The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? Ps 27:1
However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:40
The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? Ps 27:1
However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:40
LOVE vs FEAR
I am always a little upset when I see the phrase “No Fear!” on T shirts, because I feel like the secular world has co-opted what should be the Christian’s motto. God wants us to love Him and have faith in Him, trusting Him in every situation because we know He loves us. God tells us in John 4:18 that there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. If we are afraid of anything, it means that we are not trusting Him with every aspect of our lives.
PUTTING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE
Just in case we might think that our problems are so big that we deserve to worry about them, God gives us some examples of the types of things we are not to worry about:
- An army besieging us (Ps 27:3), or tens of thousands drawn up against us on every side. (Ps 3:6)
- Walking through the valley of the shadow of death. (Ps 23:4)
- The earth giving way and the mountains falling into the sea. (Ps 46:2)
- The terror of night or the arrow that flies by day. (Ps 91:5)
- Pestilence or plague. (Ps 91:6)
That really helps to put our petty problems into the correct perspective! If we are supposed to be able to trust in God and have no fear as the earth itself literally crumbles around us, then shouldn’t we be able to do the same thing if our life seems to be crumbling around us?
WHAT PART OF “ANYTHING” DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?
God makes it plain in Philippians 4:6-7 that there are no exceptions—nothing that we get to hang onto and worry about: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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 Christ Jesus.
God provides the prescription for conquering anxiety, worry and fear—give each and every concern to Him with thanksgiving. He also gives us a wonderful promise that if we do this, He will give us a peace beyond all understanding that will keep our faith in God and Jesus strong. The prayers we have learned can help us to do this:
The Prayers of Surrender help us to give everything in our lives to God.
Listening Prayer helps us to be aware of all the things we are anxious about and turn them over to God.
Praying God’s Word helps us to be aware of all the ways we don’t match the perfection God has called us to, and helps us to turn even that over to God, trusting Him to gradually make His love complete in us by carrying on to completion the work he began in us so that we obey His word. (1 John 2:5, Phil 1:6)
Establishing a habit of Praying Continually, praising and thanking God in all situations, helps us to immediately turn every problem we face over to God, no matter how large or small it is.
ILLUSTRATION
In the movie The Karate Kid, the young man who wanted to learn karate was given a series of seemingly meaningless tasks to perform over and over. Just when he was ready to give up in despair, his teacher showed him how those rote tasks had been preparing him to respond immediately to any threat.
In the same way, if you have been praying the prayers we have learned in the previous lessons, you have been preparing yourself to respond in faith through prayer to any threat immediately without having to think about it, and without any worry or anxiety about the outcome.
ASSIGNMENT
1. List some of the things you have been anxious about in the past.
2. How often did what you were anxious about actually happen, and how often did everything turn out well?
3. List everything you are afraid of or anxious about today.
4. Is there any reason you should not turn those issues over to God and trust Him to take care of them?
5. One measure of our spiritual maturity is how quickly and completely we turn our problems and worries over to God. Continue to pray the prayers we have learned, and strive to immediately use these as tools to fight against the tendency to worry.
6. Say out loud our scripture memory verse the way Jesus probably said it to the disciples when they were afraid the boat would sink.
7. Write down the memory verse and put it on your computer screen or other visible location. Every time you start to worry about something, in your mind imagine Jesus saying these words to you just as He said them to his disciples in the boat.
8. Imagine yourself standing firmly in faith and love of God as the world literally crumbles around you.
9. What are some examples of people who loved and praised God, and grew through suffering?
SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSE
"Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4:40
Let's Pray! - Praying God's Word
I am always a little upset when I see the phrase “No Fear!” on T shirts, because I feel like the secular world has co-opted what should be the Christian’s motto. God wants us to love Him and have faith in Him, trusting Him in every situation because we know He loves us. God tells us in John 4:18 that there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. If we are afraid of anything, it means that we are not trusting Him with every aspect of our lives.
PUTTING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE
Just in case we might think that our problems are so big that we deserve to worry about them, God gives us some examples of the types of things we are not to worry about:
- An army besieging us (Ps 27:3), or tens of thousands drawn up against us on every side. (Ps 3:6)
- Walking through the valley of the shadow of death. (Ps 23:4)
- The earth giving way and the mountains falling into the sea. (Ps 46:2)
- The terror of night or the arrow that flies by day. (Ps 91:5)
- Pestilence or plague. (Ps 91:6)
That really helps to put our petty problems into the correct perspective! If we are supposed to be able to trust in God and have no fear as the earth itself literally crumbles around us, then shouldn’t we be able to do the same thing if our life seems to be crumbling around us?
WHAT PART OF “ANYTHING” DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?
God makes it plain in Philippians 4:6-7 that there are no exceptions—nothing that we get to hang onto and worry about: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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 Christ Jesus.
God provides the prescription for conquering anxiety, worry and fear—give each and every concern to Him with thanksgiving. He also gives us a wonderful promise that if we do this, He will give us a peace beyond all understanding that will keep our faith in God and Jesus strong. The prayers we have learned can help us to do this:
The Prayers of Surrender help us to give everything in our lives to God.
Listening Prayer helps us to be aware of all the things we are anxious about and turn them over to God.
Praying God’s Word helps us to be aware of all the ways we don’t match the perfection God has called us to, and helps us to turn even that over to God, trusting Him to gradually make His love complete in us by carrying on to completion the work he began in us so that we obey His word. (1 John 2:5, Phil 1:6)
Establishing a habit of Praying Continually, praising and thanking God in all situations, helps us to immediately turn every problem we face over to God, no matter how large or small it is.
ILLUSTRATION
In the movie The Karate Kid, the young man who wanted to learn karate was given a series of seemingly meaningless tasks to perform over and over. Just when he was ready to give up in despair, his teacher showed him how those rote tasks had been preparing him to respond immediately to any threat.
In the same way, if you have been praying the prayers we have learned in the previous lessons, you have been preparing yourself to respond in faith through prayer to any threat immediately without having to think about it, and without any worry or anxiety about the outcome.
ASSIGNMENT
1. List some of the things you have been anxious about in the past.
2. How often did what you were anxious about actually happen, and how often did everything turn out well?
3. List everything you are afraid of or anxious about today.
4. Is there any reason you should not turn those issues over to God and trust Him to take care of them?
5. One measure of our spiritual maturity is how quickly and completely we turn our problems and worries over to God. Continue to pray the prayers we have learned, and strive to immediately use these as tools to fight against the tendency to worry.
6. Say out loud our scripture memory verse the way Jesus probably said it to the disciples when they were afraid the boat would sink.
7. Write down the memory verse and put it on your computer screen or other visible location. Every time you start to worry about something, in your mind imagine Jesus saying these words to you just as He said them to his disciples in the boat.
8. Imagine yourself standing firmly in faith and love of God as the world literally crumbles around you.
9. What are some examples of people who loved and praised God, and grew through suffering?
SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSE
"Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4:40
Let's Pray! - Praying God's Word