2819 Church - KINGDOM GEMS | The Secret of Prayer & Fasting | Matthew 6:5-18 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

In week five of “KINGDOM GEMS,” Pastor Philip A. Mitchell teaches a timely message on prayer and fasting. Welcome to the official Youtube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators. As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

All across this country men like me that stand in pulpits we get all this glory and recognition for the ministries that we lead to the churches that we lead because we are the faces of these organizations well if we're truly humble and honest we have to deflect that glory because none of this happens because I can preach. For there's some 200 people in this room who are my co-laborers in the gospel. And if you remove them from the equation, there is no ministry happening next week. I am not, but they are the true heroes of this church. And so we pause to honor all of our servant leaders who serve so faithfully all across this church. From worship and music to productions and administration and growth track and children's ministry, and squad leaders.

Where are my squad leaders at? Squad leaders at some 200 people serving faithfully every week all around the church, even throughout the week. Without you, none of this goes forward. On behalf of my wife and I, we pause to honor all of you and celebrate you. We deflect glory to you because we understand that without you, none of this happens. If you think it's because of me, just remove all of our servant leaders and see what it feels like next Sunday without them. So we honor you. We love you. We thank God for you. You are our heroes.

We celebrate you. You are worthy of the honor. Would everyone put your hands together? Help me honor our servant leaders. I want to give a special shout out to two very special people in the house. Two ladies. One of them I've known for almost 20 years. She's my sister. One of my closest female friends has been there for me through thick and thin,

been rocking for a long time. I call her Capone. Her name is Toni Jefferson. Would you help me honor my sister in the faith? Thank you. One of the dopest fashion brains I know in the country. She has styled thousands of people. From well-known people and wealthy people. And she's a beast at what she does.

Now she's a beast at stocks and options and trading. And she's trying to school me to the game. I'm going to get that option stuff under control, right? Grow my portfolio. And when I was a very young man, maybe two years saved, I had the opportunity to serve as a youth pastor at a church in North Carolina. And there was a group of teenagers there who served in that youth group. And that youth group was small but it caught fire and there were a handful of teenagers in that youth group who I had an

affinity for and one of them we stayed close man for almost 20 years now I watched that teenager grow from a young girl serving God and being holy and living faithful to now a mighty woman of God. A preacher, a teacher, an attorney, a wife, a mother, beasting at her church. She's here with her husband. Would y'all help me honor one of the women I had an opportunity to disciple for almost 20 years? My little daughter in the faith, Chazazley Woodley who's sitting right here She's here with her husband Keith Woodley and a little man is here they got a little one on the way and Just thankful to see you here mighty woman of God. I'm so proud of you. You you come a very long way no more little girl mighty woman in the faith yeah mighty

woman in the faith we do our first women's conference you're gonna be up here preaching that is the fruit of discipleship. Not classes. Life on life. I took up all my time with your worship. I'm taking that time back. I'm just letting you know right now. I'm getting my time back. I let y'all do y'all now I got to do me okay shout out to my 28 19 family local and

abroad everybody watching live right now in cities across the country on YouTube a few pockets around the world wherever you're watching this live we welcome you to our gathering right here in Atlanta, Georgia, to our online family and to all the guests in the room. We welcome you and to everyone who's not a follower of Jesus Christ. We welcome you. If you're not here, if you're not a follower of Christ, I'm preaching a message today to the followers of Christ. So you get a chance to eavesdrop on these conversations we're having. We're in a series of talks, a series of messages called Kingdom Gems. We are preaching through the most famous sermon ever recorded in the history of the world, the Sermon on the Mount. It was a sermon that Jesus preached in the first century AD. It is the most important sermon in the history of the world. It is the sermon that changed the

life of Gandhi, has changed nations. It is a sermon that has changed millions of history of the world. It is the sermon that changed the life of Gandhi, has changed nations. It is sermon has changed millions of people around the world. And we are walking through that sermon verse by verse, line by line and unpacking the gems that Jesus gave us in the sermon on the Mount. For all my note takers today, we're going to unpack Matthew chapter 6 verse 25 through 34 and we're going to tag a title to this text I speak this to you prophetically here's the name say stop worrying do not worry spirit of the Living God we have worship, we have danced, we have praised, and now our hearts are settled in this moment where we feel your presence all around us on every aisle and every row,

filling this room, going across that camera. There's no shortages, God, of things to worry about in this room, in that chat. you know the overwhelming amount of circumstances that are in this room you know them I don't would you help this weakened earthen vessel to the best of his ability communicate these eternal truths to these my brothers and sisters my sons and daughters your people and may the unbeliever in the room just lean in to hear the genius of your wisdom I pray that we would be challenged convicted comforted changed let nothing distract us in this moment

from that which is important, the proclamation of the word of God, that eternal word that transforms the soul. I pray a blessing over the preaching of the word in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you received that, just say amen.

Amen is not a churchy word. It just means so let it be. Do not worry. Family, can I be honest with you this morning? Can I be honest with you this morning? Can I be fully transparent? Okay. I believe personally, and I learned this from my wife.

