How to Wage War Against Anxiety | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Lord, we come before you and we ask that you would equip us and to help us see beyond just our emotional stability. But Lord, we wanna see how we can be more effective and fruitful for your kingdom. And so Lord, we just ask that the spirit of God would rest upon the ministry of the word in this moment. And Lord, we ask specifically that as a church, as a family, you would offer peace and comfort to our hearts. Lord, help us with this.

We need you desperately, or else these familiar verses can skim over us and penetrate and destroy that which seeks to destroy us. We humble ourselves, and we ask you to please be in our midst. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Someone once beautifully said that anxiety is a crisis of faith.

Anxiety is a crisis of faith. That crippling worry that mercilessly keeps you up at night and momentarily can even paralyze your frame in the middle of the day is more than just a feeling. It's more than just a rush of emotion. If you see it through the lens of the word of God, what you sense in that moment, whether it is for a few seconds or it keeps you in a state of paralysis for weeks, It's an all out assault on your trust and your perception on the loving and caring God that you you love and you profess to believe in. See, when Christ died for you and me, the inheritance there is far greater than eternal life.

The peace that we we have is not just a peace with God positionally. If you if you nurture that faith in Christ, if you protect it rightly, there is something that can be secured that will help you sail through this life in such a way that it can lullaby you to sleep even in the midst of vicious storms. But for many believers, the tension that is caused by anxiety is a far more familiar companion than this piece that you've heard most of your Christian life only in sermons. It's, it's theory. It's, it's coffee mug verses.

It's, it's what you get from the Christian store and you put on your living room wall. That's all it is, but it doesn't really penetrate. It's not tangible. It's not experiential. Peace is just theology, but it's not, it's not something that you can testify about.

And believers, I'm telling you, they range on the spectrum of the level of anxiety that they fear. You have some who are generally courageous and faith filled, just like David. David could stand before a a giant. He can stand before a sea of armies. But yet for years, he had one haunting concern, and that was this man, Saul.

And then you have those who are like Martha, the sister of Mary. And Jesus came over Martha's house and she was she was preparing and running back and forth. And she ends up complaining about her sister who was just sitting there to receive the word of the Lord. And and Jesus looks at her and says, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. Many things.

And so you you have believers who who are easily shaken for for the for the smallest of things, smallest events, smallest of needs. I mean, anything between what am I gonna wear for my friend's wedding to how am I gonna buy a house in this inflated market? And then you have others who who can say, brother, I have no no idea what you're talking about. I I don't have an anxious bone in my body. And you have some of those Christians.

That they don't deal with that temptation. They don't deal with that burden. But how true it is that that is not the case for the majority. And so we have to believe something regardless of the severity of that anxiety, regardless of the severity of that worry or fear. And it is this, that the inheritance that we have received in the Holy Spirit is not just so that we can have the power to overcome gross sexual morality, or to deal with murderous rage, or to tame relationship destroying greed.

The spirit of God wants to even allow you to soar above concerns in this life of all kinds of various degrees. And the Lord wants his children to be invited into a peace, into a tranquility, into a contentment, a a genuine joy that shuts down the things that try to paralyze us. And one way you and I can even begin to move into that direction, even, even, listen, even if you're a person and you're like, I know what you're about to say. Maybe not, but I'm not a person who deals with this. Would you be equipped so that you can help your wife maybe, or your nervous college student, son or daughter that's trying to pay off mountainous debt?

Just be equipped today. So this is for you whether you struggle with it or not. Understand that if we want to even begin to be motivated to go to war with anxiety, to wage war against anxiety, then we have to we have to understand it the way you and I would with any other sin that is threatening us. And that is to understand just how dangerous it is if we tolerate it. The reason why many people don't fight against sin, at least one reason, is because they don't see just how powerful it is and how destroying it can be to so many things.

And just like any other sin, anxiety, if not warred against, if not battled against, if not dealt with by the power of God's word can be deadly. Proof, many students feel the the pull of this from even going into the mission field. I mean, how much more dangerous can it be than that? But it can be dangerous to your fruitfulness. It can be dangerous to your testimony.

It can be deadly to your perception of the beauty and the faithfulness of God. And you have to understand that it is the root of many behaviors. It is the encouragement of of many other things that would taint our character. Here's proof. Meet me in Isaiah 57, very briefly in verse 11.

