“If God only had control!” “What do you mean if God only had control?” “Well, look at the situations in our country today—the violence and the murder and hatred that seems to be so prevalent and the storms that have come to our country. Things seem to be out of control.”

Well, wait a minute! Let's think about this from a little different perspective. You believe that God has a plan for your life, don't you? Well, if God really has a plan for your life, he must be in control of things, or it would be useless for you to seek to discover the plan God does have for your life. And why would you pray? If God is not in absolute control of all things, prayer would be useless. What could God do? He could do nothing. You need to stop worrying about the things that are occurring in the world and start praying, and trust the sovereign Lord of all. Well, in God's providence, this is the very point of our text in Philippians 4:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.Philippians 4:6, NASB

It is not inconsequential that the text begins with this familiar term. The New American Standard Version says, “Be anxious for nothing.” We could translate it, “Don’t worry about anything.” Don’t worry! It is the same exhortation Jesus has already given to us: Don't worry about your clothing, don't worry about what you are going to eat, don't worry about what the next day will bring. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Don't worry about what you are going to say when you come to that difficult meeting, or if you are encountering individuals who are opposed to the Christian faith. You have done your homework, you have studied…don't worry! Trust the Holy Spirit. We have heard these things.

And we have heard Jesus counsel us that worry chokes out the fruit of the Word of God, which is given to us week by week and which we read day by day. We have heard the warnings of Jesus that anxiety cuts the mustard and that anxiety will result in stunted growth. We realize the truth that a care for the things of the Lord and anxiety over the things of the world are in tension with one another, and God is drawing us away from the anxieties of the world to a more deeply devoted heart for the things of the Lord. It is only as we escape this world in the last days, when Christ comes again a second time in glory and the dead are raised, that we will escape anxiety entirely.

Content in Every Circumstance⤒🔗

But in the meantime, these exhortations continue to come to us. Don't worry! Don't be anxious! And in our text, the exhortation involves every circumstance of life. Look at our text again:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.Philippians 4:6, NASB

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything…”—there is a very strong adversative there. The ‘but’ is a strong work in the Greek language. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything”—all of life is encompassed here. If you look down to verse 11, the apostle Paul says something similar:

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

Whatever circumstance you find yourself to be in is the circumstance Paul is talking about.

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.Philippians 4:11-13, NASB

Verse thirteen you must take in the context of learning contentment. Because Paul is saying, “I have learned the secret of contentment, and I can be content no matter the circumstance. I can do this in Christ Jesus.” That is really how you have to take verse 13. This text does not mean that you can be a superhero and jump tall buildings with a single bound. That is not going to happen. Take it in context.

Every circumstance of life is involved in the exhortation that you have in verse 6. It does not matter if you are five years old and you are in kindergarten, or you are seventy-five or eighty-five or ninety-five years old, the exhortation is for you. “Be anxious for nothing.” Every circumstance! It does not matter if you are just starting out in school or if you are graduating from college. It does not matter if you are just starting a new job or if you have been in a business for a number of years. It does not matter if you own your own business and you are struggling with that business or if you have been in a business for a while that you have started and it is going quite well. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything…” Paul says. Every circumstance of life is comprehended in this text.

Look to Your Sovereign God←⤒🔗

And what you must realize is that while every circumstance of life is covered by the exhortation, you must also remember that you are directed to the sovereign God of the universe. Look at the end at the end of verse 5: “The Lord is near.” This is just a little statement that Paul sticks in there. The Lord is near. And who is the Lord? The Lord Jesus Christ! And then Paul goes on and says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (verse 6).

The LORD—he is God! The Lord Jesus Christ—he is God! This is the confession of the Old Testament saints. The LORD—He is God. This is the confession that Moses taught the people. This is the confession that Isaiah reflects on in Isaiah 52: “Your God reigns” (verse 7). The LORD—he is God. And he rules. He reigns. This is the confession brought into the New Testament by the Holy Spirit through the lips of the apostle Paul: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

You must remember the sovereign Lord who is ruler over all. He is in control of the little things of life. When you comb your hair and then you wash out comb in the sink and you see that hair in the sink, the Lord knows the number of those hairs. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He knew the number of hairs on your head before you brushed your hair and he knows the number of hairs on your head after you brush your hair. He is in control of all these things. And he is in control of the big things. Psalm 147 says that he numbers the stars. I do not know anyone else about which that can be said. He numbers the stars and he gives each one of them their name. He knows all things and he is in absolute control of all things.

When Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem so that Jesus would be born, it was just two peasant people travelling to Bethlehem. They did not find a place of comfort, so they wound up in a stable. An innocuous pair, if you will. But in order to get them to Bethlehem, the Bible tells us that Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken of the whole Roman Empire. You tell me if God is in control of all things! He was in control of the whole Roman Empire so that a census would be taken of the whole Roman Empire for the purpose of getting Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem to fulfil the prophecy that Jesus would be born there. It is the sovereign God of the universe with which you and I have to do. Do not be anxious, Paul says. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything look to the sovereign God of the universe.

By Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving←⤒🔗

And how do you look to him? Paul tells us: “By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” (verse 6). In other words, seek the Lord with supplicating prayer and thanksgiving. Those words ‘prayer’ and ‘supplication’ actually could be translated that way: supplicating prayer. Seek the Lord with prayer.

