 How's everybody doing this morning? Have you been blessed so far? Come on. Come on. Let's put our hands together for Jesus in this place You are in a place where we're not only when we do not only talk about God But we demonstrate his power and this is why we do such a testimony It's for us to be convinced that the God that we read off the pages of the Bible is the God the same yesterday Today and forever and there is nothing to God that is impossible Whatever you're going through whatever you're facing in your life. God is still the same He's still in the business of setting people free healing people delivering people and he's still in a say in a business of blessing People in Jesus mighty name. Can you say amen? Today, I want to quickly briefly talk to you on the subject that's that I call it from worry to worship and We're gonna take a look at it in the scripture in the Bible and we're gonna look what the Bible says about worrying and how to handle stress and worry in our life as Dwayne shared his testimony is that One one of the reasons why people are referred to smoke into drinking one of the reasons why people refer to Drugs and other means the other substances is because life overwhelms them and they go to the places to Substances to relieve their stress relieve their pain relieve their worry so that they can get some relief to their life and Today we're gonna look from the Bible from the scripture What God says about worries and how should we handle the worries and how can we help ourselves to be? Less worried and more trust in God And so if you can open to the scripture Matthew chapter 6 verse 31 to 33 as you open I'm gonna kind of give you a couple Statistics so you begin to understand the scope of the problem that the worry produces or what it actually causes Statistically says that statistics says that 43 of all adults suffer for from adverse health effects from stress 75 to 90 of all doctor visits are for stress related elements and complaints. Can you believe that? 75% of 75 to 90 percent of all doctor visits in the United States Are somehow related with stress stress can play a part in Part in problems such as headache high blood pressure heart problem diabetes skin disease asthma arthritis depression anxiety and can lead to suicide an Anxiety disorder are the most common mental illness in United States effects about 18 percent of population Current estimate by by this number is much higher approximately 30 percent 30 percent of people don't seek help for this issue women Women are twice as likely to be affected as men and typically it begins around age 7 for girls and 13 for boys boys a little bit slower to catch up on life So but it begins to affect kids from the age of 7 for girls and age of 13 and Sure enough as big of an issue it is God didn't leave it out of the Bible and he addressed that issue and he left instructions for us How to properly deal with worry and stress in our life and how to overcome it in Jesus mighty name Do you want to learn this morning church? Amen, amen First of all worry In a sense is not a bad thing Worry is a mechanism that God has placed in our human mind in our human nature for us to protect ourselves and for us to Solve problems and plan for the future So God designed us this way to function that you know when some something comes up a mind Automatically kicks in into a worry mode and begins to prepare a solution for us or begins to plan out solution and begins to plan for a future So in a sense just like for example Not all fear is bad There's fear that is overwhelming and leads to to stress anxiety. There's fear that leads to Bad things, but there's fear. There's a common sense fear for example like don't jump from a third story Building because you're gonna break your legs or you can damage yourself. There's fear of highs There's there's a good fear same as for worries. There is a there's a common worry that we all Go through that our mind operates in such a way to prepare solution to work out a solution and plan for the future but there's worries that we then we begin to worry and begin to stress and Begin to worry about things that we can't control at things that we can't change and this is the worry That is not healthy worry that that when we begin to worry and we begin to stress about things that we can't control or we can't change when Let's go. Let's go read the scripture that We gonna lay as a foundation Matthew chapter 6 verse 31 to 33 So don't worry about these things saying what you will eat what we will drink what we will wear These things dominate the thoughts of unbeliever By your heavenly father already knows all your needs seek the kingdom of God above all else live righteously And he will give everything that you need I Want you to underline. I want you to see this and I'm reading from NLT version and in an LTV version It says this these things dominates the thoughts of unbeliever These things that dominate so the worry about every day thing Don't worry about every single detail the worry of what I'm gonna do where I'm gonna make the money Worrying about the family and the kids Worrying about the job worrying about a business of what's gonna come next where I'm gonna get the next contract These things Jesus says that these things dominate the unbelievers mind See whatever dominates your mind controls your life if worry constantly dominate your life Then there is no room for faith and and Without faith we can't please God without faith God can't do anything in our lives And so we left to our own strength see when you begin to worry What you're doing is you playing God and you assume a position of God in your life Not trusting that he will provide for everything that he said he will provide Do you know interest in fact and it comes actually from the scripture out of all the creation? plant kingdom animal kingdom out of all the creation humans are the only one that don't trust God because in Matthew chapter 6 or From the same chapter is just that we just read from earlier Jesus says that look at the lilies of the valley. Do they worry? How they're gonna dress but yet they dress better than Solomon in all his wealth He says look at the birds and the animals. Do they worry about Do they worry about what they're gonna eat the next day? He says no because it will be provided for them So what Jesus is saying is that out of all of his creation? Humans are the only one that actually worry about God doing what he said he's gonna do But God is the only person that will do what he said he will do and never fail We can doubt ourselves. We can doubt even our parents. We can doubt We can doubt our children. We can doubt our best friends. We can doubt even our spouses But there is one person that will never fail There's one person that will always come through and will do what he says he will do is God We can trust him. He's a creator. He is a father a man church Turn to your neighbor say don't worry Turn to your own neighbor say trust God When you begin to worry worry stops your creativity Scientists did a study and they came up with a project and they took a classroom of people and divided that classroom into two groups One group had a same task, but they put a deadline on them. They said you have to finish in certain amount of hours There was some kind of creative task and then they took another group and they said here's the same task Two groups are separate both of them didn't know about each other and their own tasks said here's the same task But there is no deadline take as much time as you want do whatever you need to do to accomplish this task What they found is the group that had a deadline were less creative less motivated that group did not meet the deadline and The group that did not have a stress and worry about the deadline was more created Finished tasks finished the task and finished it within a three hours Even though they didn't have that the time limit and they accomplished the task much or created you much better And they felt better about themselves first in the first group felt bad about themselves From this example, we see that when you are worried when you are stressed when you are anxious It stops the flow of creativity It stops the motivation it deters your focus and you're not able to be as efficient as effective as you could be When you relay a worry in your stress to God and you're free to do what God has called you to do amen church the occupation safety and health administration in the United States Declare the stress hazard of workplace stress costs American industry more than 300 billion dollars annually Because people miss work People are stressed at job so they can't perform as good as they can Or is the good to the full potential stress in America causes? 300 billion dollars Every year in our work environment in a work industry it causes 42 billion dollars a year in medical bills so total it comes up to about 350 billion dollars a year that the worry stress and anxiety cause to people life Someone said a worry is like a rocking chair. It's always in motion, but it gets you nowhere You're always thinking you always you always, you know worry is Worry what it does is it locks you in a never-ending circle or what ifs what if this what if that what if doesn't come through What if this happens? What if I'm not if I'm a what if I'm gonna run short on money? What if this you get locked in in a circle of what if and it's a never-ending circle and A lot of times we worry about things that never actually happened Somebody said about 90% of the things that we worry about actually never come to pass We worry about what what I'm gonna do when my child is gonna grow up What if I'm not gonna have money to put them through college? It's okay You've got college loans and you survived, you know What if I'm not be able to do this or that what if I'm not be able to provide for my family and a lot of times We get locked up in this never-ending circle. What ifs? While 90% of those things never actually come to past and the other 10 most of the time You don't have no control of them. So why even worry in the first place? I want to tell you another point is that behind your worries behind stress behind anxiety There's a demonic influence worry leaves leads to anxiety Anxiety eventually leads to depression and depression leads to suicide so when we Don't control our worries when we don't control what we think about what we meditate on it when we don't Guard our mind We can quickly find ourselves being overly anxious and then we'll lead to depression and Depression is the leading cause of suicide You know, sometimes people think like what I could never do this. I could never take my own life I could never get to that stage, but people never get to that stage without first being worried and When the worry becomes unchecked it leads to anxiety and eventually leads to devastating Consequences there's only one entity and one person that is there is responsible for such a thing and it's Satan and demons because Bible says he came to kill steal and destroy Dima there's a demonic influence behind excessive worries and Anxiety and if we are not careful and we don't If we don't manage our mind if we don't keep track of our thoughts We can come under that influence and he can lead us to that devastating Consequences worry opens a gateway for a demonic influence another statistic says that Stress and anxiety is responsible for over 40% of sicknesses today and the Bible says the problem is 1225 an anxious heart Ways down a man So you have to learn You have to come to the place you have to Understand how to deal with stress in your life You have to understand how to deal with worries in your life so that you don't fall prey to Satan You don't fall prey to demons. You don't fall prey to demonic influence In order to do that you have to learn how to discern Your thoughts and the source of your thoughts I want to tell you quickly three things that helped me to discern if the thoughts that I'm thinking that come What's the source of the thoughts first of all is? You Produce your thoughts your subconscious you the one source of your thoughts comes from you and These are the thoughts that like I already mentioned in the beginning is that normal worries that things that your mind is trying to figure out come up with a solution and and and resolve and Resolve a problem and plan for the future God never calls us when he said don't worry about tomorrow Don't worry about what you're gonna eat and don't worry about all these things God never meant for us to be careless about it He never meant for us not to take care of our family take care of our finances and things of these things of this source So there is that normal worry in a sense of whether we are planning and taking care of ourselves our future and finance So that's a normal normal part that point number two or source number two Though the influence that the source of our worries they can come From demons demonic influence These are the worries that become overwhelming that come above the average worry that we have to solve issues and plan for future prepare ourselves these when we begin to Obsessively worry about the things that we can't change and the things that we can't control It's those nagging thoughts that continuously come and repeat themselves over and over and over again You have to that morn at that point recognize if it's just you or Now it's beyond you. It's a demonic influence Or these are demonic voices and A third source of our thoughts is the Holy Spirit. These are the positive thoughts These are the thoughts of hope. These are thoughts of future. These are thoughts of faith these are these are good good kinds of good kind of thoughts and so We need to quickly realize and understand Where the source of our thoughts is and if we notice that our worry our stress our anxiety is becoming Overly the average and normal Things that we need to worry about we begin to worry about things that we don't need to worry about things that we can't change Your control we need to quickly stop ourselves and release a stress and worries to God. Amen worry accomplishes Absolutely nothing if you can't fix the problem Then don't worry about it. If you can fix it then stop slacking and fix it Okay worry does not accomplish Obsessive worry over the top worry doesn't accomplish anything but still is your time Seals your emotional energy seals your focus and seals your creativity You have to constantly check yourself that you don't find yourself in an area of excessive worrying If you can't fix it fix it immediately don't drag it so that you don't worry You don't you don't occupy your mind if you can't fix it. Leave it be leave it in God's hands. Amen church Are we ready to learn how we're gonna deal with worries now? Okay? I want you to Turn to scripture Philippians, where's my scripture? Philippians chapter four there you go Flipping chapter four verse 67. Let's read together. Don't worry about anything instead pray about everything Tell God what you need and thank him for all that he has done Then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand his peace will guard your heart And mind as you live in Christ Jesus Keep that but keep that verse open and you just gonna underline and write some notes as we're gonna break this verse down First and foremost We have to realize that God cares about us You have to understand that God cares about us You know, what's the difference between a wolf and a dog Wolf doesn't have a master. So he has to take care of himself and provide for himself a dog He has a master therefore. He does not worried about where his food is gonna come from where his water is gonna come from That's why a dog is so happy to see his master. He wiggles his tail and those dogs lovers. You better say amen okay, and And sometimes I wonder if Christians We're so bitter about life and so in so on the edge all the time and so cranky Maybe because we took on too much on ourselves Jesus had come to me all you heavy lead and and with burdens and let's exchange the burdens and I will give you rest and peace. I'm paraphrasing the scripture What he's saying is that a lot of us we carry too much load We carry the stress don't worry is about the family about the future about finances about business We worry about our kids where they're gonna go what they're doing how they're behaving We take on things that are not meant for us to carry and Jesus is inviting us today and say listen I am here Those that weight that you carry belongs to me Come to me. We have to realize that we have God who cares in first Peter chapter first Peter chapter 5 or 6 says this cast all Cast all of your anxiety on him because he cares when Jesus came and