The School of Prayer Part 6: God's Antidote for Anxiety

Welcome friends to the line of fire. Class is in session as we continue in the school of prayer. We are here friends to infuse you with faith and truth and courage to help you stand strong on the front lines. We are going to continue in our study of prayer. I have been so excited about teaching this because not only do I get to share this with you to see health and strength and vitality come to the church, but I get to challenge myself as well.

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Thelineoffire.org and just click subscribe. We would love to get you on our welcome tour, tell you more about what our ministry is doing, how we can serve you, all the resources we have. Again, with the goal of seeing the church healthy, thriving, glorifying the Lord, I want to talk today about being anxious. God's antidote to anxiety. God's antidote to anxiety. I want to read to you from Philippians chapter 4. Philippians 4 beginning verse 6. Paul writes, 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 Messiah Jesus. Let me read that again. 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 Messiah Jesus.

Now, this is a command, this is an exhortation from the Lord through Paul. Don't be anxious. Stop being anxious.

But it's not always in our power to control anxiety. Have you ever been hit with an irrational fear? Have you ever experienced panic when there's no rational reason for it? You're sitting in a dentist chair. At any moment you could get up and walk away, but you get hit by fear? Or you're driving in a car with someone and suddenly you feel claustrophobic and you have to get out of the car? Words don't help in a situation like that because the mind is not necessarily acting rationally.

Or what if you have every good reason to be anxious? The doctor's report is terrible. The financial report is terrible. The report from your own body is terrible. The circumstances around you are terrible. What then do you do?

What then? How can you stop being anxious? Stop worrying. Stop worrying. Okay, I'm going to stop worrying.

I won't worry about worrying. We don't have it in our power to just turn that on. In certain minor situations we do, but when there's real pressure, when there's real tension, where there's real difficulty, where the weight of the world is coming on us, when spiritual attack is real, it's hard to live this out. But God does not just tell us stop being anxious. We have a divine prescription. We have God's prescription for anxiety. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. So let me just share out of my own life habit how I've sought to live this out over the decades. I noticed many, many years ago when I started doing prayer retreats of several days at a time, and this was in the days before email, texting, cell phones, even the days before PCs and things like this.

But I'd go away. I'd just have maybe something to write with, you know, a notebook for journaling or something like that. And as I would begin to pray, I would notice that, let's say I got to a place where I was going to be praying, the place where I was staying on the evening. That first night, as I was praying, I just had a million things on my mind.

Everything, life, ministry, home responsibilities. And as I'd be praying, I'd say, oh, got to write this down, got to write this down, got to write this down. And then it felt like my head was clear. And then the next morning, I would wake up and could just focus on God and praying.

And what I realized was I had all this on my mind, and I had to get it, in a sense, off of my mind. And I thought, you know, this is what happens in prayer, that you go to the Lord and you want to pray for his glory to be known in the earth. You want to pray the Lord's prayer. You want to pray something lofty. And you say, but you know, God, right now, I got a lot on my mind.

And whatever it is, you know, I'm getting, I'm studying for my final exams in college and I'm under all this pressure. Or, Lord, if we don't close this deal in my sales organization, I don't know how we're going to pay our bills. Or God, you know, our son, he's just acting up. He's crazy.

He's like 14, but he's acting like he's two, and I don't know how to handle it. Or God, I'm stressed. I feel like you're not even near me in my most difficult time. Whatever it is, sometimes it's big things, sometimes it's little things. But you make your requests known to God, however large, however small they may be. You don't carry them alone. This is one of the most beautiful, wonderful, important things when it comes to our relationship with God.

We don't carry these things alone. We have a Heavenly Father who's not just a bystander. He's near to the brokenhearted. He's near to the afflicted. He's nearer in our worst times than we can imagine, when it feels sometimes he's most distant or not even there. That is the reality of our Heavenly Father. So you come to him and say, Lord, I'm really burdened about this, and I don't know how to handle it. I need your wisdom.

God, this is really weighing on me. I'm asking you to intervene in this situation with a family member, and you go on and on and on, and whatever's on your mind, large or small, you make it known to God. But you're not just telling him about it. You're asking for his involvement. Now, here's a key thing. With thanksgiving, prayer and petition, they're synonyms in certain ways, but prayer is broader, petition more specific. Prayer encompasses the fullness of our relationship with God as we share our hearts with him and commune with him. Petition is specific, translating other verses, supplication, specific requests, making known to him. But here's the thing.

Here's the thing. We pray and we share everything with God. We are not in this alone. Jesus says in Matthew, the 11th chapter, such well-known words. Jesus says this, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. We are weary and burdened.

That is the state of so many in the world. What's the solution? He says, come to me. Just picture this for a moment. In the midst of your troubles, in the midst of your pain, in the midst of your questions, in the midst of your unbelief, in the midst of your fear, Jesus walks in the room. I'm just saying, picture this.

Picture this. Let's say you lived when he was alive on the earth. He's with us now by his spirit everywhere.

