“The Fear Factor” –Philippians 4:6-7

Every day of the world my dogs insist on going for a walk. I have 2 dogs; a 35 pound blue heeler named Sara who is perfect in every way and a 60 pound mix cow dog / man killer named Bo. And every day they are patient but insistent that we go for a walk. And every single day the first thing they both do is run across the street to the neighbors’house to see if their dogs are out.

The neighbors have two dogs as well. They have a little dachshund / terrier mix named Peanut and then they have what looks like a dog but just smaller. It’s a Chihuahua named Butter. Get it? Peanut and Butter? Yea. Anyway, Butter looks like you took a picture of a dog and then shrunk it. They have a chain link fence but when they got Butter they had to put chicken wire at the bottom because Butter could crawl through the chain link. He’s that small.

And when they are out, which is most days, Butter is the first to run to the fence to start barking and when he does all four go into a conniption fit of barking and running up and down the fence line and carrying on. When poor little Butter barks it sounds like a dog barking a long way off. He’s just not big enough to make much noise but it’s not for his lack of trying.

He gets his nose right up to the fence and goes bark for bark with big Bo who is probably literally 30 times his size. And both are barking like if they could just get to the other then they would just mop up the place with them. They are ferocious, vicious killers, both of them. It’s something to see.

Well, just the other day, I let the dogs out to go for a walk just like always and they ran across the street, where to everyone’s surprise, Butter was in the front yard (no fence) with his owner just standing there. Bo and Sara of course ran right up to him with Bo especially ready to finally settle the score once and for all. And what do you think happened? Did Butter whip Bo? Or did Bo whip Butter like Land o’Lakes? Get it? Whipped Land o’Lakes Butter? Nevermind.

Well, actually neither happened because as soon as Butter saw Bo he ran behind his owner and started crying until his owner picked him up. And when he was safe in his daddy’s arms he just quietly growled a little bit which sounded more like a cat purring, but anyway, he was safe. And when Bo and Sara and I were well out of their yard, I faintly heard Butter give a little bark, warning Bo never to come back.

The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, are full of passages of scripture telling us not to be afraid. Do not be afraid. God is with us. God will protect us. Don’t worry. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be scared. God didn’t give us a spirit of fear. You know the ones. And we comfort and encourage each other with those verses often, as we should. And here in church, we bark real loud about how with Christ we can do all things and we rightfully paraphrase the 3 Hebrew boys saying, “I know He can and I know He will but even if He doesn’t, still I will praise Him!”

I love to see the confident smiles that come on your faces when somebody says that and you should say that and you should be confident. The problem is, with every one of us, when we get outside of these walls and the big dog of debt, illness, addiction, family issues, job issues and problems of all kinds stares us in the face and is about to swallow us. Then we get all “Buttery”. Right? Oh, you don’t have to admit it out loud. But deep down, every one of us gets scared sometimes. I know you’re Bo on the outside but we all have a little Butter inside us.

Do you know what the #1 goal of the Bible is? The #1 goal of the Bible; the main thing that God wants you to learn and to become is that He wants you to be like Jesus. That’s it. The Old and the New Testament ultimately teach us how to be more like Jesus; how to make our lives look like the life of Jesus. And the reason that the Bible talks so much about fear and anxiety and worry is because that keeps us from becoming more like Jesus. Jesus had some great concerns. He had real problems. Do you realize that? He was all man and all God but that all man had to deal with some seriously scary issues.

None greater than just before he was arrested, tried and crucified. He was praying in the garden when Judas led a mob of soldiers and officials to Jesus. It says in John that He went out to them. Notice He didn’t hide from them. And when they got close, Jesus asked them who they were looking for. John 18:5-6 says, “⁵ “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) ⁶ When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Jesus spoke with such divine confidence, boldness and power that His very words made them fall backward. And do you know that you, too, can have that kind of confidence? We as believers have the very Spirit of God living inside of us. It’s why Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power.”

Paul knew of what he spoke too. Did anybody ever have more to be worried about or afraid of? He was often by himself, often in prison, always had people watching him, rarely had the comforts of home or family and yet he wrote constantly about being content, confident, peaceful and joyful. Don’t you wish you had that? Don’t you wish that could be said of you? What’s the secret to that kind of life? What’s a guy gotta do to be content, confident, peaceful and joyful?

Well, thankfully, Paul doesn’t keep it a secret. He tells us plainly in the book of Philippians, among other places. The fourth chapter of Philippians is such a powerhouse. I’m thinking about just camping out there and preaching just from that 4^th chapter for about the next 2 years. There are so many good verses in there; so many of you have as your favorite verse something from Philippians 4. So, let’s look at just 2 verses, verses 6 and 7 to see what Paul’s secret is to living without fear in a fearful world.