Disciples came to him and said teaches how to pray Here's the first thing that Jesus told his disciples how to address God He says our father who is in heaven you have a father one of the jobs One of the tasks of the father is to provide one of the tasks of the father is to care one of the tasks of the father is to Take care of their children by by by referring to him as a father We put ourselves in a position as children a Children they trust their parents. They throw themselves at their support and they're at their care You know scientists did a study Hooked up all the brain scans and all the things that we have nowadays to to measure the brain waves and activity and they took They took children and they took an adults and they measured and they and they said that when a Person receives and a loving embrace in when a receives an embrace for a person that cares and loves for them in Children's case its parents and adults cares. It's just somebody who cares and loves them stress Goes down significantly So that's what Jesus says that in order to enter the kingdom of God you have to be like a child You have to come to the father and you have to throw him throw yourself at his embrace You have to allow himself to care for you to love on you to to take care of you So that those things that you stress thought those things that you worry about that he can take your burden off number two You have to pray about everything Tell God your needs tell God about what's bothering you In something 55 verse 22 says kiss your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you he will never permit the righteous to be moved You have to talk to God about your needs. You have to talk to God about your problems You have to bring it to God and lay it down because he cares Because he wants to hear from you He wants to relieve you all the things that are burdening you things that you are struggling with Know sometimes when you come in prayer and you can't pray and things are weighing you down Don't go further in prayer. Just go back. Just go to God and pour out your heart before him Find that peace find that assurance from him and then move for further in prayer Then begin to pray for different things begin to begin to worship him relieve your burdens With God This is why we have morning prayers every morning prayer The doors open at five o'clock and doors open for five till ten or even later There's a place you that you can come you can spend time with God You can you can spend time with him and relieve your burdens in his in his presence Or you do it at home But this is why you need daily fellowship and daily communication with God Amen church and number three worship him as though as he already done it and If you go go go back to the scripture Philippians chapter 4 it says this thank Thank him for all that he has done first. I want you to mention the word thank him Worship is an expression of our thanksgiving and Another word I want you to notice for what he is already done We have to Come to the place Where we don't only ask him for things but we begin to thank God for what he has already done When we already in advance began thanking him that he is already Accomplished and completed in our lives And next thing I want you to see what happens when you begin to do these three things God doesn't says that he will fix our situation immediately He doesn't say that our life will change right on the spot He doesn't say that our kids will start behaving properly. He's not saying that your bank account is gonna multiply immediately He's not saying that you're gonna find a job right at that moment What he is saying is that when you give me your worries, I will give you my peace When you give me your stress when you give me your anxiety, no the things might not change immediately But you will have peace Jesus was found in the middle of the ocean waves are raging things are things are crazy Disciples aren't dismayed disciples are stressing disciples are trying to survive and Jesus peacefully Bible says sleeping in the boat Finally they couldn't take any longer they wake up Jesus and said Jesus we are dying I can only imagine that they're they're the stress the anxiety and you know like pleading with Jesus Jesus Are you okay? Why are you sleeping while we are pretty much dying here? but Jesus woke up rebuked them because of lack of faith and Rebuked the storm and the storm came down if you can't sleep through your storm You will never be able to conquer it You will never be able to command it to be silent if you don't have peace in your heart You will never be able to command that that problem to be resolved You will never be able to command that that that situation that you're going through to be silence in Jesus mighty name God works first by giving us peace and then he works in Producing that peace that that peace will begin to work in our life to produce the results in Jesus mighty name. I remember I'm about two years back and Well, I went on some prayer and fasting and I had list of ten things that I was praying for and believing for and asking God for and And one of the things that I was praying and believing God was was to To have my own to to have my own house You know, we were been married and that by that time we were been married six years We still lived in apartments going from one apartment to another apartment and I was it was one of those things You know, it was time for us to get our own home our own house and due to many different situations different some consensus that happened and things that Acquired we were not able to