This will sound like a broken record, but I am still on this journey to get rid of worry—worry…worry…worry…
Recently, I have been having auto troubles—hearing loud grinding noises from the starter. Yesterday morning I was reading from Psalm 37. The words trust, rest in, and wait on the Lord were the most predominant and helpful. I said “yes” to the Lord in regard to those things. I will trust Him and wait patiently.
Well yesterday afternoon, just before I was ready to leave my work place, I wondered how many starts I had left in my truck. Just before I would turn the key, I prayed and gave my situation to the Lord. I turn the key. It made a little noise and then nothing. It was gone. I called a tow truck and waited.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t too worried because I had given it to Him. Yes, I knew I would be tested, but I also knew that He would be with me—as He always is. I don’t know why I worry.
Today my auto shop guy gave me a new starter. All is well until the next test. I will try to remember those words: trust, rest in, and wait on Him. I think it is just a matter of my will saying “I will trust Him… I will rest in Him.” And in every test, it is another opportunity to trust Him.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
This verse is a concluding verse on the subject of worry, which Jesus has been preaching on from the preceding 14 verses (vv. 19-33); hence, He uses the word “therefore” to begin the verse. The verse also extends the teaching. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, whom I have been following, says this: “[Jesus adds] an extension of His teaching…In adding this [verse] He carried the teaching [about worry] one step further.”
Here we see that Jesus personalizes worry. In effect, worry seems to have its own power. I would say that worry teams up with the demonic; the demons mean to use worry to overpower us and defeat us. Almost all of us are familiar with what worry does to us. It argues with us and tries to convince us to overthink things, to over-plan for tomorrow. And it has a very active imagination, and it will come up with all kinds of possibilities—things that could happen, troubles! I am a house painter. And when I have a job coming up that I think will be difficult, I tend to want to sit and plan it all out. Some of that wise—I’m not against planning—but when it keeps me up half the night, its not good. I really don’t need that much thought on all the potential problems.
Jesus here tells us that worrying about the future is futile and achieves nothing. It is pointless because we can’t do anything about it until we get there. We are to live one day at a time, dealing only with the worries of the day—the present. But when we stack onto our present worries tomorrows worries, we are overburdening ourselves for that day; we are lessening our efficiency for that day.
We could look at it this way. God has given us twelve hours in each day. In order to be efficient in doing the tasks for that day, we must learn to concentrate most on that one day, blocking out the past and also the possible future. Oh, I know that it is wise to do some planning and reflecting. But when we have finished doing that—and it shouldn’t take that much time—we must move on and concentrate on the now. And one reason why we should do that is because thoughts on the past and the future are not always reliable. I think it is better to take things (problems) to God in prayer as they arise. It is better to live adventurously, and in faith and obedience.
We should say to ourselves, “Here is a day which is going to bring me a few problems; I will need God’s grace and help along the way.” And we could claim certain promises, like 1 Corinthians10:13:
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.
In conclusion, here are one or two thoughts:
Know that worry is always a failure to grasp and apply our faith. We apply it by learning to talk to ourselves and to convince ourselves to live by faith. We could say to ourselves with the Psalmist, “Why are thou cast down, O my soul? Hope in God…” (Ps. 43:5).
Then refuse any anxious thoughts. Faith in God is refusing to think about worrisome things and to set our mind toward God and trust in Him for today.
A small group prayer ministry may not appear to be that productive, but with the right leadership it may be very effective. Here are a few ideas on how to design this ministry.
1. I think a small group ministry will operate best with two or three leaders.These are the people that have the vision for this ministry. Though everyone in the group will have responsibilities, the leaders will do most of the planning and organizing. They should meet regularly, at least monthly to evaluate the groups progress, to plan events and strategies, and to pray together.
2. As to its location, I suggest that the group always meet in the same place so its members always know where to go. Since this will be a serious prayer group it must be a place without distractions.
3. Though many from the group will probably attend the same church…
Since people everywhere need prayer, we need prayer ministries everywhere. The design of your prayer ministry will be determined by two things: (1) by what the needs are, according to the location and type of ministry, and also (2) by whom your leaders are, according to their gifts and how God is calling and directing them. In this blog post we will address the prayer ministry of the local church.
There is no right or wrong way to design any prayer ministry. There are so many things that can be done. Here are some of my own ideas for a local church prayer ministry—from my own experience and from what I have read and observed.
1. I think the senior pastor should lead the prayer ministry, or at least be a co-leader with another elder.He is the main leader of the church so it fits best if he leads…
In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus talks about how we ought not to worry or be anxious in life; and He talks about how we should look at the birds and the flowers to see how God our Father takes care of them and how He will even more take care of us. Then in Matthew 6:30 Jesus points out to us what the ultimate problem is that is causing us to worry. We have a lack of faith. He said, “O ye of little faith.”