This is just one example in the scriptures. God speaks through his prophet to a people who were who were in sin, and he highlights one of the sins, and he highlights the reason for this nationwide flaw. In Isaiah 5seven 11, what do we see? God speaking, whom did you dread and fear so that you lied? And did not remember me, did not lay it to heart.

Have I not held my peace even for a long time and you do not fear me? You heard it last week. The fear of the Lord is a great conqueror over all fears. But that was last week. Notice with me what God says.

I'm indicting my people because they are lying. They're in habitual dishonesty. And instead of just pointing out the sin, he goes to the motive for the sin, the reason for the sin. And it is in the first part. Whom did you dread and fear?

What what caused you to do this? What caused you to be to be short in this area of your life? Fear. Your fear encouraged you to lie. And when you zoom out in this chapter and you realize what's actually going on, this fear didn't just lead the people into lying.

This fear led them into idolatry. To put their trust in something else other than God. To to medicate their anxiety by a means in which God condemns. And so we have to understand here that there is on a macro level and a micro level, a great threat when we allow anxiety to live in our hearts. I mean, think about David for those who were there on Fridays.

Think about David. This man again who can stand before Goliath's While nations surround, here you are in a valley by yourself and yet with faith in God, you overcame. And that same man, when he left Israel because Saul was after him, comes into the land of the Philistines. He realizes he's on the radar and what does he do because of his fear? He collapses to the floor, lets saliva down his beard and acts like he lost his mind.

That's the same guy who stood before Goliath. And here he is acting like a crazy man because he is fearful and he did not have a trust in God. And so before an unbelieving world, this is the guy that spoke in the name of God. This is the guy that writes songs about God. This is the guy who in the name of God overcame our greatest warrior.

And fear can lead you and I into crazy behavior. Crazy decisions. Even ones that would dishonor God if we're not careful. But I don't want us to spend all our time together to dissect the woes that our worries can create. I want us to instead look at how we can equip ourselves to wage war against anxiety.

To subdue it, because it seeks my brother, my sister to abuse you, to arrest you. And so we have to do what we need to do according to God's word, to equip ourselves and others. You're still in Isaiah. Right? So meet me in Isaiah 26 to get an idea of it in verse three.

Isaiah twenty six three, you keep him in perfect peace. Not just peace, perfect peace. Do you think God means it? Or is he being poetic here? He means it in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

What is what is being said here? Here's the insight. Perfect peace is acquired. It is attained. It is trained in the arena of your mind.

That is where we experience it. That is where we secure it. But it is also the same place in which havoc ensues and chaos is created and confusion cripples us. It's in the mind. That's where we need to be focused.

That's where we need to turn our attention. That's where God tells us to be equipped and trained. If we want to know how we can run this race in such a way in which anxiety and its arrows just bounce off of us, if we really want to be bulletproof, go to the mind. Meaning, the way we equip ourselves is with truth. That's how we pull down strongholds.

That that's how we detect things that are not true. It's in the mind. What do you let into the mind? What do you entertain in the mind? What do you rehearse in the mind?

What do you meditate in your mind? How do you calculate in your mind? How do you filter things with your mind? It's the mind. It's the mind.

And so truth is our weapon. This is what needs to be actively engaged with. And so I present to you four weapons. Four thought processes. Throw forth mental exercises that will help us overcome this.

And the first one is found in the book of Matthew chapter six. And what I'm afraid is a familiar verse, so familiar that we don't understand the implications of it. But let's meditate today and see how we can be helped by the words of Jesus. In Matthew six thirty three to 34, Hear hear the words of Jesus Christ. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow. For tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Number one. Remind yourself that you are carrying a burden that is not yours to carry.

For Jesus to command his people, do not be anxious about tomorrow, implies that you spending time and energy trying to understand the unknown, trying to see how your provisions can be met, is not your responsibility. It's not your job. It's not something that he's called you to do. Galatians six tells us that each believer has its own burdens to bear. You have your own load.

Every single one of us has been given a a set of assignments and giftings and assignments to know what we need to do on a daily basis with faithfulness and wholeheartedness. We all have responsibilities and they're clearly laid out in the word of God. But at the same time, with ambitious believers who really wanna obey God, I'm talking about good hearted Christians, they are often tempted to lay more burden on themselves than God asked you to do. And one of those worries, one of those worries is is again, trying to today, figure out, understand, calculate, plan how you can determine the unknown now for tomorrow. That's not your job.

That's not your responsibility. You're wasting your time. Jesus, at the same time, is not advocating for loose, let's eat and drink for tomorrow we die. He's not saying don't prayfully plan. He's not saying do not be wise and consider your future.

He's not saying that. What he's saying is you need to be extremely careful because there is a fine line between that and being so consumed with things that you are not in control of that it can be detrimental to your purpose on earth. Why is Jesus saying this here? Is Jesus saying this so that we can have a better night's sleep? That's a very small fraction.

The reason why Jesus is saying this here is because of what he said in verse 33, but seek first the kingdom of God. You know what he's trying to say? You, my my child, need to reserve that strength, that limited energy that you have, the mindfulness for what you're really on earth for. And that is to be a servant of mine. That is to make disciples.

That is to spread the gospel. That is to help people spread the gospel. That's where I need all your energy to be. And what's what's so scary about this is that he is teaching that even the the very small concerns in life can actually affect the very purpose in which you've been placed on the earth. He wants to protect what you have to offer for his kingdom.

And so he wants to assure you that is your job. And mine is to add these things to you as you set yourself to pursue that priority. Spurgeon gave a wonderful illustration of a man who was helping his friend clear his furniture. And he arrives at his friend's door with a heavy heavy backpack on his shoulders. And as he begins to lift one couch and one bed frame, very early on he he begins to complain.

He begins to complain of just how heavy everything is and how this is such a difficult task. And he goes on to say, if that was your friend visiting you and helping you, would you not would you not give him the counsel of just taking off your backpack, man? Maybe you just let go of that, it'll be much much lighter, much easier. And he says that to say that in the same way, we cannot do God's work when we are weighed down by our own burdens and worries. He goes on to say in another place, anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows.

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. All it does is empty today of its strength. And Jesus early on says, it doesn't add add a single hour to your span of life, does it? But it does add things nonetheless. It adds exhaustion, it adds distraction, and it can even add disease if you love it that much.

And this unease can be so strong. Some of you know it. It can be so strong that it can literally drain you of everything while you do absolutely nothing. Just sit in your room with anxiety and it can pummel you. So we have to be careful.

These attacks on the mind are not just about our health, as important as that is. It is an affront. It is an obstacle to what should matter in our lives and that's to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to be actively serving him. And so here's what I recommend that you do based on the words of Jesus. Take this.

Doesn't apply to you? Put it in your arsenal and help a brother out in the future. When your when your nerves are are shaking and when your eyes are wide open, when they should be sound asleep, ask yourself the following question and your understanding of the will of God. Is this my responsibility or is it God's? Have you ever asked God?

Have you asked yourself? Have you ever have you ever discerned it? And then once you come to a closer answer, solidify it by the follow-up question. Is this in my control or not? And that question being answered is so much more liberty than you can imagine.

If we do not know how to draw those lines, I'm telling you, you will invite unnecessary turmoil into your life and it applies in so many ways. It even applies in our efforts for the kingdom of God. I can't tell you how many people that I've met that toss and turn when it comes to serving the Lord. Even in their service to the Lord. And this question, this set of questions is still applicable.

For example, is it my responsibility to preach the gospel to my loved ones? Answer, yes. Is it my responsibility to see them come to repentance? Answer, no. Is it my responsibility to serve the church that God has called me to serve with all that is within me with persistence and with love and with joy?

Answer, yes. Is it my responsibility for people to thank me, praise me, pat me on the back, appreciate me? Answer, No. No. Be free by realizing there are things that God has called me to observe and there are things that are out of bounds.

And and they don't involve my participation. In fact, God says don't go there because you will burden yourself more than you need to burden yourself. And that is so so so important because rest comes from that. Rest comes from understanding my responsibility and understanding what belongs to God's wisdom and power alone. May I add another thing to why people worry about the future because that is the context.

Worrying about tomorrow. Worrying about what what's gonna happen. Worrying about how things are gonna unfold. One reason why it is so prevalent, if we're honest if we're honest, is because we seek to have control and we can't get it when we don't know how things are gonna happen. Right?

