The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: Every time you are prone to worry, that is a call from God that it is time to pray.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says our proper response to life's concerns has the power to transform anxious thoughts into an abiding peace.

Dr. Tony Evans: He says, if you rejoice and if you pray, I will share with you my peace. I will bring you calm in the midst of your chaos.

Guest (Male): This is The Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

Guest (Male): Even in good times, there never seems to be a shortage of things to be anxious about. In today's message, Dr. Evans points out that worry does nothing but eat us up from the inside, and God has a better plan for us when anxiety begins to take hold of our thoughts.

Let's join him as he explains.

Dr. Tony Evans: Paul says, in Philippians chapter 4, verse 6, be anxious for nothing. Worry about nothing. And we all know that nothing from nothing leaves nothing.

Whatever is worrying you, Paul says it is out of order. And he says, you are out of order for letting it happen. He says, "Be anxious for nothing," which means whatever is messing with you is not allowed to be made an exception by you.

You cannot say, "Well, you do not know what I am going through. You do not know how bad this is. You do not know how deep it is. You do not know how long it has gone on." Paul says, "Be anxious for nothing." It is not a request. It is a command.

The book of Philippians is a book about joy. He says in chapter 1, for example, verse 4, "Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all." Verse 29, "Receive him then in the Lord with all joy." But notice the context in which he is consumed with joy.

That context is given to us in chapter 1, verse 12. "Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else. And that most of the brethren trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some are from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment."

He is not in a good situation. His circumstances are not in his favor and yet he writes about joy. He says, "Be happy, do not worry."

I want to walk you through now, step by step, how to get over your worry. The first thing he says in verse 4 of chapter 4 is to "rejoice in the Lord always." And again I say, in case you did not hear me the first time, rejoice.

There is worldly happiness and godly happiness. Godly happiness is called joy. From God's point of view, it is not tied to circumstances, which is why Paul, who is in a bad situation, can talk about his joy and can tell these folk to be joyful, because his definition of joy has nothing to do with what is happening around you.

The way to get joy, even if things are not joyful right now, is in the word. He says, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice." So the way, watch this, you get joy is by rejoicing.

If you are not rejoicing, then do not expect to have joy, because joy is in the rejoicing. Rejoicing is celebrating God. Paul and Silas were in jail at midnight. And midnight is a dark time. They are in jail, and it is dark. They praised God in the midst of their problem.

What the enemy wants you to do is so focus on how bad it was, how bad it is, and how bad it could be, that it gets your full attention and you never get around to building a playground in your soul, a place of celebration, because you want joy while refusing to rejoice. But God says in the middle of your pain and imprisonment, in the middle of your discomfort, I want you to make a big celebration about me.

And that is something you must choose to do. It will not happen out of nowhere. So, number one, if you want to get victory over worry, because you have been commanded to worry about absolutely nothing, you must decide to rejoice in the Lord.

Secondly, "Be anxious for nothing, verse 6, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." While rejoicing, pray. Every time you are prone to worry, that is a call from God that it is time to pray.

So, watch this, that means the more you are worrying, the more you are praying. Instead of the more you are worrying, the less you are praying. Because every time you are prone to be anxious, God is inviting you to pray. Then he says, "And when you do it," watch this now, "you do it with thanksgiving."

He says, "When you come to me, because something is worrying you, I told you, 'Do not worry.'" And no matter what your problem is, it is not an exception. Because you worry about nothing. But when you are prone to worry, that is an invitation to pray. I want you to be specific, and while you are being specific, give thanks.

What exactly am I giving thanks for? One day Jesus was faced with a problem. The problem was that all he had was sardines and crackers, two fish and five barley loaves. There were 5,000 men not counting women and children. So you could have 20,000 people out there. All we got is a little boy with some lunch.

Jesus said, "Bring it to me." Jesus says, "Let us pray." He is praying over a problem. Because he wants the people fed, but he does not have near enough money to feed them. He has only the sardines and crackers, and he needs more big on the beach. He is all he needs.

The Bible says when Jesus bowed his head over the sardines and crackers, the two fish and five barley loaves, he gave thanks. Which means, watch this, he gave thanks over not enough. He gave thanks over his problem.

"God, I have sardines and crackers. There is a need out there. I have a problem. There are 20,000 people out here who are hungry. I am obligated to feed them within your will. I want to now give you thanks for the sardines and crackers you have provided to solve this problem."

How are you going to give thanks for that? What Paul is saying is, "When you are tempted to be anxious, go to God in prayer about the problem," because he ends the verse by saying, "Let your request be made known to him." So be specific. "I have a problem. I have sardines and crackers. I have 20,000 people, and I want to just bless your name right now.

I want to give you thanks that you are the provider. I want to give you thanks that you know where the solution comes from, even though I do not. I want to give you thanks even though I have a problem." When he says, "with thanksgiving," he is not talking about vague thanksgiving. He is talking about giving thanks in the midst of your request, about the problem that you are bringing to him.

Now, we are not talking about some vague general prayer. We are talking about request and thanksgiving relating to the anxiety. When is the last time you have given him thanks in the midst of your request about the thing that is driving you nuts? He is actually telling you to give thanks. Not for the problem itself, but give thanks for the God who you are inviting into that specific problem.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will present some practical ideas on how to express that thanks when he continues our lesson in just a moment. Do not go away. Get ready to set sail for spiritual renewal. Join Dr. Tony Evans on a relaxing seven-day Caribbean cruise departing February 28th. You will experience powerful teaching, meaningful worship, and the beauty of unforgettable destinations, from the turquoise waters of the Bahamas to the shores of the Dominican Republic. Each stop and every day at sea offers time to relax, reflect, and be renewed. Do not miss this unforgettable journey. Find out how to book your passage today at TonyEvans.org.

Dr. Evans' lesson today is the final installment from a powerful sermon collection called "Having Faith During Fear." This series is packed with the encouragement you need to hold on when you feel like giving up. Instead of the frustrating, useless cycle of struggle and defeat, we have been learning how to depend on God's provision and timing, and to stop getting in the way of our own deliverance, and through that, discovering the upside of down times.

Now, due to time limitations, we have only been able to broadcast a portion of the valuable insights Tony presents in this series. But you can get all six full-length messages for yourself on CD, USB flash drive, or digital download, along with a special bonus. Dr. Evans' book, "Kingdom Encounters: Experiencing More of God When Life Hurts." In it, he shares practical biblical insight for recognizing how God is at work, even in the middle of life's hardest moments.

Whether you are walking through a difficult time or simply want to grow stronger in your faith, this is a powerful resource for your spiritual journey. We will send you this book, along with all the audio messages from Tony's "Having Faith During Fear" series, as thanks for your donation to The Alternative broadcast ministry. But today is the last day we will be offering these resources together, so be sure to contact us right away at TonyEvans.org to make your contribution and request. Or call 1-800-800-3222, where members of our team are ready to help. Again, that is TonyEvans.org or call 1-800-800-3222. And now, let us get back to our message. Here is Dr. Evans.

Dr. Tony Evans: The first thing is you must choose to get your praise on. You are then to pray when the anxiety is sucking in on you. And you are to be specific with thanksgiving. To keep this peace operating, so anxiety cannot sneak up on you, he says, you must operate or function in a praiseworthy manner.

Do you see the end of verse 8? The end of verse 8 summarizes the whole verse. It says, "Anything worthy of praise, dwell on it." To dwell on it means, stay with that. One of the reasons we do not keep peace is we go dwelling on the things that are against the peace we are asking for.

Many of us kill the peace we have because we dwell on the things we should not. So the question you have to ask is, "Can I give praise for what I am focusing on?" Because if I cannot give praise for it, it is killing my peace that I said to God I needed to deal with the anxiety that I do not want to have.

To get rid of your anxiety, it starts with rejoicing. When it shows up, you go to specific prayer. You retain it by your dwelling, your mental dwelling. "Think on these things." And then verse 9, "The things you have heard and received, learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you."

The things you have learned and heard from me, seen in me, "Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you." But wait a minute, what is he talking about? He is talking about anxiety.

A lot of us stay worried because we are dealing with worrisome people. If you are dealing with people who do not know how to praise in trouble, do not know how to pray in trouble, do not know how to dwell in the right spots in trouble, and they are your posse, your running buddy, and your girlfriend, do not be surprised that your anxiety gets worse and not better. You have to hang out with the folk who practice this themselves.

He says, "The things you have seen about how I deal with prison, the things you see when how I deal with people talking about me," because I have been rebuked, and I have been scorned, and I have been talked about. "When you see me, learn from me and then use it for you."

You cannot be praising God in here, getting peace. I know right now, right now a lot of you who came in here worried feel peaceful right now. Right now you feel, "Woo. Boy, this is encouraging me." I feel, "Oh boy, I feel calm. I feel like I can float out of here this morning." "Boy, I feel like I have it going on right now." "Woo, tip-toe through the tulips," you know. I am feeling good. Anybody feel better who came in a little worried this morning? You know, you feel better, you feel better, you feel better.

But here is what is going to happen. Some of you are going to leave here and are going to pick up the telephone, get on social media, talk to that friend, and they are going to give you just the opposite to everything you heard here and it is going to kill the sermon, kill your peace, kill your joy, and bring back your anxiety.

"Yeah, girl, I was in that situation too, it worried me to death. Let me tell you the pills I am on. I think you ought to go to the doctor and try these pills. These pills are working for me." You are going to talk to somebody who will not bring the spiritual, who will give you the carnal. But because you like them, because you have the personality, because they make the same money you make, work in the same career you work, drive the same car you drive, live in the same neighborhood you live in, you think they are spiritual.

You better find somebody who has been through something and seen God lead them through something. You better find somebody who can connect with God. That is why he writes to the church, because one of the purposes of the church is to connect people with other spiritual people. Women who can mentor other women, men who can mentor other men, couples with other couples, who can walk you through stuff, because they themselves are using it.

