Speaker: Pastor Stovall Weems
Luke 10:38-42 NKJV
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
If we are not careful, we can let worry take us to an unhealthy state.
Worry: a troubled mind, a troubled heart.
Instead of putting our energy into worry, God wants us to put our energy into prayer.
When you worry, you are taking things out of God’s hands.
1 Peter 5:7-9 NLT
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.
Put concern into faith, which turns into prayer.
Mark 4:19 NLT
19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
The purpose of worry is to choke out the Word of God from your life and causes you not produce any fruit.
We look at worry without seeing how detrimental it is.
God is in control! He designed us to love and be concerned. It’s a training of the mind that when concern becomes present, to take that and put the energy into God.
Matthew 6:25-31 NKJV
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
Worry is misplaced energy from your concerns.
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
The peace of God is our guardian.
James 5:16 NKJV
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man
Prayer avails so you can prevail.
Effective prayer is a Word-based prayer and a passion for the Glory of God.
With every word you say to God in prayer, change is happening. Prayer is the antidote to worry.