If you use the Bible in the pew back in front of you, turn to page??? Or follow along as I read Philippians 4:6-7.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Wow, that’s good stuff! Have you ever gone to talk with somebody about some problem or fear in your life and after explaining it all to them, they just say, “Don’t worry. It’s going to be ok.”? OH! OK! Now I’m better. You want to say, “Really? That’s all you got? Don’t worry. It’s gonna be ok? Why is it going to be ok?” But Paul actually explains how we can keep from worrying EVEN WHEN IT IS NOT GOING TO BE OK. Because basically, it is going to be ok even when it’s not ok. Make sense? No? Let’s look closer.

The secret, as we are going to see, is prayer; but not just any kind of prayer and when we pray in the right way then the result is: it’s gonna be ok. Paul says in verse 6 not to be anxious for anything. Some of your translations may say “Be careful for nothing”meaning to not be full of care. That word translated anxious or careful actually means to be distracted by something or to be pulled in two directions. I also read that it comes from the word meaning to be strangled. Isn’t that interesting? If you have ever been worried about something, you might understand that.

Worry and fear and anxiety most definitely have some physical consequences to them like headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure, depression or being mean to your favorite pastor and we don’t want any of that, right? The great commentator, Warren Wiersbe, says, “From the spiritual point of view, worry is wrong thinking in your head and wrong feelings in your heart about your circumstances and there is no greater thief of joy than worry or fear.”

But I know what you’re thinking out there. It’s just too hard in this day and age. The world is just too scary. There is so much going on just in our country, not to mention the world that you can’t help but be afraid sometimes. We have the very real threat of the ebola virus now. ISIS is growing stronger and bolder in the Middle East. The Pope is out there saying that maybe God caused the Big Bang. Homosexual mayors are threatening pastors with jail if they don’t stop speaking truth. You have lost your job, your pension and your mind and on top of all that we have 2 more years of Obama! The world has gone crazy! How do you keep from being scared?

Paul says we are to pray right. When the entire world is wrong, pray right. Paul uses three different words to describe praying right. “Prayer, petition and thanksgiving.” Now, if Paul had been a really good preacher he would have made all three words start with the same letter but since he didn’t, I won’t try to. At least he went with the standard 3 point sermon here and I appreciate that. “Prayer, petition and thanksgiving.”

John Bunyon said, “You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” Repeat. I would add that you can’t worry or be afraid if you pray as Paul admonishes us to do here. But what is the difference in prayer, petition and thanksgiving? Let me give you an example.

You need something from your boss, your spouse or your parent. So you go to that person knowing that they are a great person and you love and appreciate them and they love and appreciate you. You get along real well. But you need something that that other person can provide. So you walk into the room where they are and say, “I need $500 by Friday.” Then you walk out of the room. How do you think that is going to go over?

Even though you say it nicely and you make it plain what your need is, if that is all you say then you are probably going to continue to have a problem. But what if you come into the room and you tell that person how much you appreciate all that they have done for you and how much they mean to you and that you realize you are where you are because of them? Do you think that may help solve your problem a little easier?

And maybe if you thanked that person for considering the request and also for all the other things they have done in your life, do you think they might have a more favorable response? Why would God, your Father, not want to hear the same thing? Now, that’s not a perfect illustration especially if you think God can be buttered up and sweet-talked into doing something He might not otherwise do.

When Paul talks about prayer here, he is talking about the general kind of prayer that is involved in worship and adoration. When we find ourselves worrying or fearful our first response should be like Job’s. When Job got word that everything he had was gone, it says the first thing he did was fall down and worship. He worshipped because Job knew who God was and Job knew who Job was and when you have that understanding; when you know who you are and who God is then worship is appropriate and natural.

It is easy to tell God how great He is when you have experienced His grace and mercy and love and forgiveness.  If you are going to pray with adoration and worship then you have to adore Him and you can’t really adore Him until you have been through difficult times, leaned on Him, felt His grace and mercy and gotten through it.  I will say again that I don’t understand how people get through those difficult times without a relationship with God through His son Jesus.

 

The more and better you know Him; the longer you serve Him and submit to Him the more you see that relationship as valuable in your life.  Have you told God just how valuable He is to you?  Do you think that might be something you need to say and He wants to hear?  That is the kind of praying Paul is talking about here.

He also says that we are to “petition” God.  “Supplication” may be the word your version uses.  For most of you, you might think this would be the easiest because it basically just means to tell God what you need.  Be specific.  But it also means to do so with intensity.  Matthew 6:7 says, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”  Intensity does not mean repetition or just babbling.