It disturbs us. This is beyond my ability. This is beyond my resources. This is beyond my knowledge and I don't like not being in control. It frustrates me.

And it's true. Somebody said, I wish I said it but somebody figured it out, Worry is frustration at our inability to be God. May I say that again? Worry is our frustration at our inability to be God. If we are among those who fret about the future, I suggest that such overthinking reveals something much more serious about ourselves.

Because anxiety, you know what it is? It is a manifestation of a fractured aspect of our belief system. And what is that? Our perception of who is really sovereign over our tomorrows. The scriptures are absolutely filled.

I hope you know it. You've heard this word being pounded from the pulpit for so long. The scriptures from cover to cover are riddled with examples and commands and promises and and Psalms of God being so providential. Being so aware, being so in control, so in control that that you can even have a trust in his sovereignty over over a cold. Over a sickness, over a broken broken foot.

Because it's everywhere. It's everywhere. And and why I'm bringing that up in particular, is because I remember reading this verse years ago, and when I when I realized it, it was one of my first initial awakenings to the idea of just how in control God is as his children seek to give all that they have to serving him. Who more surrendered than the apostle Paul? And at the same time, who more aware perhaps of the obvious sovereign working of the father in our lives?

Can I show you one example? It's something that we often miss. It's in Galatians in chapter four. And look what Paul says when he tries to make an appeal to his brothers. Guys, you have to understand.

I'm here for you. The reason why I'm preaching this truth to you is because I love you. Did you forget who I was? Paul says. Did you forget how we met?

Did you forget our history? You think I'm I'm writing these strong words to you because I don't love you? No. I do love you. And so he's rehearsing the relational history.

And he goes on to share the moment, what it was that caused him to even meet and for them to receive the gospel to begin with in verse 12 of Galatians four. Brothers, I entreat you become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. Now look at verse 13. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preach the gospel to you at first.

I love that. Do you see it? What is he what is he pointing to? What what is he what is he crediting? On the human level, he is saying, if it wasn't for that sickness that debilitated me, that kept me in the region of Galatia, I wouldn't have been here long enough and we wouldn't have met and the gospel wouldn't have come to you through my lips.

It was because of a bodily ailment that all of this is even in reality. That there are churches in Galatia because I was sick. Consider that. Consider how awesome that is. Consider that in God's wisdom, he allowed this to happen for a greater purpose.

I don't know about you, I hate being sick. One of the reasons because I feel extra weak. And I feel like I can't focus as much when I read and all these different things. But I look at a verse like this and I realize that something that even put Paul in his place, this energizer. I mean, you couldn't keep this guy in one place for too long unless he was discipling or raising up a church.

He was always on the go. Demons couldn't keep up with the guy. And yet one at one point, he he was so overcome by some physical resistance that he had to stay in Galatia. And it was the means by which the gospel came. God is so much more in control than you can imagine.

Even in the moment you don't realize how why is this happening. For a missionary, that could have been frustrating. Lord, I'm trying to get somewhere here. Would you not heal me at this moment? And here's God, in heaven, knowing that because of this bodily ailment, some Galatians are gonna hear the gospel and many churches will be raised up.

We can stop here and rejoice. What is there to be concerned about? What is there to be worried about? Every delay, every disappointment, even your own body being afflicted, God is sovereign. Be encouraged to know that oftentimes our anxieties are us putting what God is only able to do on our own shoulders.

So ask, God, is this yours or mine? And even if it is your responsibility, there is a healthy way of being anxious sometimes. There is a healthy fear. God has instilled that in many of us, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the fear of you losing your job because you've been going to work late every day and you're saying, I better get to work early.

That's a good fear. Keep that fear. I'm talking about the fear of the things that you don't have control of. Today has enough problems on its own. But the second the second weapon is found in first Peter five and verse six and seven.

And that is to do this. In your anxiety, with your anxiety, with your fear, be honest before God and behold him. Be honest before God and behold him. Notice what Peter says in first Peter five six and seven. Humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Now I gotta be honest. For the longest time, I read those two verses and interpreted them separate from each other. I don't know if you fall into that same category. But Peter, intentionally by the spirit, is mentioning the need for the Christians to humble themselves and to cast their anxieties on the Lord.

