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Skip Heitzig: He said, "Look at the birds of the air." He used them as an example. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Look at the birds. Ever see a worried bird? Now, think back, think hard. Think of walking in the neighborhood and looking up. No, you hear them singing. You never see their little beaks down and their claws sweating and fretting and worried. Look at the birds.

Behavioral psychologists tell us 40% of what we worry about never happens. 40% is just worthless energy spent for nothing. It will never happen. 30% of what we worry about are things in the past that cannot be changed anyway. 12% of what we worry about is the criticism leveled at us by other people, mostly untrue. It's not true, and we shouldn't worry about it, but we do.

10% of what we worry about is about our health. A little newsflash about that: worrying about your health will not improve your health. It'll only worsen your health. Only 8% of the things we worry about, according to the studies, are legitimate. So, think of all the things in life you have ever worried about; only 8% are legit.

Now, let's take that 8% and divide it into two categories. There are things you can do something about, and there are other things you can't do anything about. If there's something you can do something about, do it and stop worrying about it. If you can't do anything about it, worrying won't help.

Mark Twain said, "I am an old man and I have known many troubles, most of which never happened." So, it's unproductive. In that Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" Worry doesn't take the sorrow out of tomorrow; it just takes the joy out of today. Worry pulls tomorrow's clouds over today's sunshine.

So, what Paul is saying is rely on the power of God. Rejoice in the presence of God; rely on the power of God. So, he says, "Be anxious for nothing." That's a command, a present active imperative. But... now he introduces a contrast, and in the contrast is the solution. It's the antidote to worry, and here it is: "but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

The cure for anxiety, for worry, is to redirect your energy. Redirect your energy and replace your anxiety. Peter calls this casting. He says, "casting all your care upon Him because He cares for you." So, take the care that you have, redirect your energy, cast it on Him, and in so doing, replace it with prayer and supplication.

The very first thing we should do is often the last thing we usually do, and that is pray. As soon as something happens, our reflex should be, "I'm taking it to God's throne. I'm going to cast this on the Lord." What we do usually is we work on it, we meditate on our problem, we counsel other people, and we get all worked up about it. Then, when there's no hope left, we say, "There's nothing left to do except pray."

What a horrible way to define prayer. It's a last resort. If it would be your first resort, it wouldn't have to be your last resort. But in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God. Now, I can hear somebody thinking, "Well, I don't want to bring everything to God. I don't want to bother God. He's running the universe. He's got big fish to fry. If I bring every little thing, why should I do that?"

Because He wants you to. He invites you to. And can I say, if you were in the habit of casting every little thing to God, then they wouldn't become big things. And by the way, speaking of little or big, can you think of anything that's big to God? Do you think God goes, "Oh, this is a really big request"? Listen, cancer and a cold are just as easy for God to handle.

There's nothing big to Him. So, He says, "Bring it all to me. Cast all your care upon Him." Be anxious for nothing, in everything by prayer, and notice the next word: "and supplication." Now, supplication is a stronger word than prayer. Supplication would be defined as a cry for personal need. It's not just, "Lord, I am praying this and that." It's like, "God!" You are in touch with your need when you supplicate.

Supplication is a turbocharged prayer. It's not just rote and routine. You're in it to win it. You feel it. I love what a three-year-old said on the phone when the phone rang and Mom was having her daily devotions. The three-year-old said, "No, my mom can't talk to you right now, she's having her daily emotions." Supplication has an emotional component to it.

It's when you know you have a real need and you're like the guy Jesus spoke about who went to his friend at midnight and said, "Friend, lend me three loaves of bread." And Jesus said, "He will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, but because the man persists, he will give to him." That's supplication.

Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, said, "I was driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." That brings supplication. So, rejoice in the presence of God, rely on the power of God, and that is by prayer and supplication.

Notice at the end of that verse, "let your requests be made known to God." It does not say your ultimatums, your demands, or your tantrums. You give a request. "Lord, here's my request. I'm articulating my request." Now, if somebody's going to argue with that and say, "Well, if God knows our need before we ask Him, then why do we have to ask Him?"