I learned this from watching Lena, from something that she guards at all costs. She tries to protect me and she's a beast around her children like she's a pit bull. Don't let that smile fool you. She'll wreck shop for one of her children. But I learned something from my wife that she talks about all the time in our home. And I want to open up this message with this piece of wisdom I learned from my wife that one of the most powerful and tangible powerful, intangible strengths you will ever have in this trouble-filled life is peace.

My wife, Lena, always says, I'm protecting my peace. I'm not going to let these people steal my peace. I'm not going to let this steal my peace. She's always talking to me about guarding her peace. I knew not what that was like, and I learned that watching her. She's always on the guard for her peace. It is one of the most powerful, intangible things you will ever have in this life that gives a human being strength and confidence is peace. Now, when I say peace, I'm not talking about that surface tranquility that is logically disturbed whenever things are jostled in our life by unwanted circumstances i'm not talking about that kind of peace no my friend when i talk about peace i'm

talking about that deep inner reality of a quiet assurance that is anchored in spiritual truths that steadies the soul in the middle of anything that we're going through it's a kind of peace that hears a doctor's report and doesn't fall apart it's the type of peace that loses a job and does not fall apart it's the type of peace that something blows up in your life but it doesn't fall apart it's the type of peace when you see somebody that should lose their mind in the middle of a circumstance but has not lost their mind in the middle of service that is that kind of peace that's anchored in something much deeper than my circumstances for you and i have learned that peace is not the absence of troubles not the absence of wars not

the absence of all those things troubles or frustrations true peace is a state of being that's given to us by the lord and true peace is really born out of a revelation that comes from the lord when i think about my children some of the babies that's downstairs of formation kids i think some of the best people that image or model peace are little children one-year-olds two two-year-olds. You ever look at them? All they know is peace.

They kind of live with a carefreeness. And no matter what's going on in your house, it doesn't seem to disturb them at all. They don't care that the bills are not paid. They don't care that you got fired from a job. They don't care that you're having marriage trouble. They don't care. When you look at little trouble, it doesn't matter what's going on around a little child. They just seem to maintain peace. They are unmoved by the things that are happening around them. Man, they'll fall down and bruise a knee and get up and wipe their tears in five minutes and go right back to peace. It's no wonder that Jesus says, unless you enter the kingdom like a little child, that there's so much we can learn from just staring at children.

They have, watch watched great peace but i watched something happen in the lives of my own children as they grew from being little kids to teenagers and now adulthoods but growth came awareness and awareness came awareness of troubles and awareness of circumstances and situations and then what was untroubled peace has become loss of peace from time to time as they have grown now and they have a more consciousness of the realities of life.

Because something happens to us when we're adults. As we grow into adulthood, we are constantly aware of everything around us that is wrong, that is difficult, that is hard, that rocks us from our peace do i gotta witness anybody awareness of the things going on around us man it kind of opens the door listen to me

to the greatest enemy of peace you know what that is not the devil anxiety the greatest enemy of peace is anxiety you know it because it comes on in a moment when something shifts in your life worry worry is not foreign to you and me everybody in here is worried everybody in here has felt anxiety it's a common human emotion worry is common man it's brought on by any minor things like just the shift in a circumstance can make you worry something falls apart in your life you can start to worry a circumstance moves you start to worry oftentimes i've learned because i'm a perfectionist and pray for me that sometimes anxiety sets in when you have a feeling of a loss of control. I ain't got no honest people in the room. Any perfectionist in the room, as soon as things are outside of your little control, you start to worry when you cannot fix the circumstances

when they are beyond your control. We start to feel worried. Can I go deeper? The emergence of some perceived need stirs up anxiety and worry. But among all the things, family, that creates worry and anxiety in the hearts of men, the thing that's at the top of the list that creates anxiety and worry is our worry over our current financial situation our resources our financial stability our financial future our 401k our money market accounts our investment accounts how well are we going to be off when we retire? What am I going to have when I'm done working? Is social security going to last past 2025? The truth is the thing that stirs the most anxiety in American believers and Americans is our anxiety over our financial stability. Can we pay the bills? Can we take care of our families? Can we feed these children?

Is my business going to expand? Are my investments going to expand? I got investments. I've seen them go up and down. I've seen them in the red and in the green. We look at these kind of things. Any honest people in the room? We look at these kinds of things. Any, any honest people in the room? We, we, we think about these kinds of things. So I got four people that was honest. All right, let me, let me, let me get the other liars involved with the other four people. Okay. Cause I said, can we get any honest people? I seen four hands go up and like 500 liars. So let me, let me bring us all into the conversation together. Okay. According to a recent study, nearly eight out of 10 Americans, that's 78%, are stressed out about money ranking at the top cause for their stress, with millennials ranking at the top of that list who were surveyed. So if the stat is true, that means 80% of us in this room right now as I'm talking to you, we are worried about our financial situation.

