Philippians 4:6b (NKJV) …but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
The Apostle Paul encouraged us to pray in every circumstance regarding anything that brings anxiety or worry in our lives. We are to make it known to God by calling and crying out to Him because He is a God who hears and cares.
The moment we are saved, we need to know that we are no longer living without hope and without God in this world. It is terrible to live in fear and hopelessness. There is a tendency for us to think of the worst scenario whenever something happens to us. Anxiety is built on fear, fear of the unknown or the possible scenarios. Fear is a spiritual force that can cripple us and prevent us from doing anything. It keeps us busy thinking about all the possible outcomes BUT IT DOES NOT HELP US TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. Fear is an act of the evil one that causes us to focus on the issue rather than on God.
The good news for us as believers is that we are able to surrender our problems to God and rest in His love. God is someone bigger, greater, more powerful, has much more resources, ideas, and nothing is too difficult for Him. He is limitless. THIS IS THE REASON WHY GOD ESTABLISHED A COVENANT WITH US. He established the covenant so that man’s problem will also be His problem because of the covenant obligation between partners. If He has resolved our sin issue as our covenant partner, then there is nothing in this life that He is not able to help us with. This is why it is important to understand what is a covenant and having God as our covenant partner because we are able to draw on His resources. God has established His love through an act of a covenant and He commits Himself to be with us in both good and bad times! We are blessed to have God as our covenant partner so that we are not in a hopeless situation. There is always the “God factor” in a hopeless situation.
1 Peter 5:7 (AMP) casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection and watches over you very carefully].
God has time and again reminded us to pray and cast all our cares upon Him. Prayer and casting our cares on Him is something that we need to choose to do. We are to come before Him to tell Him specifically the situation that we are in and ask Him for help. You may ask, “Why should we share with the Lord since He is omniscient?” Speaking to Him about the situation helps act as a release valve for our emotions, deal with our fears and receive from the Lord while we are in His presence. Praying in the Spirit also helps to strengthen our inner man when we are all stressed out.
We do not need to pray long prayers but short sincere utterances of how we feel and what we are experiencing. It is an honest conversation with God and a time of fellowship with Him. It will also give Him a chance to assure us and bring scripture into our memory as a form of comfort and strength.
Sermon Series: Don’t Panic
将你们所要的告诉神
腓立比书4：6b（NKJV）只要凡事借着祷告、祈求、和感谢、将你们所要的告诉神。
使徒保罗鼓励我们在各种情况下都为给我们的生活带来担忧或焦虑的事物祈祷。我们要通过呼唤和呼求来使它为神所知，因为祂是一个愿意聆听并且顾念我们的神。
我们得救的那一刻，需要知道我们不再六神无主地活在这个世界上。活在恐惧和绝望中是可怕的。每当发生什么事情时，我们倾向于往最糟糕的方面想。焦虑建立在对未知事物或可能场景的恐惧上。恐惧是一种精神力量，可以削弱我们并阻止我们做任何事情。恐惧使我们忙于思考所有可能的结果，但并不能帮助我们解决问题。恐惧是那恶者的作为，它使我们专注于问题而不是上帝。
好消息是，作为信徒，我们能够将自己的问题交托给上帝，然后在祂的爱中安息。上帝更大，更强，更有能力，拥有更多的资源和创意，在祂没有难成的事。祂是无限的。这就是上帝与我们建立契约的原因。祂订立了盟约，鉴于立约双方的条约义务，我们的问题也就成了祂的问题。如果祂做为立约伙伴已经解决了我们的罪的问题，那么我们此生中就没有什么是祂帮不了的。这就是为什么必须要了解什么是圣约并让上帝成为我们的圣约伴侣，这样我们就能够支取祂的资源。上帝通过立约确定了祂的爱，并且无论高山或低谷祂都会与我们同在！我们蒙福有上帝作为我们的立约伙伴，这样我们就不会陷入绝望的境地。在绝望中总有“上帝因素”。
1彼得5：7（AMP）你们要将一切的忧虑[一切的焦虑，一切的忧虑和一切的担忧，一劳永逸地]卸给神、因为他顾念你们[以最深切的爱小心翼翼地看顾你们]。
上帝一次又一次地提醒我们祈祷，并且将一切的忧虑卸给祂。这是我们需要选择去做的事。我们要来到祂面前，清楚的告诉祂我们所处的状况，并寻求祂的帮助。你可能会问：“既然主无所不知，为什么我们还要告诉祂呢？”对他诉说我们的情况犹如打开情绪的闸门，处理心中的忧惧，并且于主的同在中领受。当压力过大时在灵里祷告也有助于增强我们的灵人。
我们无需作很长的祷告，只要简短诚挚地说出内心的感受与当下的经历。这是与神的诚实对话，也是与神团契的时间。这也给了祂机会来安抚我们，帮助我们记起经上的话，安慰我们，给我们力量。
讲章系列：不要惊慌