They're wonderful and then they get a little older and then they hit the terrible twos and then they become even a bit older and then one day they're pre-teen and all kinds of strange things start happening. Pre-teens are like teenagers today aren't they? And it doesn't help when we have publications like Teen Vogue out there.

I've read some of the articles that they've put out. I don't know why but a Teen Vogue came to my house the other day. They should be sending me elderly Vogue.

I don't know. Frankly I don't want any Vogue. Because as far as I'm concerned what they say is out of Vogue. It's out of sync with God's word. One issue that I read was telling people what to do after your friend has an abortion.

This is for teenagers. And it was almost in its way encouraging abortion. Then a new issue deals with sexual matters I will not deal with specifically in this message but let's say it's entirely inappropriate and it was actually in many ways a how-to manual and how to do things that people shouldn't be doing much less teenagers.

This is my point. This is a culture that's out of sync with God. But with all of these things that are going on around us we want to bring everything to the Lord and especially our children.

I love how the mothers brought their children to Jesus and the disciples rebuffed them and the mothers were even more persistent it says in the original language they kept bringing their children to Jesus. And parents you need to keep bringing your children to Jesus from the earliest to the later years. Don't ever stop praying for your kids. Pray for them when they're young. Pray for them when they're teenagers. Pray for them when they're college age. Pray for them when they're young adults going out into the world. Pray for them when they hit middle age.

That's when you know you're getting old when your children are middle age. Keep praying for them. Big things, little things in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. Notice it says with thanksgiving. With thanksgiving that's an important element before the prayer is answered because they take time to worship my Father and remind myself of His greatness and power and in doing so I automatically put my own problems into their proper perspective. When I see God in His glory I see my problems the way I should see them. Big God, small problems.

Big problems. Small God? That is why the Lord taught me in the Lord's Prayer to pray as follows. Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then it goes on and gets to petitions eventually but the point is it starts off with just acknowledging and recognizing the awesomeness and greatness of God and that I am giving Him praise even before my prayers are answered. We need to pray that He will have His will in our life and that we rejoice in the fact that He's in control. Pastor Greg Laurie with good insight today on right praying, thinking, and living. And he'll have more insight as he continues this study called The Biblical Worldview on Overcoming Fear and Worry including a final illustration before we close today. If you missed any part of today's message let us help you catch up by going to our website at harvest.org. Pastor Greg you've just finished your brand new book called Billy Graham, The Man I Knew.

That's right. I know that when he went home to the Lord that you and Kathy had the opportunity to attend his memorial service. Do you remember where you were when you heard that Billy had gone home?

Yes, I was actually in Israel and I was on a little tour with some fellow pastors. In fact, Sissy Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of Billy was with us on that trip and she heard the news differently than everyone else. We all lost a hero, someone we looked up to.

She lost her grandfather and she was very close to him and we were all very sad. Now Billy was 99 years old so he lived a very long life but yet it was the end of an era and so there was great sadness in losing him because I just feel like we need another Billy Graham right now in our world. A man who's a pastor to presidents regardless of what side of the political aisle they're on.

A man who can speak to us during cultural moments. Billy was there after 9-11 speaking to the nation, really being a chaplain to America and he played such a valuable role and of course the great evangelist. So yeah, I remember the day very distinctly and then I attended his memorial service that was held a bit later back at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina and just about every pastor I've ever met. In fact, as I walked around and looked at the diversity of people that were there, people from every denominational background, every kind of theological background, I thought, wow, this is what Heaven's gonna look like if we like it or not. You know, we're gonna be there because we believed in Jesus and we believed he died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead but these are people that would not normally hang around each other but even in his funeral service, it was a reminder of the bridges he built to so many people in the Christian world and so many came from around the world to pay tribute to the great evangelist and in fact, when his library was dedicated, President Jimmy Carter, President George H.W.

Bush were there in person as was President Clinton. So that alone shows you how he reached people on both sides of the aisle and he was loved and appreciated by these presidents that valued his counsel because Billy kept it confidential and he would rarely reveal something about a president. I asked him lots of questions. What was it like when you were with this person?

What did they say? He kept it confidential. He did tell me one amazing story, though, about President John F. Kennedy. I asked him if he had any regrets in life and he said, yes, I do and he told me the story of how he was at the prayer breakfast there in Washington, D.C. and the president will always be in attendance and President Kennedy was there. Billy spoke and after it was over with, the president said, Billy, I would like you to ride with me back to the White House.

I have something I want to talk to you about. Well, Billy was very sick and he said, Mr. President, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline. I don't want to get you sick but maybe I could talk to you as soon as I'm over this sickness and President Kennedy agreed and then only days after that, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas and Billy always regretted that because he wondered what did the president want to talk to me about but he would keep these conversations and confidence and I think that's why people trusted him so much and wanted to share their heart with him knowing that he would give them good counsel and I do write about his relationships with presidents and it's fascinating. His relationship with President Johnson is really surprising. They had a very close friendship. They were both Southerners, you know, so they connected on that level. He was very close to President Reagan as well, not as close to President Carter but it continued with the Bush family, George H.W. Bush. He really played a role in George W. Bush coming to Christ and then fast forward, he was very close to Bill Clinton and Hillary as well and they admired him and in fact, Bill and Hillary came to his final crusade and some people get very upset because they're so partisan these days and how dare you be with those people.

What are you talking about? You know, Jesus spent time with all kinds of people. He was called critically, I might add, the friend of sinners. Billy built bridges to people and he always shared the gospel and he always emulated Christ and I think we can learn from his example. So I write about that and a lot more in this new book I've written called Billy Graham, the Man I Knew.

Yeah, and it's a book you won't be able to put down. It's a fascinating look at the life of this remarkable man of God and we'll send you a copy, it's just out, to thank you for your investment in making these daily studies possible. It's only through listener support that we can feature Pastor Greg's teachings each day. So please send your gift today to A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime. Again, that's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and look for Billy Graham, the Man I Knew.

And we won't be mentioning this much longer, so contact us soon. In Philippians chapter 4, we find Paul's words to be anxious for nothing. Well, Pastor Greg closes with some good insight from that passage. In everything by prayer and supplication, praying for others with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and what happens and the peace of God that passes all human understanding will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

By the way, that word there for keep in the original language is guard. The idea is if you put everything in God's hands and trust Him and rejoice even before you know it, even before you know the outcome, God will post a century outside of your heart. Sergeant peace is guarding your heart.

Have you ever experienced it? In the most crazy circumstances, you have peace in the middle of a storm. That is the peace that passes all human understanding. And it's a peace that God can give you no matter what you're facing right now. This is the day, the day when life begins. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.