Now, I know as well as anybody that there are times when all you can say to God is “help!”  You don’t know how to pray.  You don’t know what words to use.  Your grief, confusion, pain and fear keep you from being able to be real eloquent sometimes and that is when, as Romans 8:26 says, that the Spirit intercedes for us and that is as it should be.  But God wants us to tell Him how we are feeling.  He wants you to be brutally honest with yourself and with Him.  If you are mad, sad, afraid or confused just tell Him.  Because honesty and intensity go hand in hand.

It’s how Jesus prayed in the garden, sweating drops of blood, being honest with the Father saying, “I don’t want to do this!” but ending with, “but not my will be done but yours.”  It was like Epaphras, who Paul said wrestled in prayer.  Like Jacob wrestling with God and saying, “I’m not going to let you go until I get an answer.”

I’ve told you before that I certainly don’t understand how prayer really works.  I know it does.  I just don’t understand all there is to know about it and that’s ok.  I do know, though, that sometimes the answer to that prayer is, “Keep praying.”  And that’s ok, too because the more and deeper the prayer the more and deeper your relationship becomes and the more you adore and worship Him and the more and deeper you start to become like Jesus and THAT is what God wants.

You know what?  Maybe that is the answer to your prayer right there.  In fact, that may be the answer to your prayer AND the reason that you are having to endure those difficult times that never seem to end…because God wants you, all of you and only you and is more concerned about you being like Him in those difficult times than in actually solving all your problems.

“But that’s not fair!”  Who said anything about fair?  In fact, I think God wants to hear you tell Him that your situation is not fair.  I do.  In your supplication, tell Him that your problems aren’t fair.  It’s not right.  You don’t deserve it.  You wish it wasn’t like this…BUT…BUT…not my will but yours be done!  That is praying like Jesus prayed and that is when you start to become more like Him and that is what Paul is talking about here.

Then you end your prayer with a time of thanksgiving.  “Prayer, petition or supplication and then thanksgiving.”  Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, "Certainly the preacher won't think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this." Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, "We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this." Daily Bread, August 26, 1989.

Thank you, Lord, for what we have.  Thank you, Lord, for what we don’t have.  Thank you, Lord, for taking care of us and even though I don’t know how You are going to do it, thank you for answering our prayers.  There is always something for which to be thankful even if it is just the fact that God is working in you to make you more like Jesus.  Thank you Lord!

Now, do you know what happens when you pray right?  Do you know what happens when you pray with adoration, petition and thanksgiving and you do it about everything that you are worried about or scared of?  Paul says that the peace of God will guard you.  As believers, Romans 5:1 tells us that we always have peace WITH God but Paul says the peace OF God; that same peace that Jesus had and Paul had and so many others in the Bible had can be ours and not only will we have it but it will “guard our hearts and minds.”

That word “guard” is a military term that Paul would have been very familiar with because he was always being guarded by at least one soldier, usually more.  And just like that soldier was not going to let anything in that cell or out of that cell, God’s peace will guard your heart and the way you feel and also your mind or the way that you think.  That peace is going to guard you and not let worry or fear come in or let any peace go out.

It’s the same peace that Daniel had in the lion’s den that allowed him to sleep that night surrounded by hungry lions while the king was in his palace wide awake.  (Daniel 6) That peace is what allowed Peter to sleep in jail so soundly that the angel that came to rescue him had to kick him to wake him up. (Acts 6)  And that same peace can be yours if you pray right with worshipful adoration, petitions and thanksgiving.

My dear sweet family, a relationship with Jesus is not going to solve all of your problems.  You may even have more.  There is going to come a time when that big mean dog is going to bite you.  I hear people say sometimes that God will never give you more than you can handle but that’s not true.  He often gives you more than you can handle.  He just wants to see how you handle it.  Are you going to try to figure out a way out of it by dwelling on it or are you going to give it to Him in prayer and become more like Him?  It’s your free will…but it’s His peace.

I want to end by telling you the one thing that we should fear.  The Bible tells us plainly.  Unlike what President Roosevelt said that “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  The only thing we have to fear is God Himself.  Proverbs 1 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Even as believers we are to have a healthy respect for God Almighty.  That should be reflected in everything we pray.

For unbelievers, though, you should be worried.  You should be scared.  God will not be mocked nor will He be ignored.  He gives us free will but making wrong choices always comes with consequences.  Don’t wait any longer.  Don’t forfeit the peace that is beyond our understanding.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  It’s not just a memorable Bible verse.  It’s truth but you have to accept it.  Do it today.