get home to buy the house at that moment in our lives And I remember it was just one of those things that got put in my heart to pray and I'd start praying about it because You know, you're just gonna start to worry about you'll be married for six years now It's time, but we just can't seem to get to the place. We tried multiple times getting Buying a house when we were about a year or two married by one time tried buying for plexi didn't work out and another time we're trying to buy duplex didn't work out so Over the years we tried but it wasn't working and so come to the place where it was kind of Burdening in my heart. I wanted to have a house and so as I begin to pray and fast about One of these things about and maybe on about seven day or eight day of praying fasting I felt this overwhelming peace Overwhelming confidence in my heart that this issue is ready resolved that I begin to see that we already have the house I begin to see how we were building that house and and the whole thing and I don't know how to even explain or describe But I got this overwhelming confidence and peace that we're gonna have We're gonna have the house, you know at that moment We had no opportunities and know nothing that would immediately show That we could get that house But I already had that confidence in a piece in my in my heart now two years later Forwarding to now. I still don't have the house. I still don't have the place To call our own to live in even though by hopefully by the end of the year Things are moving forward God blessed us with the project that things are moving forward about it in the year We're gonna start building our own house and things will things will work out But what happened first was that peace and confidence that God gave me in my heart to know that everything worked out even though there was no money even though there was no way of even getting a loan at that time, but God worked things out in my life He put he put a project on my path that I was able to take on the project finally kind of Start rolling start going things started putting together the finances started putting together Everything's that started putting together and today want to say that we're in a process of Building a blueprint making a blueprint and preparing to build our house with the next five or six months But this is how God works in our lives He begins to give us peace he begins to give us confidence He begins to take that worry from us take that anxiety that stress that comes with Everyday life and he gives us peace that Bible says begins to guard our mind and I want to tell you throughout this two years Many times where I came to a place with this project came to a halt a lot of money I needed it to raise to get this project a lot of a lot of things that kind of Stalled and and you know my mind automatically kicked into worry. What if I won't be able to raise enough money? What if I won't be able to make it? What if I you know, this project is gonna get set back again? What if once again? I'm gonna try to get a house and it's not gonna work out like other times But I came back to that back to that big back to that time and that place where God gave me the peace and That peace guarded my mind from every distraction and every worry that would come into my head I want to tell you exchange today your stress exchange your worry You will see that your health will improve you'll see your focus will improve Exchange the stress and worry that you came you will you will feel better about yourself You will begin to perform better at work. You begin to perform better at business God will begin to give you creative ideas how to improve your business your workplace You will become a benefit to your workplace when you don't stress and you don't worry your health will improve Jesus says that you are blessed The bible says that you are blessed with all the heavenly blessings All things work together for good for those who love him You have no room for stress. You have no room for worry You have no room to even wonder because god says if you put your trust in me If you take your worries anxieties if you take your uncertainty things that bug you things that really get to you If you give it to me, I will take care of it And everything will be okay When jesus was going to the cross they put a crown of thorns on his head And I believe one of the reasons why jesus had to wear a crown of thorns And those big needles of the thorns that was piercing his his head going deep into his head is because He wanted to take those piercing thoughts those anxieties those worries that weigh you down the stress you down That that that bug your mind that bugle your mind He took it on the cross so you'll have no room for for worry So you have no room for stress and anxiety in your life Jesus took it all on the cross and he took your worry and stress So that you don't have to today Be bounded by it that you don't have to be slave to it So that you don't have to ruin your health your relationships your emotions because of it in your life God is calling you to a worry-free life God is calling you to a stress-free life in jesus mighty name I like saying uh in pastors uh in prophets boshiri church They have these t-shirts and I think we should get them too in our family. We don't stress we relax and I think I think that should be our one of the things one of the motive that you should live by in god's family There's no room for stress in in his family. We don't stress We relax in the precious arms of the holy spirit amen Amen, put your hands together for jesus christ