Scripture: Philippians 4:6 (NLT) – “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray for everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.”
Directive #1: Don’t worry
Have enough nerve to believe that this year will be better for you than last year. Have a great expectation about it, without worrying about it!
Summon enough nerve to believe that what the enemy meant for bad, God can make it for good and you do not have a need to worry about it! Have enough nerve to believe that the same powerful God that created seconds that turn into minutes, that turns into hours, then days, weeks, months, years, then decades, and centuries, is the same God who “sits high and looks low” and brought us through 2020, 2021 and now into 2022! And we have the right to feel good about expecting better!
So, we follow directive #1: Don’t worry. Worry is like a rocking chair that never takes you anywhere but back and forth, back and forth and back and forth.
We don’t worry. “This is the day the Lord has made.” It is not enemy made, but God made, and “we are to rejoice and be glad in it.” Don’t worry! No, we “do not know about tomorrow, but we know who holds tomorrow!” Do not worry!
Matthew 6:25–27 says, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” Don’t worry!
“But you don’t know,” – don’t worry. “But you don’t know what he said,” – don’t worry
“But the report said,” – don’t worry. “But if it’s not there by” – don’t worry.
Worry is destructive – not constructive. It damages health, disrupts productivity and negatively affects how you treat others. Worry reduces the ability to trust in God! Don’t let worry saddle you. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.” There is an alternative. The Bible says, “instead, pray…”
Directive #2 “Pray about everything.”
About some things? No, everything. About a few things? No, everything! Little things? Everything. Big things? Everything.
Pray about everything. Your finances, health, relationships, jobs, schooling, the roof over your head, and clothes on your back, how to treat your enemies, completing your goals, objectives, and what God wants out of your time on this earth!
Pray how to talk about Christ to strangers, how to stay safe from viruses, and uplift somebody’s spirit. Pray, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Pray about everything!
Directive #3: “Tell God what you need.”
Dear Lord, “give us this day our daily bread.” Luke 11: 3
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7
But, tell God what you need, not what you want. Tell Him what you need! What you need in many cases is different from what we want.
Directive #4: “Thank Him for all He has done.”
Thank Him for blessings seen and unseen! Known and unknown! Blessings remembered and blessings forgotten! Blessings acknowledged and blessings ignored!
Thank Him for waking us up this morning and starting us on our way!Thank Him that He can make a way, somehow! Thank Him that we “can do all things through Christ, which strengthens us!”
Thank Him for His grace, His mercy, His healing, forgiveness, and love! Thank Him for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and thank Him for Jesus!
Thank Him for Jesus! Thank Him for Jesus! Thank Him for Jesus! Thank Him for Jesus!
Lord, I thank you for Jesus! “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.”
Four directives for helping through 2022 – we are not to worry about anything; we are to pray about everything, we are to tell God what we need, and thank Him for all He has done!
The Rev. Dr. Michael W. Eagle, Sr. is the pastor of Grant AME Church in Long Beach. Learn more by calling Grant AME at 562-606-1821.