80% of us so the other 20% you just pray for me while I talk to the other 80% of us there's 90% of this church are Millennials so I'm in the right room because I was at the top of the list right 95% of this church are millennials so I know I'm in the right room I'm talking to 80% of this room that is stressed out about finances and your future and do I have enough money saved that can I buy this and can I afford that and the groceries and you're choosing between groceries and gas and it's my business. I'm talking to you. And as a result of anxiety and worry,

and I've known this personally, you know what it does, man? That kind of difficulty, man, it makes it hard to find the joy of living a life of simplicity. That the little things, we don't even have gratitude for the little things because we're so anxious about all these other things. We can't even be thankful for clothing and for food and for relationships.

We can't even enjoy the simple things in life because we're so anxious about all these big things. Like Biggie said, right? Like I was watching the Tories the other day. Don't move me, right? Like the great prophet Biggie said, more money. Yeah. Biggie said more money yeah I'm gonna add to Biggie's line more money more problems more worries when we worry your mind is torn that's what it literally

means to tear up your mind in pieces anxiety tears the mind it makes the mind divided we inflict upon ourselves a great amount of mental and emotional damage whenever we're constantly worried like it's this unhealthy fixation we have with resources and listen i am not knocking get into a bag i am not knocking building a business i am not knocking your investments i'm not knocking any of that what i am saying specifically i'm talking to the era of believers who call themselves followers of jesus and your number one preoccupation is your financial status okay family look at me look right at me look at me it is not the will of the lord for you to be

stressed out about your financial status it's not the will of the Lord for you to be stressed out about your financial status. It's not the will of the Lord for you to be in anxiety all the time. He actually wants you to have a state of peace and comfort and not worry about all of that. I know that from what Jesus said to us in this entire text that we're studying, beginning with the clear teachings he gave us last week. Let me read these powerful words to you one more time. Matthew chapter six, verse 19 through 24, which connects to where we're going.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Transition. But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also so last week i told you the lord was saying man invest some of your resources into the kingdom so your dollars

will meet you in eternity so that when you die and end up in heaven you will not be a pauper forever you will have treasures in heaven where you will not be a pauper forever you will have treasures in heaven where you're going to be forever so he says invest in something that goes beyond your bank account invest in something that's going to outlast you when you die verse 22 the eye is the lamp of the body which talks about your vision and your heart if your eye on your heart if your vision your heart is healthy your whole body will be full of light that means if you see right you respond right but if your eyes are bad if your vision is bad if your heart is bad your whole body will be full of darkness that is if you don't see this right your whole body and

decisions your mind will be full of darkness if then the light inside you is darkness how great is that darkness verse 24 no one can serve two masters for he will either hate the one or he will love the other he will be devoted to one and he will despise the other you cannot serve god and money so last week i was telling you god was telling us we have to make a decision. What's going to rule you? Where are you going to get peace from? Either you're going to be ruled by the pursuit of money that leads to anxiety, or you're going to be ruled by God Almighty that gives peace. It's your choice to make. The Lord is not against money.

He's not against you getting a bag. He's not against you building your business. David was wealthy. Solomon was wealthy. Abraham was wealthy. He's not against you having money business. David was wealthy. Solomon was wealthy. Abraham was wealthy. He's not against you having money. He is against money having you. He doesn't want you to be stressed out. So he wants you to choose who's going to rule over your heart. Either God will rule or the love of money will rule, but these two masters will treat you differently.

One will bring anxiety. the other brings peace right i want to tell you something the love of money is like godlike that lowercase g is godlike when when we have a love of money man it commands worship. It influences the heart. It makes us bow down. It makes us compromise. It can corrupt people because money is like God-like in nature. The love of money is God-like. It has powers like a God. And I want you to pay attention to this.

Make this very clear. The Lord did not say you cannot serve God and Satan. All right. Everybody look right at me. Let me teach you. Look at me. The Lord did not say you cannot serve God and Satan. He said you can't serve God and money and mammon, unrighteousness. So Jesus exalted to the status of a God the love affair we have with materialism. He exalted that to the status of a God, the love affair we have with materialism. He exalted that to the status of a God, that the thing that's competing for the rulership of your heart is not Satan. He is the enemy of your soul. But the thing that Jesus knew,

I'm just trying to teach. The enemy is the adversary of your soul. But the one who Jesus said is competing for the rulership of your heart against him is the love for materialism. You don't believe that? Let me prove this to you. Like, come on, family. Look at me. Let's be honest. Look right at me. Let me talk to you.

Don't front. Like, I ain't up at night trying to choose whether or not I'm going to serve God or serve Satan. Come on, let's be honest. Y'all ain't up at night deciding whether or not you're going to sing songs or drink blood to Lucifer. That ain't your wrestle. You ain't wrestling between taking communion and drinking blood to Lucifer. That's not your wrestle. Your wrestle is between his majesty and your money.

Your wrestle is between Jesus and Jordans. Your wrestle is between serving, supporting the kingdom, or keeping everything in your house. That is your real wrestle. It's not between God and Satan. No, y'all ain't running after Satan. Y'all love the Lord. You serve him. You worship him. You're wrestling between Jesus and the devil? That's not your wrestle. Think, family. Your wrestle is, should I support the kingdom or keep all of that to myself? That's your real wrestle. Do I worship Jesus or worship Jays? I'm just trying to make it real like that is our real wrestle support the kingdom or support my house

not take communion and drink blood think you're not up at night trying to decide if you're going to worship the devil you're up at night trying to decide am I going to support the kingdom I got a bill to pay i got debt to pay i gotta send my kids to school i got your real wrestles between god supporting the kingdom and what you want to keep in your house that is your real wrestle that's what the lord is saying here that's what causes anxiety and for a lot of us i want to be honest like i've been here that's not i know

it's not intentional for some of you it's not intentional i know you really want to you just you're looking at your debt you're looking at your school loans i i know it's not intentional but inadvertently man money is our master inadvertently i know it's not intentional for a lot of you i know it doesn't come from a bad heart it just it just happens through the nature of all the things we got going on so what is jesus saying i want you to listen because i'm trying to help you listen to me he's trying to tell you and me, I'm talking to followers, an unhealthy preoccupation, fixation on materialism will cause you to always be stressed, frustrated, anxious, and worried. But Jesus not wanting you to do that. He wants you to see right, feel right, understand right.

Look at how he tries to love you by freeing you from that burden. Now, listen to me. He wants you to see right, feel right, understand right. Look at how he tries to love you by freeing you from that burden. Now, listen to me. He's not against you having resources. He just don't want you to have worry and anxiety about it. So look what he says. He said everything from 19 to 24, the eyes, lamp of the body, your treasures in heaven, all that good stuff. And then he connects it to this next door. Now watch the text for this morning. Everybody look, Matthew 6, 25. Look at the mastery teaching of Jesus. Therefore, I tell you, what does the word therefore means? Whenever you see a therefore in the scriptures, it means go and check what was previously said. Therefore is a conjunction word that joins two thoughts together. So what was he talking about? Your

treasures in heaven, money not being your master, your eye being healthy, all he's saying, all of that. Therefore, because of all of that, therefore, I tell you, I know you can read. What's the next words do not be anxious watch he didn't suggest this to you the words do not is a commandment i don't get it phil. Worry is a sin against God. Some of y'all are trying so hard not to smoke and not to drink and not to sex and not to gossip. You should be trying not to worry. How about that sin?

If you're trying to tone down some of your sin, I got sin in my life too. If you're trying to tone down, so here's someone we could put on the list. Let's tone down worry so we have more peace. Let's treat worry like a sin so on the backside of it, you have more peace.

See, some of you don't treat worry like a sin. You treat back side of it you have more peace see some of you don't treat worry like a sin you treat worry like my dog chance you treat it like a pet so you keep a leash on it and you treat it and you feed it and you give it water and food and you keep it in the crib i want you to take it off the leash so you don't treat worry like a pet instead treat it like a sin that you start to hate it to the point that on the back backside of it you just get peace like what you say stuff like I refuse nah I wish I had 400 people I refuse to can I go deeper I will not sin against my Lord by worry.

Add that to your list. How about that? Because when you start talking like that, you know what comes on the backside? Peace. Peace. Peace. I refuse to worry. Man, I got a doctor's appointment about my kidneys kidneys or we find these two cysts in your kidneys we don't know if they're metastatic we don't know

if they're cancerous we don't know if you got kidney disease man that report rocked me for about 48 hours but then I had to go down in the basement in my prayer room and pray myself out of that place and said, I refuse to worry. I see the report. I see all these words and what they mean. I understand what's on the backside of them. Dialysis, death, I feel you. 48 hours later, I refuse to worry. You know what followed that peace I just want you to get gangsta for just a second and say I refuse another worry for me was that kidney issue you fill in your own blank I'm just home on worry. For me, it was that kidney issue. You fill in your own blank. I'm just talking about what I've been dealing with recently.

You fill in your own blank. I see this. I refuse to worry. I heard that. I refuse to worry. I know what they said. I refuse to worry. I know they left me.

I refuse to worry. Lost a job. Refuse to worry. I got abandoned. Refuse to worry. I know what they're saying, but I refuse. It's a sin against God. It's a sin against God. I'm going to tell you why. Ask me why why let's read you want my opinions or you want the word of God which one you want my opinions or the word of God you want an article from Google or you want the word of God look what jesus said do not commandment in

i don't want to bore you with greek and stuff but like like this this this do not in my greek study material is a, there's a firemark around the do not, which tells me that this is a commandment. It's an imperative. It's don't do it. It's if you've been doing it, stop doing it. And if you haven't been doing it, don't. All right. You listen to what Jesus is saying? All right, let me read to you the text. Do not be anxious about what?

About your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, know about your body, what you will put on. It's not life more than food and the body more than clothing. It's what Jesus is saying. He says, don't worry about your life your food your clothing your body then he asked you a question is not your life more valuable than you worrying about all that stuff right now you hear that and that means nothing to you because we Americans living in the in the United States in 2023 but when Jesus said that he's living in the ancient Palestine in a society

where people live hand-to-mouth when they did not know where the next meal was coming from water was scarce and the only thing people own was the clothes on their back they did not have closets to clothes to choose from they did not have shoes to choose from people were scrounging for food water bread a jacket was considered wealth now how deep is the text he's telling people watch living hand to mouth straight this is insane to me he's telling people living hand to mouth don't even think about where your next meal is coming from that's insane don't think about where you're going to get clothes don't think about where you're going to get water i don't even want you to think about that stuff like lord you're bugging

he asked a question right like isn't your life more valuable than food and clothing and all that stuff like isn't what he's saying isn't your life and calling more valuable than being in constant anxiety over material things isn't the calling on your life and calling more valuable than being in constant anxiety over material things isn't the calling on your life more valuable than you always being worried about material things watch watch can i go deeper do you not trust me do you not trust your heavenly father to provide for you? Do you not understand the furious love of God who cares for you? Now watch how he strengthens his argument with these three illustrations. Verse 26. Verse 26. Look at the birds of the air. Now watch.

He's telling you, stop worrying about, watch, food, clothing, drink, what is all that stuff? All of your needs. All of your provision. Watch. Listen. Watch masterful teaching. He's telling you, stop worrying about provision. And then he's going to give you examples to show you how God cares for you.

He says, he's sitting on a hill, sir. Oh, look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. They have no savings account. Watch. And yet your heavenly father feeds them now watch the question are you not more valuable than a bird no man you ain't feeling me yet listen Listen, a bird can't pray. Don't have a relationship with God. Can't read the Bible. It's not filled with the Spirit.

Watch, was not created in the image of God. It doesn't have the worth and value that you have. Yet if God as a creator feeds an animal, do you not more think he's going to take care of all of your needs? Can I teach? Man, the other day I went out on my back deck and I seen a nest underneath the deck. Watch. And watch the genius of Jesus in choosing a bird.

Because you hear a bird and you miss the whole revelation of the text. You think birds are just... Can I tell you something about birds? I was watching this bird underneath my nest and I've been watching that bird for like a week. You know what I realized about birds? They're very industrious animals. I'm going somewhere with this. They're not lazy.

I'm going somewhere with this. They leave their nests in the morning. They go to work. They come back to feed their family. They get busy in the nest. They have children. They leave the next morning. They go to work. They come back, get busy in the nest. They have children. They leave the next morning. They go to work.

They come back, get busy in the nest. They play with their family. Like, they are industrious creatures. They are not lazy. They build nests. They go hunt for worms and all of that. But watch this. Watch.

They can't even control if they find a worm. I'm going somewhere with this. They are completely dependent on the whims of nature to find food. I.e. God in his creative power creates an instinct in a bird to go out there in the whims of nature and he causes

food to be found for them. They don't even have no savings account. They don't even have no mentality to know what they're doing I never seen a bird die from hunger if the Lord would watch over every sparrow in the air, every Eagle, every vulture, every bluebird, every Raven, every Robin, if the Lord is in heaven, looking out for all of these creatures that can't pray, can't read, don't have no relation with him, never been surrendered to him, never cried out to

him as Lord can't worship, have nothing from the cross, not made in his image. If the Lord is in heaven, caring for all of these fowls flying around the air, not made in his image. If the Lord is in heaven caring for all of these fowls flying around in the air, what makes you think he won't provide for you? Some of you, the next time you start worrying, you need to just go to a park and just stare at the birds and think to himself if god cares for that animal why am i why are you why as if he loves a robin more than alexis

more than kenny like get in your soul like he loves creatures more than the. Like, get in your soul. Like, he loves creatures more than the highest thing he's ever created. What was Jesus trying to say? Prioritize the kingdom, provision follows. You know, I just thought about something else can I go deeper I gotta hit you with this for a move on to the next verse can I go just a little bit deeper can I you know what birds

are busy doing all day really when you when you look at them watch they're busy just fulfilling their purpose thank you Holy Spirit and as they fulfill their purpose. Thank you, Holy Spirit. And as they fulfill their purpose, provision follows them. Let me repeat this because some of y'all look at me like Dan Headlights. Birds build nests, leave nests, give birth to babies, find worms, comes back, feed their family, raise their children, push them out the nest, do it all over. They're just fulfilling purpose. And as they fulfill purpose, provision follows them. Provision follows people who are busy about their purpose. You cannot be busy about the purpose of the Lord

and don't expect him to provide for you as you are walking in purpose. Provision follows purpose. Kingdom priorities, provision follows kingdom priorities. Provision follows purpose. Kingdom priorities. Provision follows kingdom priorities. Provision follows purpose. People who walk in purpose, provision follows. Like, my wife and I was in the hallway the other day. We was having a family meeting in the hallway.