Because you're not informing God when you pray; you're conforming to God when you pray. You're leaning on Him and depending on Him. God loves when people depend on Him. He's attracted to our weakness because of His strength. There's an old play I remember reading years ago, and there's a couple of lines in it. It's a husband and wife talking, and she feels so weak in the moment and says, "Robert, I don't know why you love me so much. I feel so weak."

His beautiful response to his wife was, "My strength needs your weakness as much as your weakness needs my strength." When we're weak, God is strong. So, when we depend on Him and make our requests known to Him, we're voicing our dependence and weakness. So, we pray. F.B. Meyer said, "The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer."

So, rejoice in the presence of God and rely on the power of God. The third step: recall the provision of God. Recall the provision of God. Look in verse six. We left this out on purpose because this is this component. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving." Where did Paul write this from? Prison. Just keep that in mind. He's talking about thanking God and being thankful and praying with thanksgiving while writing from prison.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear, practical Bible teaching available to families who are searching for hope, healing, and God's truth. This month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource focused on restoring God's design for family.

When you give, you'll receive Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip's new book drawn from more than 30 years of biblical teaching and pastoral wisdom. It speaks honestly to the real challenges families face, like financial stress, emotional distance, discouragement, and temptation, while pointing you back to God's timeless plan for healthy, God-honoring relationships. We'll send Reconnecting with Family as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let's return to today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: So, be anxious for nothing. Pray about everything. Be thankful for anything. Let me give you a fourth step to improve your mental health: rest in the peace of God. Rest in the peace of God. Verse seven says, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." That's God's promise to you: His peace. The peace of God.

Now, I need to say that what Paul is talking about here is different from what he's not talking about here, which is peace with God. There are two kinds of peace the Christian should have. Number one, it's peace with God, and then there's the peace of God. They are very different. Peace with God is what happens at the moment you receive Christ as your Savior.

When you ask Jesus to save your soul, you have made peace with God. You are not at war with Him. You are not at enmity, as the Bible uses that word, with God. You're at peace with Him. You've made peace with God. You may not feel peaceful at the moment, but you have made peace with God. There's a covenant there between Father and child. You're at peace with God.

The first, peace with God, is a fact. The second, the peace of God, is a feeling. What Paul is speaking about here is the feeling, the peace of God. So, Jesus as Savior brings peace with God, and Jesus as Lord brings the peace of God. That's what he's dealing with. And the peace of God, that feeling of peace and satisfaction of "it's going to be all right," the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

He says it surpasses all understanding. It transcends human intellect. You can't put it in a test tube, you can't analyze it, and you can't explain it to someone. "How come you're so peaceful, Paul? You're in jail." I can't explain it. It surpasses all understanding, but I feel it. I know it when it's there.

Isaiah 26 is one of my favorite texts, one that I rehearse in my mind many nights when I am tossing and turning over thoughts that are keeping me awake. Isaiah 26: "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You." It is a great promise. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.

You cannot get this from a bottle, a syringe, a psychiatrist, a self-help book, a sermon, or from a few principles. You can only get it from God. It's the peace of God. It surpasses the ability to understand, but he says it will guard. That's the word he uses. "Guard your hearts and minds," there's the mental health, "through Christ Jesus."

That's a military term, guards. It means to mount up a garrison of protection, to stand post. The peace of God will stand guard to keep away thoughts that are dividing your mind. That's the intent. Now, Paul was in prison. He's chained to two guards day and night. The guards were there to make sure he didn't escape, and more than that, to also protect his life because he had people coming to see him.

So, Paul is looking at these chains and he has this thought when he writes this, no doubt: "Boy, I have something better guarding me than these guards, and that is God's peace." So, Paul had the presence of God to gladden him, and he had the peace of God to guard him.

That's a New Testament example. An Old Testament example of peace is a guy by the name of Daniel. You know the story in Daniel, how a law was passed in Babylon that nobody could pray to any God except the God of Babylon for a period of time. As soon as Daniel found out that that law was against him, he opened his windows so everybody could see what he's doing and he faced Jerusalem, and three times a day he prayed to Yahweh, to God.

