You Don't Have to Worry

Matthew chapter 6 Beginning at verse 19 and reading to verse 34.

Our Lord deals with one of the great problems that people face, the problem of worry and anxiety.

Scripture Reading

Matthew chapter 6, verse 19.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves breakthrough and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not breakthrough nor steal.

For where your treasure is there, where your heart be also the lamp of the body is the eye.

If, therefore, thine eye be single or healthy, thy whole body shall be full of light.

But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.

If therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness?

No man can serve 2 masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on?

Is not the life more than food, and the body than raiment?

Behold the fowls of the air.

For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns.

Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.

Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you, by being anxious, can add 1 cubit unto his stature?

And why are you anxious for raiment?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.

They toil not, neither do they spin.

And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon and all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you?

O ye of little faith, therefore be not anxious, saying, What shall we eat, Or what shall we drink?

Or with what shall we be clothed?

For after all these things do the Gentiles seek?

For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Be therefore not anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow we'll be anxious for the things of itself.

Sufficient unto the day is its own evil, and as thy days so shall thy strength be.

End of Scripture Reading

The Christian Life

The Christian life is a very practical thing.

Paul wrote to Timothy and said that the Christian life has promised not only for the hereafter, but also for the here.

In other words, we Christians are not simply looking for pie in the sky.

By and by, we Christians know our Lord is going to come and we're going to be with him forever.

But while we're waiting, we have a great deal to be thankful for.

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus deals with the very practical aspects of the Christian life.

He has been talking to us about getting along with other people.

He's been talking about the subject of sin and how to get victory.

He's instructed us on how to be the right kind of prayer warriors and how to give.

And now, in Matthew chapter 6, beginning at verse 19, he deals with the sin that we Christians don't like to confess, the sin of worry.

And of course most of us don't worry.

We are concerned.

We are burdened, but we don't worry.

I think we do.

In fact, our Lord devotes a great deal of time in this sermon on the Mount to the subject of anxiety.

The word anxious in the New Testament means to be pulled apart.

And the last time you worried, I'm sure you were pulled apart.

Your mind said, oh, forget about it, don't worry, it's going to work out.

Your heart said it'll never work out and so your heart and your mind were pulling away at each other.

And this is why some people get physical consequences from worry.

The male brothers tell us that half of the people in our hospital beds are not sick at all.

Their physical affliction is caused by spiritual or psychological problems.

On more than one occasion a doctor has phoned me and said, pastor, I've been treating a patient, but I can't do much more 'cause the problem is not physical.

Could you talk to the patient?

The problem is really emotional and spiritual because worry means to strangle.

The English word comes from an old root that means to strangle.

Have you ever been strangled by worry?

Has your neck ever been strangled by worry, so that you literally have a pain in the neck because you've been worrying?

Or have your innards ever been twisted by worry and the result can be such things as ulcers and heart attacks?

This doesn't mean that everyone who has an ulcer or a heart attack worries.

No, it doesn't mean that because anxiety pulls us apart, it can create physical problems.

And so our Lord deals with the subject of worry.

At this point, someone says, well, it's fine for you to stand there in that pulpit and talk about worry because you have nothing to be concerned about.

Well, not only do I have my own concerns, but I have yours and a few other people.

All of us have some kind of pressure, some kind of difficulty.

Everybody has something all, you see, I know people who were just smiling and happy.

They don't have anything to be concerned about.

Well, you don't know them very well because the deeper you get into the heart of a person, the more you discover everybody has some kind of pressure or problem or concern which can become worry.

The Cause of Worry

Now our Lord gives us three very practical lessons on worry, and if you and I will simply learn these lessons and put them into practice, we're not going to be pulled apart.

We're not going to be strangled.

The next time you find yourself worrying and fretting, remind yourself of the lessons that the Lord Jesus gives here.

Lesson #1 is the cause of worry.

Jesus tells us what causes worry.

Now some of the Christians listening to me now are going to be a little bit disturbed when they hear this cause, but I believe this is what he's talking about.

We say that worry comes because we inherited it.