What does He mean by little faith? He does not say “no faith,” but little faith, or not enough faith. And Jesus is not speaking to unbelievers, but to believers—those who began a life of faith in Him.
But we must proceed on from the faith we began with—from the faith that saved us. Let us desire a larger, deeper faith. Or let me say this: if we don’t move on to a larger faith, we may always have trouble with worries and doubts—and along the way, some may even doubt their salvation!
What is a larger faith? It is a faith that believes on God for more than salvation; for our entire life—for every little thing; for food and drink and clothing, and also that He will care for you in everything you do.
To be of little faith means that we are mastered by our circumstances. This should not happen to a Christian! We as Christians should be above our circumstances. We can even rejoice in tribulation.
Another way of looking at it is that we as Christians who are of great faith learn to be thinkers not just responders. Hence, the trouble with the one of little faith is that he does not think; he does not think of the truth and the promises of God. He is just blown around by the wind of circumstances.
We must spend more time studying the bible and thinking of on the lessons that the Lord gives us, and on His promises, and to believe them. This is the essence of faith. And conversely, little faith is not to open the bible but rather to cling to a vague memory of our salvation.
I am not saying that our salvation is not important. But we must go on and build on that salvation. A larger faith realizes the full implication of our salvation. It sees who we are as Christians; that we are children of our heavenly Father and that we have a great inheritance in Christ. All the promises of God are meant for us. Paul wrote, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things (Ro. 8:32).
Here are some things to think about which He has given us:
He has put our names in His book (Rev. 20:12). He has many things in store for us for all eternity.
Think of His great love for us (John 3:16).
He is concerned for us. He cares for us (1 Pt. 5:7).
He is so strong for us. His great power is working for us (Eph. 3:16-20).
When the Holy Spirit gives you a burden He also gives you the responsibility to hold it and carry it along. For this reason, you must listen closely to the voice of God and give attention to those peculiar feelings of compassion He gives you for certain individuals. Then when you feel a special mercy, tenderness, or pity for a person, give heed to this feeling—go immediately to prayer.
But give attention only to those unselfish concerns. Pay no heed to those interests by which you will benefit from. In this regard, be careful in your praying, as you pray for certain members of the opposite sex that you are attracted to. Guard your heart, as your prayers may be nothing more than Satan’s trap to get you more emotionally attached, which in the end may have very destructive consequences. Overall, I think, to give yourself consistently and exclusively to…
The function of a prayer ministry is its purpose; and its function will tell us what it does; it will give us the reasons why we should have it. In this post we will discuss five functions of a prayer ministry.
Five Functions of a Prayer Ministry
1. It provides for teaching on prayer.Every prayer ministry should do some-thing to teach its people what prayer is and how to pray. If your ministry is in a church, and you are the head pastor, you should see to it that sermons are preached on prayer and that prayer is taught in Sunday school classes and bible study groups. Wherever your ministry is located, I think it would be good if you had prayer retreats and prayer conferences, where speakers would teach on prayer and where workshops would be given to learn about prayer. Moreover, you should encourage your people to…
The type of burden we are interested in here is the burden that God carries upon His own heart, which He offers to us so that we may be moved in our spirit to join His Son in prayer. Here are five terms that will help you recognize this burden that God is giving you.
1. It is a peculiar compassion. First of all, most importantly, when God gives you a burden, He will place on your heart a compassion for a person or a need. The compassion He gives you will not be general, vague, or indefinite; rather, the Holy Spirit will draw you to take a peculiar interest in a certain thing or individual. According to Charles Finney, “When the Spirit of God leads an individual to take a peculiar interest, feel peculiar compassion and drawing of heart in prayer and labor for particular individuals, this influence…
When we gave our lives to God and received His Son, the blood of Jesus Christ did a wonderful work in us; it cleaned us and gave us the right to be priests. As priests we now have the right, by the blood of Christ, to draw near Him and to do His work of intercession for others (The Hebrew root word for priest, qarab, actually means to draw near and is used of one who may draw near to the divine presence, Exodus 19:22, 30:20).
But all the work that is done in us and all the work we do as intercessors is done by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can do no good work without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ work together. As Andrew Murray has said, “As the blood gives the right [of intimate access to God], the…
One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to bring us His own prayer burden. But in order to receive that Holy Spirit burden—so that we can pray for the world with the burden of the Spirit—our heart must be prepared.
According to Wesley Duewel, “We must feel before we can heal. We must see before we can prevail.” Thus if we expect the Holy Spirit to send us His prayer burden we must prepare our heart to see and feel the needs of others. Here are six ways that we can prepare ourselves to bear burdens in prayer:
1. Regularly go to quiet places to pray. God knows the hearts and feelings of all people more than anyone does. He has more compassion for people than they have for themselves. Therefore, in order to know the hearts of others and to take on the compassion of Christ for…
Stephen Nielsen 