Our kids came home. We came home from, we was having a family meeting in the hallway our kids came home we came home from we was in a restaurant somewhere we celebrated izzy because she got her first little job at some little boutique yo shout out izzy right she got her first little job at a boutique you know she loves clothes and fashion and she's and so we took her out to dinner to celebrate her and and it was a nice little restaurant when we came home we was all sitting on the stairs together, having a family meeting. And they just started reminiscing about when we moved here. And we was talking about when we moved here, how we were so poor and how a family of six lived beneath the poverty line for so many years. We talked about all our years on food stamps and WIC. We talked about the government cheese and we talked about honey bunches of oats and the only things that we could buy with the green

card. Man, we talked about the kids having holes in their shoes and how we had to keep them in schools that had uniforms because we could not afford to buy clothes. We talked about how we lived hand-to-mouth and people would come and bring us groceries. We talked about how sometimes we had to choose between gas and food, and we never went to a restaurant because we couldn't afford to go to one. I could barely afford to buy my children a dollar cheeseburger from McDonald's. I would get them those cookies and those apple pies because I couldn't even afford to get them a meal. We talked about how my wife would drive around neighborhoods in a minivan that somebody gave us because we couldn't afford a car, and she would drive past people's trash, and if she found something in the trash that she could

use, she would put it in the minivan, and she would bring it home, and she would clean it. I remember three kids spent time in the same car seat that she found in the trash that she brought home and washed because she's industrial. That's a P31 at her core, right? Not too bougie for that. I already know. I'm talking about poverty, yo. Driving around, picking up stuff from people's trash and bringing it home. And you know what? All that time, we had the joy of the Lord.

This is a true story. And we lived like that for years, man. Years. So many years beneath the poverty line, raising children in poverty, man. And all that time we had joy. Watch. And all that time passed in the church and nobody know we had no food in our own fridge. Preaching on Sunday morning and going home hungry. Well, God would raise up some mother to cook food for us every Sunday

and without that we had no food. Not complaining from the pulpit but living in poverty behind the scenes. Six people beneath the poverty line. Wasn't even above $24,000 a year with six people. And all that time we had joy. Watch. because our preoccupation was not with money we was preaching serving the church lena was doing all the administration she's handling all the we

were just serving god and god just provided for us from one home to the next, from getting blessed with one vehicle to the next. He just kept providing for us as we were fixed on our purpose. What is yours? Not worried about money. It follows those who are busy about purpose.

Watch. What is yours? Not ashamed about it either. We lived hand to mouth, pastoring a church for years. Living off of other people's trash for years and not being ashamed about it. We saw it as God's provision. The car seat on the side of the road was God's provision,

but we could not afford a car seat. Let me finish the text. No, I can't take my time. Watch. Let me finish the text. And because Jesus knew some of you would be sitting here arguing with me right now in your mind,

he gave you verse 27. And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to your lifespan? Since you want to argue that I'm not good enough to provide for you,

which one of you, by worrying, is going to add an hour to your life? In other words, here's the tagline for worrying accomplishes nothing. You gain nothing by worrying. All you do is empty today of this hope. You're just draining today of this hope. it's just a down payment on stress so he continues let me finish the power verse 28 and why are you anxious about clothing consider watch not just look at think about i'm almost done look last few verses the lilies of

the field how they grow neither they toil that's like working like a man or spin working like a woman yet i tell you even solomon in all of his glory was not even arrayed like one of these. But if God clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow it is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith. Watch. The Lord is talking to people in ancient Palestine. I'm almost done. I'm about, I'm at the end. Look, talking to people in ancient Palestine. He's on a hill. He says, y'all see that grass right there? Watch, watch, watch this. Uncultivated vegetation. I don't get it, preacher. It's less, it has less help than a bird. It's worse off than the bird. At least the bird can go find food. If no pollen don't fall, it's in trouble. It's in less condition than the

bird. And if you stare at a rose really good, you look at its pellets, man, it's more beautiful than some of the best clothing in Louis Vuitton. And by the end of the day, some of that people will go and pick that off the ground and throw it in their ovens to bake bread. And the Lord said, this thing that don't even last long, but God takes care of it. You're missing the point. If the Lord takes care of something that is used as oven fuel by the afternoon, something less reliant than a bird. What more do I have to convince you? He's trying to say that you don't have to worry about any need in your life. If you can't be convinced that I take care of grass and animals

and that you are more valuable, I'm not sure what else will convince you. This is the lowest thing that I take care of. Why do you think I won't take care of you? Next time you're driving around and you're dealing with anxiety, just look at somebody's lawn and think God provides for the lawn. Are you not more valuable than the lawn? It almost makes worrying ridiculous. When you think about who's talking, the creator of all things, the one who says he owns all things. You know, there's nothing for God to funnel anything into your hands in a moment. A handshake could change your life. One meeting can change your life. The Lord can open any door he wants you anytime he's

ready. Do you know who's talking to you? The one who owns everything is saying to you, if I take your grass and I take your animals, you don't got nothing to worry about. It almost makes worrying ridiculous. Can we finish? The last four verses. Can I say one thing to you before I read these last verses if you if you follow the logic of Jesus he's actually trying to say worry is absolutely unnecessary watch this it's like from heaven he's saying breathe easy watch this I got you somebody needs to hear that in the room I know what you're going through fill in the blank and he's saying, breathe easy. Watch this. I got you.

Somebody needs to hear that in the room. I know what you're going through, fill in the blank. I got you, though. Gosh, man. I need that from me. I know what you're going through, fill in the blank. I got you, though. I got you, though. Thank you.