Oh, if you only knew my mother.

If you only knew my grandmother.

What a worry ward.

No, no, you can't blame worry on inheritance or personality or circumstances or intelligence or spiritual growth.

No.

Jesus says worry is caused by a worldly attitude.

You see, it has to do with things.

Notice verse 32.

For after all of these things do the Gentiles seek?

For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things.

But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And all these things shall be added unto you.

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord has been saying, there are people and there are things, and there is God.

You read all the way through the sermon on the Mount, and you'll find these three threads are woven into it.

From start to finish, there is God.

We must be rightly related to God.

There are people, we must be rightly related to people, and there are things.

We've got to be rightly related to things now.

God should be worshipped and trusted in.

People should be loved, and things should be used for the good of people and the glory of God.

But we've got that all mixed up.

You know what worldliness is, you say?

Of course I know what it is.

It's going to the wrong places on Rush Street, and it's reading the wrong books.

No, no, that could be worldly.

I don't question that at all.

But there's a far more subtle kind of worldliness that has crept into the lives of many of God's people.

It is a worldliness connected with things, all wrapped up in things, worshipping things and loving things and having to possess things.

The only difference between men and boys is that men buy more expensive toys, and that applies to women and girls, too.

There are some people who think that life is made-up of things now.

God made things back in Genesis chapter one.

When God had finished creation, he looked upon everything that he had made and behold it was very good.

God made things and things are good.

And my Bible tells me in Matthew 6:32, "My Father knows I have need of things. Food, clothing, shelter."

So of themselves, things are not wicked.

God made things.

Things are good.

God knows we need things.

In fact, God wants us to enjoy things.

Now the way some Christians look, you'd never know the word enjoy was in the Bible.

But it is.

Paul wrote to Timothy in First Timothy 6:17 and he said, "Charge them that are rich in this world that they trust not in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."

And so you don't have to go home and sell your stereo or clean out the library and give it away.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying things, nor is there anything wrong with employing things in the service of God.

Well then, what's Jesus talking about?

Our Lord is saying it's all right for you to own things, but when things start owning you, watch out.

The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.

And he said within himself, "What shall I do?

For I have no room in my barns to take this bumper crop."

Ah, this will I do.

I will tear down my barns, and I will build greater.

And I will say to my soul, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.

Eat, drink, and be merry."

And that night God said to him, "You fool, this night your soul is required of thee."

And then who shall these things be?

Things.

It's all right to own things.

Don't let things own you.

And I'll tell you why.

If you start living for the collecting of things, if your heart is just simply set upon things, you'll always be disappointed.

You see, either we can live for things and forget about God, and most of the people in the world do this, or we can try to live both for things and for God.

And many worldly Christians do this.

Or we can live for God and let the things be taken care of by God.

That's what he's talking about.

When you start living for things, you're always disappointed.

I'll tell you why.

Things are not dependable.

If you build your life on things and build your enjoyment only on things, if you try to have things and God or things as your God, they aren't dependable.

The moth can eat them, the rust can eat them away, the thief can come and take them away.

There is no thing on this earth that is going to always be the way it is.

Things change now.

If you build your life on that which is changing, then you're going to have trouble.

And things have a way of deceiving us.

We think that money, for example, means security.

Money doesn't mean security, money.

You can't eat money.

Money can't make you well.

Money is just a medium of exchange.

Nothing wrong with having it.

Obviously, God knows the needs that we have.

But money is only good according to what you do with it.

If you take money and you're sick, and you buy medicine, that's a good use of money.

Nothing is secure.

No thing of itself can satisfy, because things are in addition to our lives.

Things are not the very heart of our lives.

God so made us that we aren't satisfied with things.

Jesus says a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses.

How much did he leave behind?

He left everything behind.

Well, how much did he send ahead?

That's the big question.

Now our Lord is not saying that it's wrong to have things, nor is our Lord saying it's even wrong to have money in the bank.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, "Now look, the children don't lay up for the parents.

The parents lay up for the children."

Nothing wrong with parents having insurance and adequate provision for their children.

In fact, he wrote to Timothy and said, "If a believer doesn't take care of his own household, he's worse than an infidel."

Nothing wrong with having a checking account or a savings account, but our Lord is warning us here.

He's saying if you have things and enjoy things, don't let them take the place of God.

Don't worship them, don't serve them, don't live only for the accumulation of things.

That's not what life is made-up of.

So when you find yourself worrying, look into the mirror and say to yourself, I remember the lesson Jesus taught about the cause of worry.

Worry is caused by things.

Is there some place in my life where things have taken over?

Now?

It might be an intangible thing, like pride, ambition.

That's wrong.

It might be some other kind of thing.

But just look in the mirror and say the cause of things.

The cause of worry is worldliness, and the basis for worldliness is loving things.

John talked about this when he called it the vain glory of life, the accumulation of things, the cause of worry, a worldly attitude, putting things in place of God.

The Consequences of Worry

Now there's a second lesson.

Our Lord teaches us here.

He teaches us the consequences of worry, he says, "Now, if you're going to worry, be sure you know what the consequences are."

Worry is one of the most expensive things anyone can do.

If you're going to worry, my friend, you've got a luxury.

It's expensive.

He points out to us the consequences of worry.

In verses 21 through 24, worry makes a slave out of you.

In verse 21, it gets a hold of your heart.

In verses 22 and 23, it gets a hold of your mind.

In verse 24, it gets a hold of your will.

That's the whole of the inner, inner man.

Your mind and your heart and your will.

Things have a way of creating worry, and then worry gets a hold of your heart, your emotions.

Verse 21.

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Forgive me for saying this.

I am not a psychologist or the son of a psychologist.

I don't know that field as well as I know some other things, but I've noticed this.

The people who worry are people who are afraid and nervous and fidgety.

Now, once again, I'm not saying everyone who's nervous worries.

Nerves sometimes are caused by physical things.

But people who worry, something happens to their heart, their heart gets fearful, their heart becomes troubled.

And worry has a way of enslaving the heart so the emotions can't function like they ought to.

This is why people who worry don't really enjoy life.

Because their emotions are so enslaved by worry, they can't invest those emotions in other things and really enjoy life.

In verses 22 and 23, he says that worry can get a hold of your mind.

"The lamp of the body is the eye."

He's talking about your outlook, your mental outlook, he says.

Now, if your eye is single, if your eye is healthy, it brings in the light and you can see.

If your eye is not healthy, it brings in the darkness and you can't see.

He's talking about outlook.

Outlook determines outcome.

Now what is your mental outlook?

Now?

He's not giving a psychology lesson here.

Although Jesus is a master psychologist, our Lord is just simply saying here it's impossible to look in two directions at one time.

It's impossible to go right and left simultaneously.

You can't roll in two directions at the same time.

Your outlook has to be a dedicated outlook.

You're either looking toward the things of God and putting God first.

If you're not, worry has a way of getting a hold of your mind.

There are students who can't think.

They can't study because worry has so enslaved their mind.

There are mothers and fathers who can't function right with their children because worry has so gotten a hold of their mind.

Someone talks to them.

They can't hear.

They don't know what you've said.

Often I have visited people who have been enslaved by worry, and you might just as well talk to the lamp or to the wall.

They don't hear you.

The mind gets enslaved and paralyzed by worry.

In verse 24 he talks about the will.

He says you can't serve 2 masters.

You can't live for money and things and live for God at the same time.

You're going to hate one, love the other, cleave to the one, despise the other.

You can't do both.

A divided life, a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Here is the will.

The will doesn't know what to do.

And so my mind and my heart and my will can be enslaved by worry.

And this is the beginning of all sorts of psychological and spiritual and physical problems.

That's an awful consequence to worry.

So I say it again.

Worry is a very luxurious thing.

It's a very expensive thing.

The 2nd consequence verses 25 through 30.

Worry cheapens you.

Worry cheapens you.

Jesus says you don't find the birds getting ulcers.

Even if a Sparrow falls, the Father is there.

He knows all about it.