He says, "Practice these things." He is not just talking about some general practice. Interesting thing, the thing he is telling you to practice is not so much external doing, it is internal perspective that affects external doing. Because you can do the external, but if you do not have this internal straight, it becomes a performance and it will not last. But if you are changing your perspective on how you dwell and when you pray and how you rejoice, if you are getting the spiritual thing situated in here, then it will bleed out into your actions, which changes your reality.

He closes verse 9 and says, "And the God of peace will be with you." Wait a minute, that is different than what he said earlier. He said earlier, "When you pray, the peace of God will be with you." But he says, "When you are thinking and dwelling, and you are hanging out with the right people who influence you, you do not just have the peace of God, you have the God of peace." He switches it.

In the first half, you get his peace. In the last half, you get his person. "The peace of God will be with you." But if you do this second half, "the person who gave you the peace will be with you." That is a whole, that is a whole different ballgame there.

Dr. Tony Evans: Dr. Tony Evans, reminding us we can replace our worry and anxiety with God's peace and joy. And here is a word right now on how to start.

Dr. Tony Evans: A lot of people exist, but do not feel like they are living. The good news of the gospel is Jesus came to give you life. That is the experience of God's reality operating within you. That is what the Bible calls eternal life. So he gives you heaven as a location, but eternal life as an experience. And he gives it to you for free. That is what grace is about, it is a gift. You cannot earn it, you cannot buy it. You cannot be religious enough to get it, but you can receive it.

And so God offers the opportunity for you right now to receive the forgiveness of sins and the free gift of eternal life, which will set in motion a whole lifelong experience of growing in the knowledge of God. So let us get this thing started right now by you going to Jesus Christ and saying to him, "Lord Jesus, I believe you died on the cross in my place for my sin. I now accept you as my personal substitute. Come into my life. I receive you now as my only Savior. I receive the gift of eternal life that you promised to give me if I came to you for it. Thank you for your salvation, in Jesus' name. Amen."

Guest (Male): If you prayed that prayer along with Tony today, we invite you to visit TonyEvans.org and follow the link at the very top of the homepage that says "Jesus." You will find helpful videos and other resources there to help you get your new life in Christ headed in the right direction.

Dr. Evans will return in just a moment to wrap up today's message, but first, I wanted to encourage you to take advantage of that special offer I mentioned earlier. All six full-length messages from the "Having Faith During Fear" audio series, as well as Dr. Evans' popular book, "Kingdom Encounters: Experiencing More of God When Life Hurts." This entire bundle is yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help us keep sharing the good news on this station and others like it. Contact us today at TonyEvans.org to get the details and make the arrangements. Or call 1-800-800-3222 anytime of the day or night and let one of our team members help you. That is 1-800-800-3222.

And one final reminder, in addition to these daily lessons from Dr. Evans on The Alternative broadcast, he also leads meaningful and timely discussions with special guests on his "Unbound" podcast. You can listen to these conversations whenever and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts.

Many people believe the mistakes of their past have wiped out their spiritual future. But tomorrow, Dr. Evans reminds us it is not too late for anyone, as he begins a powerful series of messages about imperfect people who went on to do great things for the Lord. Right now though, he is back with a final thought to close today.

Dr. Tony Evans: I was on a plane one day and we hit this turbulence, and this turbulence was wicked. This was wicked turbulence. This was people screaming on the plane. So we were hitting this wicked turbulence. And, you know, we do not know what this is. Is the plane in trouble? Is the plane going to crash? I mean, people are, people are terrified, you know. I mean, it was a, it was one of them terrifying things that was never going to end, and folk were worried.

In the midst of the terror, the pilot comes on the loudspeaker and says, "Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, we have hit some severe turbulence. We are hoping to get you out of this hopefully within the next 15 or 20 minutes." Now, when he said that, you could feel the peace, simply because we heard his voice. See, when we did not hear him, and all we had to do was conjure up in our own mind what was going on with the plane, we increased our own anxiety.

But when we heard him, he spoke peace to our situation. But then a few minutes later, homeboy comes walking out the cockpit. Now, this plane is dancing all over the sky, and homeboy is coming out the cockpit, walking down the aisle, touching folk, telling folk, "Do you have any questions? Anything? You know, anything you want to know?" Homeboy is all out up in the mix of the stuff. I mean, you know, you are feeling, "Well, you better get back there and control this thing." But homeboy, homeboy was out there talking to folk.

Wait a minute. When he told us over the loudspeaker, "It is going to be okay," we had peace. But when he came out, we had him. When we heard his voice, we were calm on the inside. But when homeboy came out, folk are laughing and joking with him and high-fiving him and bumping him, and all of a sudden, because now we did not have his voice, we had his presence. God says, "I want to give you my voice and calm you down, but I really want to give you my presence, so that you can experience what it is when I am with you, along with my peace."