We did that a little bit this evening, and this is good. Seek the Lord with prayer. Prayerfully seek the Lord when you read your Bible. Prayerfully seek the Lord when you sing the psalms. Too often it the case that when we sing we just sing. We sing the words but we do not really look to the Lord. We do not seek the Lord in prayer as we sing those psalms. Seek the Lord in prayer as you sing. Prayerfully listen to the Word of God read. Prayerfully consider the things that are spoken to you in the message as you hear week by week.

With prayerful supplication—the word ‘supplication’ means that you humbly petition the Lord. You beg God to act. When you have a child that is in dire need or a grandchild that is in dire need, you just do not lightly mumble a prayer, you cry out to God and you beg God to take action! That is what the word ‘supplication’ means. With supplicating prayer.

With thanksgiving. Wrapping your prayer in thanksgiving. This does not mean that you give thanks to God for evil that has taken place. No, you do not thank God for evil. But you thank God that in evil circumstances he is still able to change the hearts of men and women to follow him. You thank the Lord in evil circumstances that there is opportunity for his light to shine. You thank the Lord that in evil circumstances, when they arise and there is nothing else that can be done, people repair to houses of worship and desire to hear the Word of God. You can give thanks that this is the case.

Let Your Petitions Be Made Known to God←⤒🔗

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (verse 6). Do I need to remind you, dear friends, of the fact that the text does not say, “Let your times of silence and reflection be present in tough circumstances”? When there is a death and when there is a tragedy, is it good enough to say, “We are going to have a moment of reflection now”? I don't think so! That is not what the Bible is saying.

(Transcription of audio file from 22:30 to 22:50 omitted.)

“Let your requests…” This is another command! This is another injunction. “Let your requests be made known to God.” What is your petition? What is your plea? Let your petitions be made known to God, the sovereign ruler of the universe. One of my petitions is that the evil of Islam would be judged. Islam is a false religion. The way of evangelism of the Muslims is the way of the sword. Allah is not the true prophet of God. This is a false religion. It is an idolatrous religion. It is darkness spreading its tentacles into the world through political correctness. O God, judge this evil! That is a prayer that I have. Let your petitions be made known to God. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with supplicating prayer and thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God” (verse 6). That is the command! That is duty. That is a duty to which God is calling you and me.

What does Paul say in another place? “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). Prayer is a means that God uses to bring about his purposes in the world. This is part of the genius of prayer. So knock and keep knocking, seek and keep seeking, ask and keep asking. This is what Jesus says. Let your petitions be made known to God. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with supplicating prayer and thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God” (verse 6).

The Peace of God←⤒🔗

Then look at the beginning of the next verse. ‘And’ here is a connecting word.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Philippians 4:7, NASB

Jesus Christ will replace anxiety with peace. That is what the text is saying. And the vehicle is prayer to God. We should not look at prayer as just some sort of psychological release—that is not the idea. But Jesus Christ replaces anxiety with peace.

In the book of Revelation there are two great pictures. One is of the sea in turmoil, as if there was a storm crossing the sea, and out of the sea arises a beast (Revelation 17). I think the picture is a picture of the beast who is in the image of the dragon, the devil, who is arising out of the tumult of the nations. That is one picture that is in the book of Revelation. But then earlier in the book of Revelation, there is also a picture of the sea (Revelation 4). The throne of God is on the sea, and the sea is a sheet of glass. It is calm; it is tranquil; it is at peace. The book of Revelation calls it a crystal sea before the throne. With the acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God and with thankful prayer to God there is tranquillity. The storm is gone. That is the kind of thing the text is talking about. When there is anxiety, our hearts are stirred like a kettle or a pot on the stove, and our hearts are in turmoil. But now that turmoil is turned to a peace that is rooted in an understanding of who God is and a trust in him. Stop worrying, start praying. Trust the sovereign God of all.

When I had the privilege of leading a youth group at the beginning of the year, I would get the group together and I would say to them, “Okay, let’s put some questions on the board. What are the things that you would like to talk about?” One after another they would raise their hands and have different questions and I would write them on the board. This year when we went through the procedure, one young lady raised her hand. Her father was dying of breast cancer, and her question was, “Why is God taking my dad away from me?” I wrote the question on the board and I decided we could not wait to address that question. My answer was something like this: The Bible says that God is good. It is undeniable that that is what the Bible says. The Bible also says that all things work together for good, and of course, God is in control of all that. All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purposes (Romans 8:28). And I said, “The best answer I can give you to your question, ‘Why is God taking my dad away from me?’ is this: The good God has a good reason for all that he does, and you need to understand that that is the case.”

We went home and the months went by, and unbeknownst to me this young lady wrote an article about all of this and sent it to Guideposts Magazine. And when she did that prayerfully, it was published. When her father died, she read that article at the funeral. In this circumstance of life she had prayerfully considered the sovereign God, and that a good God has a good reason for all the things that he does, even when he took my dad away from me. Stop worrying. Pray. Prayerfully consider the words of the apostle Paul and trust the sovereign God.

The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Philippians 4:5b-7, NASB

Do not worry. Pray. Trust the sovereign God.