The fowls of the air.

The Father feeds them the lilies of the field.

The Father dresses them.

Aren't you worth more than the birds?

Aren't you worth more than the lilies in another place?

Jesus said, "Isn't a man worth much more than a sheep?"

You see all of nature.

Trust the Father, said the Robin to the Sparrow.

I should really like to know why those anxious human beings run around and worry.

So said the Sparrow to the Robin.

I do think that it must be that they have no heavenly Father, such as cares for you and me.

You don't find nature frustrated and worried, and they trust the Father.

And so when we worry, it cheapens us.

It makes me less than a bird.

It makes me less than a sheep.

It makes me less than a Lily out in the field.

God says, "Look, you're my child."

Jesus died for you.

The Holy Spirit lives in you.

You're a part of my family.

But when you worry, you cheapen yourself as well as enslave yourself.

Verse 27 tells me there's a third consequence to worry.

It shortens your life which of you, by being anxious, can add 1 cubit to his stature.

Now he's not talking about suddenly growing 18 inches.

Nobody wants to.

Well, some people might, but most people don't want to.

He's not talking about stature in terms of size.

He's talking about stature in terms of time.

You say, "Oh, I'd love to add 20 more years to my life.

I'd love to add 10 more years to my life," Jesus said.

You can worry about it all you want to.

It won't happen.

In fact, it'll be just the opposite.

When you worry, it takes time off of your life.

People worry themselves into the grave.

People worry themselves into an early death.

And so he says, "Worry enslaves you and worry cheapens you and worry robs you."

It robs you of the very life that God wants you to enjoy, he tells me in verse 31 and 32.

That worry robs me of my testimony, he said.

After all these things, do the Gentiles seek?

Now the Lord was talking to Jewish people, and the Jewish people, as you know, felt that they were different from and therefore better than the Gentiles, he said.

All right, now you Jewish people, when you worry, you're acting just like those Gentiles that you look down upon.

And here's a Christian who says to his business partner or to his fellow employee, "Oh, Jesus is my savior," and he worries himself into the hospital.

What kind of testimony is that?

See, the unsaved world is running helter skelter looking for security.

They're trying to find either escape or security.

One minute they want escape, the next minute they want security.

One minute they want to stand still, the next minute they want to run and they're worried.

I tell you, if we knew all that goes on in the minds and hearts of unsaved people, we'd pray more for them.

They're worried.

And along comes the believer who has a Heavenly Father, the believer who knows he's going to heaven, the believer who has a promise like.

And we know that all things are working together for good to them that love God.

The believer who can pray, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory."

By Christ Jesus, the believer who has a Bible and a church family, the believer comes along.

He's worried he's lost his testimony.

Sometimes God deliberately puts us in a hospital room with an unsaved person, that we might be a testimony.

I have rejoiced these past six years as I have visited in hospital rooms our own people, to see what a testimony they have been.

Oh, it's marvelous in their praying, in their confidence, in their lack of anxiety.

What a testimony they have been.

Worry robs you of your testimony.

I noticed in verse 34 that worry robs me of the enjoyment of today.

Someone has said that most people are being crucified between 2 thieves, the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow.

I don't doubt there are people in this congregation right now who are not enjoying today because you're regretting yesterday or you're worrying about tomorrow.

You know what happens that robs you of today.

And when you walk into tomorrow, you'll do the same thing.

Worry becomes a habit.

Worry is a way of life.

And Jesus says, "Look, why don't you just enjoy the day?"

I have met in my ministry people who were always going to do things or we're going to make that trip.

They've never done it.

"Oh, we're going to visit this loved one."

We've never done it.

They're always going to, always living in the future.

Then along comes a stroke or cancer or something and they're not able to do it.

And they say, "Oh, if I had just done it when I had the opportunity."

How can we say to young parents, "Enjoy your children while you have them?"

Before you know it, they'll be gone.

You tell them that they don't believe you.

How can you say to students, "Look, students, enjoy these days of study.

Make the most of them."

They're going to go by like that, and you'll wish you had them back.

But people don't believe this.

Life is fleeting by so quickly.

Are you enjoying today or are you ruining today by worrying about tomorrow?

My friend, worry robs you of today as "thy days, so shall thy strength be."

Day by day we walk with the Lord.

Jesus also tells us another consequence of worry.

Worry robs us of treasures in heaven.

He said, "Here you are living for things on earth, and then they're gone."

Now what's it mean to have treasure in heaven?

Does it mean to give all that you have to the poor?

No.

No, Abraham never did that.

David never did that, did that.

What's it mean to have treasure in heaven?

To give up all of your earthly things?

No.

No, not give them up.

Give them over.

To have treasure in heaven means using things on earth for the glory of God and then the money we spend for the glory of God, whether it be for a house or a missionary.

Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all of the glory of God that is invested.

It's not lost or spent.

It means taking all that God has given us, the car and the house and whatever you have, and giving it to God and saying, "Lord, I'm going to use things for your glory."

And when you take things and use them for God's glory, then they become treasures.

But not treasures on earth, treasures in heaven.

That's the beautiful thing about being a Christian.

Life is not just spent, life is invested.

So the next time you worry, my friend, consider the consequences of worry.

It's very expensive.

The Cure for Worry

Finally, our Lord gives to us the cure for worry, and I think that's why we're here this morning.

So let's look at it.

All right, you say I do worry.

I confess that I worry about the business, worry about my family.

I worry about the stock market.

I worry about the weather.

That's a waste of time.

How do I get victory over worry?

I'm a Christian.

I've trusted Jesus Christ.

I know I'm going to heaven, but I'm being pulled apart by anxiety and worry.

Our Lord's cure for worry is found in three words in verse 30 and 32 and 33.

Now it's easy to remember because all three of these words start with the same letter, the letter F in verse 30.

The last word, faith.

Verse 32 Father, verse 33.

First here, these three words tell us how to get victory over worry.

The 1st is faith.

"Oh ye have little Faith."

Faith.

Faith in whom?

Faith in the God of creation.

Faith in whom?

Faith in the God of salvation, the God of redemption.

Faith.

Faith in God.

You see, the birds and the flowers and all of nature have faith in God.

They trust God.

They trust God for water, for minerals, for food.

God takes care of them.

The Psalmist says, "Thou openest thy hand and you feed every living thing."

Faith.

Now faith comes from the word of God.

People who worry usually are ignoring the word of God.

So when you find yourself tempted to worry, reach for your Bible.

Open it up and say Lord.

"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God."

I'm going to read the promises of your word.

Now don't go sit down on a tack somewhere.

Sit down on a rock.

Sit down on Romans chapter 8 or Psalm 103.

Sit down on Isaiah chapter 40.

Get a hold of a good rock and sit down on it and say, "Father, I'm going to trust you."

Faith, Jesus said to his disciples over and over again.

"Where's your faith?

Where's your faith?"

If your faith is in yourself, it'll fail.

If your faith is in circumstances, it won't work.

Is your faith in God?

He said, "Have faith in God."

Oh, I wish every Christian would read the life of Jay Hudson Taylor.

If you can't take time to read those two big volumes, or the one volume, at least read Hudson Taylor's spiritual secret.

Written by his son and daughter-in-law, Doctor and Mrs. Howard Taylor, it tells how Hudson Taylor was being torn apart by anxiety and worry, the work, the frustration of the work of the China Inland Mission.

And then one day he got a letter from a missionary friend, and that letter transformed him.

You ought to read the story.

He discovered that it wasn't by Hudson Taylor trying to be faithful to God, but Hudson Taylor just trusting God's faithfulness.

That's what made the difference, he says.

Not by looking to myself and too many Christians look to themselves.

Or will you ever stop having autopsies?

Will you please stop cutting yourself to pieces and bleeding yourself?

Hudson Taylor said, "It's not by my faithfulness but by looking away to the faithful one I change.

But he never changes."

Faith.

That's the first secret for victory over worry.

The second word is the word Father.

In verse 32, "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."

Father, you ought to sit down with the Gospel of John, chapters 13 through 17, Our Lord's Upper Room discourse and prayer and count the number of times he uses the word Father.

Now the word Father may bring bad feelings to you.

Your father perhaps was not a good father.

I don't know, a college student said to me one day.

"If God is like my father, I'm not interested."

But Jesus talking here about a loving Father, we parents are hurt.

When our children worry they don't have confidence in us, they fret and worry.

We say, "Look, we'll take care of it.

It's all taken care of."

Our Heavenly Father is this way.

If you want to have victory over worry, remember you have a Father in heaven.

We don't pray our judge who art at the bench.

We pray our Father who art in heaven.

"If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?"

He says, "Your Father knows, your Father knows."

And so when you find yourself getting worried, check your faith.

And then say, "Father, you love me, Father, you're going to care for me.

I don't have to be afraid."

Now the third word is the word first.

"But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And all these things shall be added unto you."

Things.

Now most people read this verse like this, but seek things first.

No, no.

If you make things the center of your life, you're building on a very unstable center, he said.

Put God at the center of your life.

Put God first.

Seek first his rule.

That's God's Kingdom.

In other words, be sure you're doing the will of God.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done."

God is not obligated to meet the needs of rebels.

All things are working together for good to them that love God who are called according to his purpose.

And if the child of God is in the will of God living for the glory of God, he can look up to the face of God and expect provision from the hand of God.

But God is not expected to take care of rebels.

Seek ye first.

And so this raises the question, what is really important in my life?

Is God first in my life Now?

How do you put God first in your life?

That mean you have to become a full time Christian worker?

No, no.

We need people all over.

What's it mean to put God first?

It just means that whatever we do, it's his will.

However we use money or time or energy or things, it's his will.

It's his glory.

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

God's rule, God's righteousness.

Obey him, serve him, love him, glorify him.

And God says, "I'll take care of you.

All these things shall be added."

What things?

What are the things you've been worried about?

They are not to be the center of your life.

They are just fringe benefits.

You're worrying about food and clothing and all these things.

These are fringe benefits.

Just put me first.

I may test you.

I may make you wait.

I want to build your character.

I'm not going to spoil you.

Our Father will not have spoiled brats in his family.

I'm not going to give you everything you ask.

I'm going to give you everything you need.

But just put me first.

And I think these three words can help us in overcoming worry.

Faith, Father, first.

Now, there are some of you here this morning who ought to worry.

You ought to lie awake at night and worry first thing in the morning.

When you wake up.

You ought to worry because you're not God's children.

You've never been saved.

You've got a lot to worry about.

We who are saved don't have to worry about a thing.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

We're not concerned Jesus Christ has taken care of the whole thing.

But if you're not a Christian, you ought to worry.

If I were not a Christian, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night contemplating the fact that I'm going to face God someday without a savior.

If I were not a Christian, I couldn't laugh or joke.

If I could look up and see the sword of God's judgment hanging over my head and realize that there is a place called hell, I couldn't joke.

And so if you're not saved today, you ought to worry.

You ought to worry so much God convicts you so much that you'd run down this aisle and come and say, "Pastor, I want to be saved.

I don't want to be lost forever.

I want to trust Jesus as my savior."

You ought to do that, and you can do it this morning.

But for those of us who are saved, Jesus says don't worry.

If you are worrying, it's because you're worldly.

You're all wrapped up in things of this world.

Give that to me.

Put me first.

Let me worry about that.

Let me manage things for you.

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

And all these things shall be added unto you.

We come, our Father, with grateful hearts that not only have you saved our souls through faith in Christ, but you are taking care of our bodies. You are supplying our needs. You are being our Father. We're thankful, Lord, that we don't have to worry about seeming tragedy or trouble, because all of these things are under your control. And I pray that you'll forgive us for the sin of worry. I pray that across this congregation there might be repentance because of worry. And then, Lord, I pray, speak to that one who needs to be saved. Oh God, may he come and trust Christ, accomplish your will through this ministry. Today we ask in Jesus name and for his sake. Amen.