Which got him into trouble. The King signed a decree that whoever does that is going to be thrown into a den of lions. Daniel was first on the list. He tosses him in. But it says the King was so distraught that he didn't get any sleep that night. Daniel's thrown into the lions' den. The next morning, the King cries out, "Daniel, are you even there?"

And Daniel shoots back in confidence, "O King, live forever. My God closed the mouth of the lions." It indicates to me that Daniel got a good night's sleep while the King stayed up all night. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee. This is the result of peace in the midst of his predicament.

Let me give you a final step. Rejoice in the presence of God, rely on the power of God, recall the provision of God, rest in the peace of God. The fifth step to improve mental health: reflect on the purpose of God. Look at verse eight. "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things."

The things which you've learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. The old King James says, "Think on these things." The New King James here says, "Meditate on these things." There are 21 different words in the Greek language for think. The one used here for meditate is the word *logizomai*. It means to reason through logically something.

It means having concentrated logical thought to fix your thoughts upon, or think of it this way: think logically so your actions are based on carefully thought out principles. Proverbs 23:7: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." You see, thinking is paramount.

Now, get this: psychologists will tell us that 60,000 thoughts go through the human mind in a single day. 60,000 thoughts. I know you know some people go, "I don't think six thoughts go through that person's mind," but no, they do. 60,000 thoughts go through the human mind in a day.

I read that and I took out my calculator, and that means 21,900,000 thoughts a year go through your brain. You better harness your thoughts. You allow what is going to occupy your mind. Whatever you allow to occupy your mind will be reflected in what you say and in what you do.

That's why Romans 12 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies holy and acceptable, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The renewing of your mind. What does it mean to renew your mind? Here's a better word: the renovating of your mind. You're renovating your mind.

Anybody ever renovate a room in their house? Kitchen, bathroom? You rip out the old and you replace it with new. If you ever do a renovation, you will discover two things: it'll take you longer than you anticipated, and it will cost you more than you anticipated. When you renew or renovate your mind, it is the same thing.

It'll cost you more than you anticipate, and it'll take longer than you probably anticipate, but like a renovation in your house, it's worth it. It's worth the effort and worth the cost. You renew; you renovate. You don't just remove thoughts from your mind. Good luck with that. You don't empty your brain so you have no thoughts; you replace your thoughts.

You replace negative, fearful thoughts that are ripping you between hope and despair, and you replace them. You replace them with these things. Meditate on these things, he says. Second Corinthians chapter 10: "taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." You can choose your thoughts just like you can choose your friends.

You can choose to grab ahold of a thought and meditate on it and think about things. How do you not think about wrong things? By thinking about right things. Six of them are listed here. By the way, all of these designate the same thing. This is just Paul's description of wholesome thought, wholesome thinking.

So, true things are noble things, which are also just things and pure and lovely. It's all the same category. Good thoughts bear good fruit. Bad thoughts bear bad fruit, and you are the gardener. In April of 2017, a survey of 216 people was conducted. They were told to spend 15 minutes meditating on the scriptures every day.

They did, and they discovered 94% of them that had mild to chronic stress reported a reduction in stress. Half of them said significantly so. 80% who suffered mild to chronic insomnia said they slept better. The scientific explanation is it activates the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is responsible for focus and regulating emotions.

I think God knows what He's talking about. This is God's cure for stinking thinking. Meditate on these things. Rejoice in the presence of God, rely on the power of God, recall the provision of God, rest in the peace of God, and reflect on the purposes of God.

When you open up the book of Philippians, I know it's written from jail, but you don't smell the prison. It's like you can sense heaven. You read Philippians and by the end of the book, you're thinking, "I kind of want to be in prison with Paul if it's that good." But that's because of the way he was remodeling the inside of him. Always thank Him.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God's word with families around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it's needed most. This month, we'd love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip's new book focused on restoring God's design for family and relationships.

It's filled with biblical insight and practical encouragement to help families grow stronger even in challenging seasons. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip.