Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The Word of God that engages us today is the epistle lesson, especially these words: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6, ESV).[1] Do you remember the Bobby McFerrin song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”? I can’t do it justice by singing it, so let me just read the first verse:
Here’s a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry, you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy
Don’t worry, be happy now
“Don’t worry.” How much help does it do you when people say this to you? Does it magically solve all your problems? Does it make your anxiety disappear? “Don’t worry, be happy!” And then there is the course way in which people sometimes say, “Cool it!” or “Chill out!” [Sarcastically] That’s also super helpful, isn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit of a worrywart, and I don’t find such blithe advice to be of benefit. I worry about everything. Maybe you can relate. For example, earlier this year when my old Toyota was making a funny noise, this is a little bit of what went through my head: What’s wrong with my car? Is it going to be expensive to fix? How much more money am I going to pour into this old bucket of bolts? Is it even safe to drive? Oh no! What happens if I get into a crash because that part isn’t working, and I end up paralyzed or dead? Would the church still let me be their pastor if I’m in a wheelchair? What will happen to my family? Will they be able to survive without me working? Do I have enough life insurance? What if I can’t talk anymore? Or go blind? What would be worse: to be mute or blind? Would my family take care of me or put me in a nursing home? Would they even visit me in the nursing home, or would they forget about me and just go on with their lives? Would my wife divorce me? Would another man raise my kids? How will people remember me? Oh, man! I better get to the mechanic right away.
Whew! All that because of the car making a funny noise. Yikes!
When I hear bad news, my mind immediately goes into crisis mode, and I begin to brainstorm solutions for every terrible outcome that I can imagine. I have backup plans for my backup plans. My heart races, my blood pressure rises, I can hardly catch my breath, and my critical thinking ability drops to zero. I expunge an incredible amount of energy trying to account for every potential problem with at least half a dozen solutions, ranking them in my brain. Yet most of them never come to fruition. Sometimes I make excuses for my worrying by patting myself on the back and saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” But the Bible says otherwise, teaching that a righteous person “is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD” (Ps. 111:7).
Worry, you see, is a form of idolatry. My dad used to say, “Worry means that you’re praying to the wrong god.” It used to irk me when he’d say this, but my dad was right. The First Commandment is “You shall have no other gods.” Martin Luther’s explanation of this was that “we should fear, love, and trust in God above all things” (SC, 1st Commandment). But whenever we become overwhelmed by worry, we are doing the exact opposite. Instead of fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things, we fear, love, and trust in all things above God. And as soon as we do that, we have an idol—something that we look to for all good and help in our time of need instead of relying on the Creator of the Cosmos who loves and cares for us as tenderly as a father cares for his daughter or son.
Jesus once asked his disciples, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt. 6:27, NIV).[2] Of course, none of us can. In fact, the opposite turns out to be true. Medical science has proven that worry doesn’t help us. In fact, it hurts us. Those bursts of adrenaline triggered by our fight or flight response were intended to help us fight off bears or run away from enemies. Our bodies were never designed for long-term stress and anxiety. Overtime the stress response actually weakens our bodies and can lead to coronary heart disease and even heart attack. In other words, you really can “worry yourself to death.” So maybe there’s more wisdom than not in the song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
“Don’t worry” is precisely what the Apostle Paul tells us in our Epistle reading today. “Do not be anxious about anything…” In other words, “Don’t worry!” Yet Paul doesn’t opine that we should simply be happy. He doesn’t have one of those obnoxious bumper stickers on his car that reads, “SMILE! JESUS LOVES YOU.” No, instead of giving us the feel-good vibes of pop psychology or saccharine sentimentality, St. Paul gives us practical advice for what to do with our worry: turn it over to God in prayer. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6).
Let’s unpack that a bit. What does Paul tell us to do instead of worrying? He tells us to pray, specifying two kinds of prayer that are absolutely essential antidotes to worry: supplication and thanksgiving. Let’s take them one at a time.
What is supplication? If you take a look at that word in verse 6, you can kind of see the word “supply” at the front of it. Supplication is a kind of prayer in which we ask for God to “supply”—or take care of—our needs. Think of it as “supply-cation.” When you pray for God to help you find a new job or pay the bills or heal after injury or illness, you are praying a prayer of supplication.
As God’s people, we go to him confidently with our needs, trusting that he will take care of us. Along with the Psalmist we can say, “If Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall have no want” (cp. Ps. 23:1). Here’s a little interpretive key: the word “want” in Psalm 23 doesn’t mean that’s it’s wrong for us to desire things or want things. In fact, the Bible instructs us to “pour out” our hearts before him (Ps. 61:9). Elsewhere we read, “Delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4). Having things you desire or wish for is not a sin—as long as you don’t covet them or obsess over them or want them for an evil use. No, God delights in giving his children gifts and loves to shower us with blessings—above all, the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
When David prays, “I shall not want,” he means that he shall not lack. The Hebrew word means to be in want, to lack some necessity. The Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and if he is my shepherd, then I shall have no luck, because he promises to supply my needs. “My cup overflows.”
Jesus tells us, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matt. 6:25). Yet this is no Stoic resignation to a difficult lot in life. Jesus adds a wonderful word of promise: “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:32b-33). If God knows what you need, then he will supply that need because he loves you.
Now we come to the second kind of prayer that we speak against fear and worry: thanksgiving. What is the appropriate response to God’s generosity? Thanksgiving! Hopefully, our mothers taught all of us to say, “Thank you,” when somebody gives us a gift or does something nice for us, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant that act may appear. We seriously wonder about the social ineptitude of people who never give thanks. But do you ever leave God hanging on that front?
In Luke 17 we hear the story of how Jesus healed 10 lepers of their debilitating disease, yet only 1 of the 10 returned to give thanks. “Where are the nine?” Jesus asked. They were not to be found.
All too often when God answers our prayers, takes care of our needs, or rescues us from danger, we barely give it a thought before we blink and move on with our lives. Dear brothers and sisters, this should never be! How can we fail to give thanks to God for his wonderful gifts of providence and grace? Thanksgiving is such an important aspect of our prayer life that both Luther’s Morning and Evening Prayers begin with the phrase, “I thank you, my heavenly Father…” Maybe we need more practice giving thanks. Let’s do it right now. Repeat after me: “Thank you, God.” [Thank you, God!] Amen. Amen. Now was that so hard?
When we offer thanksgiving, we acknowledge not only the gift, but also the Giver. We admit our dependence upon the goodness of our heavenly Father to prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies. And we turn our gaze from our own navels and empty hands to the hands of Jesus outstretched on the cross and full of mercy.
So let’s review: supplication and thanksgiving. These are the two core components of prayer when we face the false gods of worry and fear. Listen again: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6).
Now here is the wonderful discovery: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). Listen again: “the peace of God… will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” When we pray, worry turns into worship, and panic turns into peace. What’s more, if you read a little beyond our epistle, Paul writes: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (v. 19). God supplies all your needs. “He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life…” (SC, First Article of Creed).
That doesn’t mean that God will give you everything you want. It doesn’t even mean that your needs will be met in the exact manner you ask. After all, God’s ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. Our heavenly Father has a better idea of what we truly need than even we ourselves. Sometimes his answer to our prayers is “Yes,” but sometimes it’s “No” or even “Wait.” But he always answers, and he always supplies. If the Lord is your Shepherd, you shall not want.
So no matter what you face in life, don’t worry. God’s got this—whatever “this” happens to be in your life. God loves you so much. In fact, he loves you so much that he sent his only-begotten Son to die on a cross to rescue you from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus gave up everything—his blood and breath and very being—so you could be saved from sin. Will he not also give you everything else you require? “Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7). No, of course not. Rather, he will quickly answer you in the day of trouble and provide what you need to sustain your faith and life.
As we close, I’d like to sing the opening stanza from one of my favorite hymns, which I find appropriate for today’s theme:
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit;
Oh, what needless pain we bear—
All because we do not carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer![3]
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] All Scripture references, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
[2] All Scripture references marked NIV are from the 1984 translation of The Holy Bible, New International Version.
[3] “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” in Lutheran Service Book (St. Louis: CPH, 2006), 770:1.