Let's say you lived where he was alive on the earth. He walks in the room and smiles and says, I got this, or everything's going to turn out right, or light's going to come out of darkness, or life is going to come out of death. In the midst of the storm, in the midst of the crisis, you may not be able to see your way clear, but when you see him, there's a sense of hope. There's a sense of confidence.

His very presence brings that. So, we make our requests known. He said, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Learn from me. If I'm meek and low in the heart, you'll find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy. In other words, it fits just right, and my burden is life. But here's the key. Make your requests known, prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving, that you stop and thank God for who he is. Lord, right now everything feels dark and distant, but I know you're good. I know you're faithful.

I know you're true. Or, God, I remember what you did in the past. I remember how you delivered me. I remember how you came through. I remember how your love about, I remember, I remember, I remember. I've heard the report about what you've done for others.

I remember when you've done it in my own life. I thank you. Either giving him thanks just for his nature, because right now I don't see my way out, but his nature is good and he's faithful, and he's a great and amazing and loving God. So, we give you thanks, we give you thanks, we give you thanks, we give you thanks.

That's one thing. Or, you give him thanks specifically for the times he came through. Lord, I remember when I was in this crisis and the doctor said there was no way out, and you healed me then.

Lord, I believe you'll heal me now. So, you give thanks. You give thanks for what has come before. You give thanks for what he's done in your life.

You give thanks for his nature. So, you're not just saying, well, God, I don't really believe you're there, but I'm just going to tell you I'm having problems. Okay, if that's where you're at, that's where you're at.

You may have to start there. But then something needs to rise in your heart. Either you make a faith choice. You make a faith choice. I'm going to thank you even though I feel nothing. I'm going to thank you based on how you revealed in the Bible. I'm going to thank you based on what Jesus did, dying for me on the cross. I'm going to thank you based on what I've experienced in my life. You make a faith decision to thank him, and you say, God, it feels like I'm just saying empty words right now, but I believe you are good, even though I don't see goodness now. I believe you're faithful, even though I don't see faithfulness now.

I believe that you are acting and will act in accordance with your character, and I trust you. Now, I've seen something happen many times after I've done this. When I lay out everything on my mind, every prayer request, every concern, when I lay it all out, all out, all out, when I lay it all out before the Lord, I leave the room with peace. You say, oh, he answered all the prayers that I quickly know. Nothing happened to my knowledge. Nothing changed in any circumstance. Nothing was any different before I prayed versus after I prayed according to everything I know, except peace came because I know he's got this, and I know that he will do good, and I know that in him, whatever the enemy means for evil, God will turn for good. Oh, but there's more. It's not just peace he gives us.

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It is great to have TriVita as our co-sponsor along with each of you, our sponsors in this listener and viewer supported broadcast and podcast. Now let's look at Philippians 4-7. As we make our request known to God with Thanksgiving in every situation, as we do, the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Messiah Jesus.

Okay, hang on. The peace of God. That does not just mean the peace that he gives, but his own peace. The peace that is in God's heart. The peace that is in God's heart now becomes ours.

It now becomes ours. It is a peace therefore which transcends all understanding. Lord, I'm looking at the situation right now, and it looks like a tractor trailer is coming my way 100 miles an hour, and my car is stuck.

It won't start, and the tractor trailer is coming right my way. I have no idea why there's supernatural peace, but there is. It transcends all human understanding.

Now think of this. When the Bible speaks of the love of God, so God's own love that is poured out in our hearts at the end of Ephesians 3, it says it is beyond knowledge. When the Bible speaks of the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord, which is a supernatural joy, it is the joy in God's heart in his presence, his fullness of joy. Psalm 16, Nehemiah 8, the joy of the Lord is our strength. That same joy that is in God's heart is now put inside of us.

And how does 1 Peter describe it? It is inexpressible and glorious. Inexpressible and glorious. Or in the King James, joy unspeakable and full of glory. So his love, Ephesians 3, is beyond knowledge.

His joy is inexpressible. His peace transcends human understanding. John 14, Jesus says to his disciples, and he's about to be crucified, it's going to get very dark, my peace I give to you. My peace I give to you. The very supernatural peace in the heart of God is given to us in the midst of the storm.

And the Greek for guard, it's a very literal word, it can be used for military garrison, guarding something. So you're in this shelter place with God, you're in God's fortress, his mitsuda, his ma'oz, his stronghold, his makhse, his refuge. You're in that place spoken of in Psalm 91. You're shielded by God. And literally his peace is like a military unit, a military garrison standing around you and protecting you, guarding your heart and mind. So that the fear, the flaming arrows of the wicked one, that they just don't penetrate.

They do not penetrate. Wow! Praise God for his supernatural grace and goodness.

