Don't Worry, Be Happy Pt. 3

We have been discussing the unhappiness we see in our country today. It's been my observation that this unhappiness can be attributed to three things. The circumstances we face, the people we encounter and the problems we worry about. In Philippians 4:4-7, Paul addresses these three areas by giving us three principles to follow. 

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Principle #1 - Greet Every Situation with Rejoicing - v.4 

You can read part 1 here.

Principle #2 - Treat Every Person with Gentleness - v.5

You can read part 2 here.

Principle #3 - Meet Every Problem with Prayer - v.6-7 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

In 1988 a song by Bobby McFerrin hit the charts and quickly raced to number one. That year it won three Grammy awards. The song was not a song of intellectual depth, in fact, one phrase was repeated over 20 times, but somehow it struck a chord with the public.

The song was titled, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Why did this little diddy take the country by storm? Because worry and anxiety are part and parcel of today’s human existence. Worry reigns over more human beings than any king who ever ruled.

Everyone is looking for answers to help overcome anxiety, worry and depression – people want to stop worrying and be happy! Paul says however, “be anxious for nothing.”

The word “anxious” means to be pulled in different directions, to have divided energies, to have a divided mind. Our English word “worry” comes form an old English word meaning to strangle. When worry takes over our lives our minds become divided between legitimate thoughts and destructive thoughts. This battle strangles out right thinking. We are pulled in different directions and consequently worry chokes out the truths we have been taught.

When right thinking becomes distorted and the Word becomes squeezed out it causes us to abandon our trust in the Lord who tells us to cast all of our cares upon Him (I Peter 5:7).

This is what worry does to us.

Someone has aptly written:

Some of your hurts, you have cured,
And the sharpest, you still have survived,
But what torment of grief, you've endured, 
From hurts that have never arrived

I read a study several years ago that determined that 40% of the things that people worry about, never actually happen. 30% of our worries are related to past matters that are now beyond our control and only 8% of our worries had some basis in reality.

Paul tells us that instead of worrying we should pray. In fact, notice the contrast in absolutes.

“Be anxious for nothing”…“but in everything by prayer”

Just as we are commanded to worry about nothing, we are commanded to take everything to God in prayer!

 

“Everything is included in prayer that it might be excluded from care.”

 

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Notice Paul mentions 3 different aspects of prayer. Prayer, supplication and

thanksgiving.

“by prayer”

Paul uses the general word for prayer here, however it carries with it a special

connotation. It carries with it the idea of adoration, devotion and worship. Whenever

we find ourselves worrying, our first response ought to be that we get alone with God

in worshipful prayer. It really points to our frame of mind! If we see God in His

greatness and majesty, if we see Him as sovereign and sufficient, if we approach

His throne of grace boldly, but reverently, we will not need to worry.

“and supplication”

The word supplication speaks of an earnest and open sharing of one’s needs and

problems i.e. “casting our care on Him.” It pictures us as petitioners who come

humbly before the master with a need that must be met.

“with thanksgiving” 

By using this word Paul reminds us that all prayer must be accompanied by a spirit

of gratitude. Thanksgiving reflects the attitude of the petitioner and it demonstrates

that the request is being offered up from a submissive heart.

Now I know what you are wondering. Does this principle guarantee that when we

pray all the things we worry about will be straightened out and all of our troubles will

be gone?

NOT NECESSARILY!

During WWII, an army chaplain wrote an article on prayer that sheds light on this

subject.

“Is there such a thing as getting the ‘breaks’ in prayer? What about the fellows who pray regularly, but get killed regularly?...I wish people would stop writing about the soldiers who pray and have their prayers answered by not getting killed. Why do all the other soldiers seem to get the wrong answer?

What I want to know is this: what sort of an extra special, super- powered prayer is needed to make everything turn out the way you want it? That sounds facetious, almost irreverent, but I am really serious. I really want to know. I’m an army chaplain, and I could use some special prayers with my men—and heaven knows, we need them badly at times. Because the fact is there are always more men who pray to come back than there are men who get back. Quite a lot more. What is the deciding factor?

The thing for all of us to remember is this: someone else does the answering…What you have in mind may not be what God has in mind. If you ask Him something, you must be willing to take what He gives…That is why I am a bit depressed by the writings of those who try to get other people to pray by telling them that you get what you want. People must learn to want what they get…When I talk to soldiers about prayer, I try to tell them that they must be adults. God expects us to be men. Only children demand a happy ending to every story. How old must we be before we begin to realize that even prayer can’t get us everything we want, unless the thing we want is right for us to have?

Who gets the breaks in prayers? Nobody. There is no such thing. We get what God in His infinite love and foreknowledge sees fit to give. That’s not always the same as getting what we want. But it ought be.”

Some Pray and Die” Reprinted by David Jeremiah in Turning Toward Joy pg. 174

If prayer doesn’t always solve our problems, then what value is there in prayer? The

value in prayer is that while it may not always change the situation and make it

better, prayer can change us and make us better! Prayer, supplication and

thanksgiving is the answer to a heart that is overcome with anxiety.

Alec Moyter has written:

“In prayer anxiety is resolved by trust in God. That which causes the anxiety is brought to the One who is totally competent and in whose hands the matter may be left. In thanksgiving, anxiety is resolved by the deliberate acceptance of the worrying circumstance as something which an all-wise, all-loving, and all-sovereign God has appointed. Prayer takes up the anxiety-provoking question ‘How?’—How shall I cope?—and answers by pointing away to Him, to His resources and promises. Thanksgiving addresses itself to the worrying question ‘Why?’—Why has this happened to me?—and answers by pointing to the great Doer of all who never acts purposelessly and whose purposes never fail.”

Notice the effect of meeting our problems with prayer – v.7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts

and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The word guard points to a garrison guarding a fortress. While writing this epistle,

Paul was chained to a Roman soldier, guarded day and night. This picture would be

vivid to him.

What guards our hearts when we pray? It is what we need when we are worried...

PEACE

When we pray in the midst of our anxieties, God’s peace is there to stand guard over

our hearts and minds…what a promise!

Worry? Why worry? What can worry do?

It never keeps a trouble from over taking you.

It gives you indigestion, and wakeful hours at night,

And fills with gloom the days, however fair and bright.

It puts a frown upon the face, and sharpness in the tone.

We’re unfit to live with others, and unfit to live alone.

Worry? Why worry? What can worry do?

It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you.

Pray? Why pray? What can praying do?

Praying really changes things, arranges life anew.

It’s really good for your digestion, gives peaceful sleep at night,

And fills the grayest, gloomiest day with rays of glowing light.

It puts a smile upon your face, and a love note in your tone,

Makes you fit to live with others, and fit to love alone.

Pray? Why pray? What can praying do?

It brings God down from heaven, to live and work with you.

One last thing about these three principles:

Notice the always of rejoicing, the all men of relating and the everything of prayer.

Paul doesn’t leave us any room for other options.

How should you greet every situation? – Rejoice

How should you treat every person? - with Gentleness 

How should you meet every problem? - with Prayer