That's the same thought. That's the same breath. They're not two separate applications. They're one in the same. So we might have not made the connection between humbling ourselves and casting our anxieties on him, but the Holy Spirit does.

And here's what it reveals, that if there's anxiety living inside of me, it is an indication that there is humility lacking in me. Don't mean to cause more anxiety with that thought, but it's liberating. If there is anxiety living in me, right? That is an indication that there is a level of humility lacking in me. How can that be the case?

Well, consider the primary audience that Peter is speaking to. Christians, yes. Suffering Christians though. Like Christians who are actually paying a price to be a Christian. Not, oh, I can't believe we have to go to church this early on Sunday morning.

That's not suffering. Like real suffering. Enough suffering for Peter to write and encourage them. Though not explicit, it is suffering nonetheless. They could be losing their jobs, relational issues, they have to move places.

Who knows what it is? A real cost, a real price to actually follow this Messiah. And Peter, oh pastor Peter, wants to encourage this group of Christians. And so you know what pastor Peter does to these fretful and worried Christians who are suffering persecution? First thing he says here, humble yourselves.

That doesn't sound very pastoral, does it? Humble yourselves. Are you sure? Yeah. Yeah.

Humble yourselves. How can that be the case? Well, in essence, Peter is saying that the reason for your anxiety is that because you have not submitted under the revelation of God's mighty hand. That's what it is. Because when he says here, humble yourselves under God's mighty hand, that may sound intimidating and that may sound a little insensitive.

That may sound like or else God is gonna punish you, but it's wonderfully comforting. When he's bringing up God's mighty hand, he's not speaking about his hand of discipline. He's speaking about his hand of power. His hand to deliver. His hand to rescue.

His hand to provide. His hand to protect. What he's what he's saying is you have stepped outside of the umbrella of the revelation that God's invisible fingers are at work in this situation. That no matter how chaotic or how severe or how painful it is, it it didn't leave the grip of his omnipotence. It's not beyond his control, But you have walked outside of that.

You are now under some other concept. And so you've not humbled yourself there. You have not come to the point of of relishing and being safe in that shadow of truth. And how is it then do we humble ourselves? Well, he says it.

The way you humble yourself, the evidence of your humility is that you take it and you cast it at his feet. To cast means to literally throw away, like, something that you don't want and you throw in the opposite direction. Do that spiritually. Take it all and come before him and lay it there. And that is, that reflex is an indication you have an understanding that God's mighty hand is involved here.

You'd be amazed to know how many professing Christians are extremely anxious but have zero prayer life. Zero praise life. It's it's incredible. I'm being honest here. And that's why this verse is given to us.

Now, you know what's so incredible about this? The motive to do this is beautiful. It's it's so it's so comforting. If Peter would have said, cast all your anxieties on him because he's able to help you. I that's good for me, man.

That that's good. You're able to help me, Lord. I'm coming to you all the time. But that's not what he says. Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

He cares for you. Not just because he has a mighty hand, but because he genuinely cares for you. You as an individual. Not you as my bride, in the corporate sense, though that is true, but you individually. He actually cares.

And somebody who cares for somebody else genuinely, finds joy in relieving any kind of pain or burden on somebody else's life. To know that they can alleviate you brings them true satisfaction. And God is the same. And so our anxieties though they may be daily, do not overwhelm him. They don't cause him to say, you know, I have so much other anxieties to worry about.

I I might not get to your problem right away. That doesn't happen. He does not sigh when you visit him again with the same problem that you came with last week. He cares. He genuinely cares.

As a doctor would when somebody comes with a with a disease that has been eating your body away for even months, he cares to come to your rescue and to help and to even just listen. And so what I do when I look at this is I view any anxiety attack, any visitation of fear as an opportunity to declare, to declare to myself, to declare to God and even declare to others of who is really the one that is in control. Take Goliath's sword like David did and cut the head of the enemy with the weapon he tried to use against you. That make sense? Yes.

David slung his stone and it hit Goliath in the head. But read on, he gets on Goliath's back and the very same sword that Goliath threatened Israel with was used to decapitate his own head. And that's a picture of Satan coming to us with his weapons. We'll take his weapons and use it back against him. You want anxiety to come against me?