Let me give you a glimpse of this from another angle. Many of you have heard about the night that God transformed my life, December 17th of 1971. Prior to that I had been shooting heroin regularly, shooting speed, other drugs, heavy user of LSD, other hallucinogenic drugs, smoking pot day and night, any way to get high, getting drunk. And this went on in my life for a couple year period, starting more mildly than intensifying. And it had been very intense for a year plus and I boasted in my sinfulness. I was known as drug bear in my high school, as iron man, because I was such a heavy drug user and that was part of my sinful, foolish identity.

Stealing money from my own father, that was the ugliest thing I did and I boasted about it. And then friends came to faith, two of my best friends played in a band with him. I was the drummer of a rock band. The bass player and the guitarist, they came to faith and shared the gospel with me. I went to the church they were going to to pull them out to show them how silly the whole thing was. And the people in the church, little church, maybe a hundred people, max if everyone was there on a Sunday morning, they started praying for me. I didn't know it but they started praying for me. And by November, so August now to November, God is starting to convict me. Things are starting to change in my life.

And for the first time, November 12th of 71, I believed for the first time that Jesus really died for my sins and rose from the dead. Now I had a battle because on the one hand I want to sin, I want to do evil, I want to feed the flesh. On the other hand I know Jesus is real and he doesn't want me doing these things.

So I'm in this battle. Conviction is heavy on me. And I go to church one day, I don't do drugs that day. Next day I do drugs. Next day I do drugs. Next day I go to church, I don't do drugs. I'm back and forth.

I'm battling. I couldn't wait to get to the service December 17th, 1971. I could not wait to get there. And you have to remember I was playing drums in a rock band. The first rock concert I saw was 13 years old. I saw a Jimi Hendrix in concert. Then not long after that I saw Jim Morrison in The Doors. And I lived to go to rock concerts. Saw Zeppelin multiple times, Hendrix again, The Who, Grateful Dead, Jethro Tull ten years after. So many of the famous bands of the day I saw them repeatedly.

Some of them up to four different times. I lived to go to rock concerts, get high, go to rock concerts, get high, play with my band. That was life. Now I can't wait to get to this little church service where the pastor's wife is going to be playing piano. It is not like today with all the instruments and everything. No, this is just the pastor's wife playing piano and you have a hymnbook. You're singing out of a hymnbook.

And when I go to rock concerts and the music was so loud I would scream at the top of my lungs, scream at the top of my lungs and I couldn't hear myself. Here the pastor's wife playing piano and we're singing hymns. You know there's power in the blood, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine when we all get to heaven. And this joy overtakes me as we're singing these hymns, just two, three little hymns before we sit down and the service goes on to the next part. I get overwhelmed with a joy I've never known.

And I quickly, have you ever been in a car accident? It's like your life passes in front of you in a split second. Quickly all the stuff just flooded, flooded through my mind of the highest drug I ever had. I got high and no this is different. Winning in sport, no this is different. Doing something special for a friend, no this is different. The high of a relationship, no this is, this is different. This must be, this is what's going through my mind. This must be what the church calls the joy of the Lord.

This is qualitatively of a different nature. And right at that moment when I got a glimpse of the joy of the Lord, it dropped in my heart. I got an internal picture, internal vision. In my mind's eye, I saw myself filthy head to toe covered in muck and mire and dirt.

I saw Jesus come and wash me clean with his blood and then put these beautiful white robes on me. And then I went back and started playing in the mud again. And at that moment I said, Lord I will never put a needle in my arm again.

And was set free instantly December 17th of 1971 and nothing ever happened. Another needle penetrated my arm after that. Two days after I said not getting high in any way after that and was free. No withdrawal.

No terrible ups and downs. Just God's grace. It was him. He did it. He did it. He did it.

He did it. It wasn't my willpower. It was divine intervention. It was the power of the blood of Jesus. It was the power of salvation. I tell you that story to say that that joy was something supernatural. It was the joy in God's own heart put in mine on a limited level.

Obviously it's all you can take is a limited level. Same with his peace. You go to him with every situation, with every heartache, with every pain, with every up and out. You go to him with everything. You go to him with everything and and you do it with thanksgiving. And his peace, his divine peace will guard your heart and mind.

It's beyond understanding. Now there have been situations where I've had to go to him repeatedly, repeatedly, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks, until I finally was able to give it over to him and I know it's done because the peace comes. And with the peace is grace for the storm. Friends, there is nothing more effective you can do than pray. There is nothing more effective you can do than cast your cares, cast your anxiety on him. Psalm 55 22, cast your burden on the Lord. He would slowly throw it, throw it on him, throw it on him. Let him carry it. He's equipped to carry it.

We are not. Let him carry you through the storm. Just a reminder, if you miss any of these broadcasts, just search online Apple Spotify for the courage in the Line of Fire podcast, Courage in the Line of Fire or go to our YouTube channel, The Line of Fire. Click subscribe, click the bell to make sure you get notified from us.

This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the Word and prayer and your own walk with God through this broadcast, then stand with us so that we can reach many, many more and bless many, many more. Together friends, we're making a difference. So go to thelineoffire.org, thelineoffire.org and click donate.