Knowing the Gospel in Anxiety

Almost all (if not all) of us have experienced anxiety at some point in our life. Whatever the cause, the response of God's people must be the same. We must heed the word of Phillipians 4. There are things that will test us that may lead to anxiety. Paul says we are to pray about everything we go through.

1. The command is expressed (4:6a)
   "Be careful for nothing..."

• qualification of the command
  This is not a command to be careless.
• clarification of the command
  This means to be full of care for nothing. We are not to worry about anything.
• application of the command
  When we are being anxious, we are not trusting God when He tells us that He will take care of us. Anxiety is essentially pride.

2. The command is expanded (4:6b)
   "but in every thing by prayer..."

• our mode of praying
  We are to make our requests known unto God. We are to bring specific requests. Whenever care comes we need to throw it to God. It's a continual practice.
• our manner of praying
  Our prayers must be God-centered. We must be careful not to just worry while we are praying. Nothing can separate us from God's love. Pray with thankfulness.
• matters for our praying
  We are to pray to God about any problems we have.

3. The command is encouraged (4:7)
   "And the peace of God...shall keep your hearts"
   We become anxious because we do not see the future. God knows everything about the future. Therefore we must know the "peace of God."