I'm gonna use that as a reason to praise God. And go before him. And someone might say, but I've tried my brother. I've tried, I've tried. It sounds good.

It's all my coffee mug. I got something from the Christian store. It's there on my wall. Cast all your anxieties on him. Because he cares for you and I've expressed my fears to him even and I've, I've even declared my faith that he's in control, but guess what?

I still have the shortness of breath. And, I still have nonstop thoughts that literally distract me from daily activities. Can I help you further? Don't just come don't just come to him to drop off your needs and then walk away. Stay there long enough to behold him until you understand who it is that really cares for you.

Stay there long enough to behold him and to understand who it is that I am entrusting my worries to. Humble yourselves under God's mighty hand. Do you understand how mighty it is? Do you have a reservoir of truth in you? Do you know from cover to cover God's ways with his servants in the old, God's ways in his servant with his servants in the new?

Do you have something to work with so that when you come before God, you're not just honoring a prescription with a hollow understanding, but you really believe you're the same God that helped David. You're the same God that helped Joseph. You're the same God that led Paul. You're the same God that helped Peter. You're the same God that was with the early church.

You're the same God. Stay there. Rehearse it. Read it. Preach to your heart.

Cast your anxieties on him. Yes. But don't just press the right buttons and hope for something to come out. Stay there and and humble yourself under the revelation of his might and his power. And the peace that you will experience will come.

But the peace that you will have access to is in direct proportion, listen, to the knowledge of his ways. Does that make sense? And I'll tell you what I told those bible college students. If your understanding of God's word is limited to the curriculum that you've been given in your classes, you will not make it. You will not make it.

You version's verse of the day is not gonna help you my brother. It's not. It's not. You need to get in. And you need to create a revelation in your heart, a reservoir of revelation through a daily understanding of God's word.

And a rehearsing and a meditation upon his ways. Or else, you're sunk. You're you're sunk. You're sunk. Be honest before God.

But many times you're gonna have to stay there a bit longer to behold him. And you'd be amazed to know that when you get God's word in you and a certain fear comes, 10 verses will come to attack that fear. When this worry, this threat, persecution, emails, phone calls, When they come, five verses here, 10 stories there, two truths here. Let's go to the third point. Shall we?

And that is found in Proverbs twelve twenty five. Don't only come before God in humility. Yes. Humility is an anxiety killer, but not only in our confession to God. What do I mean by that?

There is a wisdom found in mutual confession as we bear our souls in the presence of those that we trust. Where do I get that from? Look what the book of wisdom says in twelve twenty five. Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Anxiety weighs him down.

You know what that means? Depression. You know what that means? Coming into church like this. You know what that means?

That while you're here listening to the sermon, you're thinking about thoughts that are worrying you. Anxiety weighs a man down, limits him, paralyzes him, holds him back. But a good word, a good word, not a word, a good word makes him glad. Let me tell you what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean preach to yourself.

That's good. That will help. Preach to yourself. That's not what it's saying. Now this might shock you, but bear with me here.

It's not even saying come to the Bible, though you should and you must, primarily. Because you have some people that would say, you know, I'm good. I have I have my prayer life and I have, I have my devotionals. I have YouVersion verse of the day. I'm good.

But what the same book that we love and we receive our primary help from, this same book, this same word tells you, you need the words of others. Do you believe that? Because this verse is often used to exhort people, be be a source of encouragement to others. But can we look at it at the other side? From the other angle and that is this, I myself need a good word.

I myself need an external voice to pour into me at times. And that's gonna require something. Doesn't it? Humility. Humility.

Being willing to unveil your heart and to communicate your concerns to somebody who actually walks with God so that in that moment they can speak God's promises, God's counsel, God's wisdom and dismantle the distortion that you are struggling with. And that may be gnawing at you. Do not underestimate the value of this. Do not underestimate it. I I feel so bad for those who think they are so spiritual they can walk this walk by themselves.

That that does not impress me at all and it shouldn't you. That's actually dangerous. It's dangerous on so many levels. And to those who might say, well I can do this by myself. Can I say to you lovingly, you have no idea what you're up against?