Lord, how? Lord, when? I got you though. Lord how, Lord when, I got you though. Lord how, Lord when, I got you though. Lord this doctor's report about my kidneys. Philip you my preacher and son. I got you though. Just preacher and son I got you though just keep preaching I got you though can I give you a report about my kidneys benign and trending in the right direction Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. And it is a hallelujah. I got you, Lord. And it is a hallelujah. Just keep preaching, Philip. We ain't worried about Philip. If I call you home, you win.

If you stay, you win. You really can't lose, Philip. What do you worry about? If you belong to Christ, you cannot lose. You can't. I either preach sick or he call me home but I can't lose

so why are you you shedding a lot of tears my wife had to come to me honey like why is your mind going straight to the worst outcome thank God for a good wife honey 48 hours why is your mind keep going to the worst outcome. Thank God for a good wife. Honey, 48 hours. Why is your mind keep going to the worst outcome? Honey, hasn't God been faithful to you?

That's Lena for 48 hours. Phillip. No, she don't say that. Honey, has not God been faithful to you? Pull yourself together. Your people need you, honey. The doctor didn't change the report. Do what you gotta do.

Stop worrying, honey. Get down in my prayer room and pray worry out of me. I'm gonna preach with this doctor's report and if I die, I get

my crown. I cannot lose, so I shall not worry. I'm so serious. I ain't playing around. This is what I'm telling you. This is what we live. I'm so serious. I ain't playing around. This is what I'm telling you. This is what we live.

I'm so serious. I just have to make a decision at some point in time. I'm not going to worry. I'm still on medication. I'm still seeing the doctors. They're still checking my blood, but I'm not thinking about it. I ain't all the way out of the woods from the doctor's report, but from my Bible, I'm

out of the woods. Is he not faithful, Don? Is he not faithful, Donald? Has he not heard your prayers? Has he not performed a miracle in your house? Yes. I got you though just hear this Holy Spirit whispering to you I got you though

right let's keep it all the way 100 no cap there's no cap here there's cap on the internet there's no cap here. There's cap on the internet. There's no cap here. Right? Like, I got you though.

If you focus on the kingdom, I got you though. No cap here. All right. Can I read these last verses to you? Verse 31 to 34. Therefore, he concludes his argument three times he says do not be anxious saying what shall we eat what shall we drink what shall we wear for the non-believers the gentiles the people far away from me men they are running after all these things and your heavenly father knows you have

need of all of you these things he knows what you have need of remember this chapter started with the prayer your kingdom come your will be done focus on the kingdom give us this day our daily like like lord i ain't gonna hold. He already knows what you need. Last two verses and we're done. No, we're not done. I got to give you something. I got to drop some gems on you. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

You keep God first, provision follows. Therefore, he says it to you again, do not be anxious. About what? About tomorrow. Why? For tomorrow will be anxious for itself. That is, you're wasting time worrying.

You might as well have hope for today. Finish the verse. Sufficient for today is its own trouble. I'm about done, Frank. Family, I don't want to bore you with history, but you know in these times, the false gods of these times,

the people was anxious around their false gods because their false gods was unpredictable so they never knew if there was doing enough to appease their false gods because their false gods your little crystals is unpredictable Miss Cleo is unpredictable the people who are anxious serving false gods because they're false gods, don't move they were unpredictable, I'm not talking to you, do you?

unpredictable, you missed the point God is not unpredictable he is so predictable he gave you his word. He already told you how he thinks, how he operates, how he behaves. All these promises. No cap. You ain't got to figure out how he operates. He already told you.

This is over 1,000 pages of I got you, though. You see what I did for Noah? You see what I did for Abraham? You see what I did for Joshua? You see what I did for Gideon? You see what I did for Ruth? You see what I did for Esther? You see what I did for Nehemiah?

Should I keep going? You see what I did for Esther? You see what I did for Nehemiah? Should I keep going? You see what I did for over and over and over, like over a thousand pages of, I got you though. No unpredictability here. It's screaming at you. I got you though. It says his promises are yes and amen. Worry robs the heart of peace, robs the heart of joy, robs the mind of clarity, robs the body of health,

robs the belief of mental energy. So I want to close with this. I know you're going to worry again. So I want to give you three things to help you to stop worrying. This is like practical medicine. Write them down or take a picture when they come on the screen. The reason I'm doing this, I'm doing this out of love as your pastor, because I already know with all this preaching, you're still going to be worried about something next week. So I'm not going to leave you helpless because I love you

and I got you though. I'm going to give you three pills to help you with worry. Y'all ready for these? Number one, how do you deal with worry? Number one, lift up worry. Lift up worry. You got the picture? Now give me my verse. Take a picture of the verse.

Philippians 4, 6 through 7. Lift up worry means turn every worry into a prayer. If you worry about it, turn it into a prayer. Philippians 4, 6. Paul writing to a poor, generous church. Do not be anxious about how many things? Anything. That means everything. Here's the transition in the text. But in everything by what? Prayer. And by what? Supplication. And by what? Thanksgiving. Do what?