You have no idea what you're up against. Because as much as there is a call to our courage ourselves in the Lord, can I tell you that it can be so overwhelming at times that that that there may not even be the strength to pick yourself up? And that is why God gives us members, and God gives us brothers, and God gives us outside help as a means to be able to pick us up. For those who are here Friday, this will be familiar. For those who don't come Friday or listen to the Friday Bible study, there was a turning point in David's life that plunged them into one of the greatest compromises in his history.

And and it might actually ruin your Sunday school version of what David was like. David at one point in his life spent a year and four months among the Philistines. That was wrong because nobody who came into the promised land, as in Israel, had the right to go out unless God explicitly said you can go out. David, David spent a year and four months in the world. How?

How do you go there? How does that even happen? It all started with something that he said in his heart. I'm gonna read it to you in first Samuel twenty seven one. Just pay attention.

Don't turn there. Just listen. First Samuel twenty seven one. This is the turning point. This is what led this faithful man to turn his back on the promised land and go and live among the enemies of God.

Then David said in his heart, Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. David said in his heart, there is great wisdom in saying things in your heart and keeping it there. May I suggest that?

You have some people who have nothing in their heart. They just, everything comes out. Keep things in your heart. Keep things between you and the Lord. Like Mary, contemplate things in your own bosom.

But there is also wisdom from time to time to take things out of your heart. And my question is David, you psalm writer, where is the cry before God with this concern? Where is the psalm? Where's the where's the prayer life? Where's the where's the outburst of of desperation?

Not there. Secondary, where where is you communicating this with somebody else? What about your godly wife, Abigail? Yeah, I know Jonathan is not very close and he's helped you, but wasn't there a revelation of how he strengthened your hand on the Lord? How somebody else can actually redirect your thoughts?

Where is that confession? Where is that? It's not there. And because he confined within himself and he meditated and he believed something long enough, it literally let him, his family and 600 others into the world. This poor soul knows what it's like to call somebody and say this and this and that and just receive a flood of wisdom in such a way that also floods your heart with peace.

You need that. And so the third weapon here is, stay close to those who possess a tongue of healing and wisdom. Stay under elders who walk with God. Walk with those who don't just make you laugh, but who actually can provide some guidance and speak into the situation in such a way that rays of light penetrate those dark clouds in your soul. Because if you and I isolate not just physically but even internally for too long with issues like this, we can walk in a direction that could have been dealt with from the from the bud.

If you had just unveiled your heart and said, I'm not just gonna humble myself before God. I'm gonna humble myself before my brother. This is eating at me. James five. Right?

Confess your sins to one another. And what do we limit that to? You watched pornography last week? In your next small group, tell everybody that you watch pornography. That's good.

Here's the problem. Do we consider anxiety a sin? We don't consider that in our categories of confession, do we? This is killing me. This has been weeks.

It's been days. It keeps me up and I can't read my bible. I can't pray. I'm not even I'm not even desiring to be in the ministry because because this is just consuming. Confess it and let healing come.

Stay close to those who possess a tongue of wisdom, tongue of healing, tongue of love. Let's come to the last one. Distinguish anxiety with a torrent of thanksgiving. You heard this recently but sometimes there is benefit in repetition. Philippians four verse six.

Do not be anxious about anything. You know why we're ending it with this? Because I understand that, fears and worries and concerns, despair, despondency can be very specific. And sometimes with one message, you can't cover it all. That's very, very true.

And I know it's complicated too because there's chemical imbalances and there's this and that. I'm just giving you God's prescription on the issue. But I end with Philippians four six because I love how Paul introduces this. Do not be anxious about anything. So no matter what it is, whatever the category, future, you got bad news today, persecution, it doesn't matter what it is.

Do not be anxious about anything. And here's the prescription about anything that you are anxious about. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. You were there, weren't you, not too long ago? When we talked about the power of gratitude.

But let me remind you, oftentimes this scripture is pointed to as a reference when when counseling somebody or counseling our own souls about things that we're anxious about. Go pray. Go seek God. Go tell him your problems. Go make your needs known.

Great. But that's half of it. Because the scripture here doesn't tell me just go and make your demands known. The scripture doesn't even tell me come and just cry before God. That that's not what it's saying.

There is an attitude in which I'm coming before the Lord and it is an attitude of praise. Think about that. Think about how much such a wonderful promise like this has not been known in the results because we have not honored the entire instruction. We've come to pray. We've come to supplicate.

We've come to do all this. And then we forgot an integral part and that is, did you did you thank him though? Did you come with thanksgiving? Because that's what he's saying. Come with thanksgiving.

And I'm gonna tell you something that is not gonna come automatically. There's no way. The last thing on your mind when you are anxious and coming before God with your needs is praise. So you have to listen. This is where faith comes in and truth trumps over feelings.

You have to go in there, into the presence of God with the intentional plan to thank him. And not just with intention, but with specifics. Go specifically and begin to thank him. You know, I've often said, if you're gonna pray generally, you're gonna get general answers. If your prayer life is general, you're gonna get general answers.

And I don't want to pray in such a way where when the answer comes I'll confuse it with coincidence. I want to pray in such a way that when the answer comes I know it's God. That's God. George Mueller's biography shows how important it is to pray specifically. It just gives God all the glory.

But can I add to that? Don't thank God generally. Thank him specifically. As you begin to dissect all the things that you're thankful for, watch how it's just one jolt after the other, because Thanksgiving is the sound that awakens the eyes of the heart to see that God is behind everything. I thank you for, I thank you for today.

That's a great that's a great prayer. But what do you mean by that? Sometimes we can pray then that could be enough. But sometimes we need more than that. And begin to list in your heart, begin to list from your lips the things that you are thankful for.

And I'm telling you that thanksgiving is often overlooked as a force against fear. But it is profound when it is applied regularly. And I want to give you one final example of that through Matthew Henry. You've probably read his commentary. Matthew Henry had his wallet stolen once.

And guess what he did? He journaled praise. Here's what Matthew Henry said. Lord, I thank you that I have never been robbed before. That although they took my money, they spared my life.

That although they took everything, it wasn't very much. And that it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed. Even hearing how being thankful specifically is powerful, isn't it? And so I charge you today to extinguish anxiety with a torrent of thanksgiving. And I can't think of anything that will be quicker for the peace of God to flood your heart when you come with that duo of bringing your needs before him, but also leaving that place, making sure that you've thanked him.

When you bring these things together as you've heard, among many other truths in the scripture, but these four truths, I can guarantee you according to the authority of the scripture, you will have great success in your war against anxiety. Will it be immediate? Maybe not. But as you build these muscles and as you put your faith in them and as you apply them, I hope to hear testimonies from this place of how God has given much victory over this thing. And God will indeed be by us and with us.

Let's pray. Lord, in light of this, we thank you. We thank you. God, we thank you. Thank you that we are where we are today because of your grace.

Thank you that we are in this church because of your grace. Thank you, Lord, that we have liberty to still sing and hear the word of God without fear. Thank you. Thank you for our families. Thank you for our mothers.

Thank you for the mothers of this house. Thank you for the women who have dedicated so much for this ministry, for your glory. Lord, we thank you that we have ears to hear this message today. We thank you that we have eyes to see. Thank you, Lord, that we have the ability to stand and to be able to worship you.

Thank you that we have a voice to worship you. Thank you that we have the ability to just be here together. Lord, we just ask that these truths would be remembered. Help us, Lord. As we heard earlier, help us praise you.

Help us pray to you. Lord, help us believe that no matter what circumstance that we are in, we have still the ability to say thank you. And Lord, as simple as elementary as that is, Lord, we we we need the faith to believe that it has power. It has power. Help us see what belongs to us, what belongs to you.

Help us understand the value of of another brother in our lives. Help us understand, Lord, that in moments of anxiety, that's also an indication that perhaps we have failed to see your sovereign hand in this situation. And so we humble ourselves before you. And so Lord, even now as we pray, if there's anybody in here, father, who is tormented by this tension, who is overcome by this turmoil. Lord, may in this moment, we just humble ourselves to say, you are in control, father.

You are in control of my body. You are in control of my health. You are in control of my babies and their future. You're in control of all these things that I think I am sovereign over. Lord, I commit to you.

I do my part and I let you do yours. May this be the turning point, oh God. May this be the moment that they can look back on and say that's where I left my burdens once and for all. Lord, we worship you. We give you all glory and thanks for your word, and we bless it now.

In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord together.