Let your requests be made known to who? To God. Then what's the promise? And the? Peace. Turn every worry into a prayer and leave it with God. And here

is the promise behind your prayer. The peace of God which surpasses all understanding. It does what? It guards your heart and your mind. It keeps you from being depressed and crazy. So watch, lift up worry. Every worry lifted up, turn it into a prayer. So when you worry, do what? Pray. And when you pray, what pray and when you pray you got a trust so watch this is a burden everybody watch me this is something that got me worried this is

fill in the blank I lost a job when I pray in the spirit, I carry it to God. Now whose hand is it in? God's. It's in the hands of the person that can do something about it. Your job next is to pivot away and trust him that I got you though. This trust right here, this

spot I'm standing produces peace for your mind but if you start to worry again you go back to god and say i know what you said but i can handle this without you let me take this problem back so when you have worry the first thing i want you to do is what? Lift up worry. Pray. Number two, whenever you worry, tear down worry. You got a picture? Taking notes? What does this mean? That means when you're thinking negative and you're worried, capture those thoughts. Here's the scripture, 2 Corinthians 10.5. We, Paul says, destroy arguments and every lofty opinion that is raised against the knowledge of God. We take captive. We take what captive?

Every thought. Where's worry born in? Your mind. Your mind. So when you're worried, tear it down. Take that thought and bring it captive. To what? To obey Christ.

How do you obey Christ? Do not be anxious. So every time I have an anxious thought, I'm going to make that thought who's in a rebellion against God. I take that thought and I tear it down and I make it obey Jesus. I say, what did Jesus say? Do not worry. But the doctors report, what did Jesus say?

Do not worry. But you got cancer though. What did Jesus say? Do not worry. But you got cancer though. What did Jesus say? Do not worry. Got fired from the job. Take that thought. What did Jesus say? Do not. You make the thought, obey

Jesus. Don't let your thoughts run rampant one of the greatest blessings of being a human is that you have the ability to choose a different thought you make your negative thoughts obey Jesus every knee will

your thoughts too You make your negative thoughts obey Jesus. Every knee will bow. Your thoughts too. So when you feel worried, lift up worry. Turn every worry into a prayer. Tear down worry. Capture every negative thought. And number three three move from worry you got that that means be concerned not worried worry paralyzes concern leads to

action you see the difference when I'm worried I'm paralyzed if I'm concerned I move to action I got a doctor's report I'm drinking more If I'm concerned, I move to action. I got a doctor's report. I'm drinking more water and cranberry juice. That's action. But I'm not worried about my kidneys. I'm just drinking more water. You see that? Concern leads to action.

Worry leads to what? Paralyzed. Here's your scripture. Because we are Bible teaching church. Peter writing to people during the persecution on the Nero being put to death. It don't get worse than that. Okay?

First Peter, verse chapter one, verse 13. Therefore, you can read preparing your minds for what? For action. He's talking to people that were worried about death. It don't get no worse than that. Your blank ain't worse than death. Prepare your mind for action. Do something about it.

And being sober minded. Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you. At the revelation of Jesus Christ. I feel a question bugging me. What about the believers who suffer and know? I don't got an answer for that. All I know is God is sovereign. How can I say this?

Help me. God is sovereign. How can I say this? Help me. God is sovereign. I don't have the answer for why some Christians die in horrendous things. I don't know. What I do know, for those who don't have, for people who are poor and maybe believers, some of that is the systems of our world that's not equitable in distribution of goods. And some of it is our lack of generosity, that if churches across the world was just radically

generous, we could feed every poor brother and sister across the globe. There'll be no, there'll be no Christians who don't have food. That's what they was doing in the old test in the new Testament times. Churches raising offerings to support other churches so we don't blow trumpets on social media but I'm gonna tell you because we're part of that in the last couple months this church has given away over $20,000. $5,000 for one church plant in North Atlanta. No competition. $5,000 for a church plant in Orlando.

$10,000 to another church here in Atlanta who's sending out missionaries around the world. One day we'll be able to do $200,000. One day we might be able to do $2 million one day we might be able to do 2 million but for now with our little budget we've given away 20,000 because we watch our supporting Kingdom agendas for some of you I know you got dough 20,000 that's like that's not the first our church small budget all right we're gonna do our best my little 20,000 one day is gonna be 200,000. I Pray for a day. We're gonna give away 2 million

By this time next year By this time next year We're going to give away more than that 20 grand By this time next year. So let me pray over every anxious mind. We're about to take every thought captive right now to the obedience of Jesus Christ. We're not going to be a people full of anxiety and worry.

You're not going to be worried about provision and being bound by materialism no y'all ready for this father in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach come on Lena by this time next year I pray

over every person under the sound of my voice who's been battling worry and anxiety and fear and all these things God rooted in a lack of trust Father I pray that now in this moment, we lift up every worry, God.

We lift them up to you. We put it in your hands. You, the only one who can do something about it. Father, we tear down every thought in our mind that makes us believe you can't do in our circumstance what we need you to do. We believe that you are able.

And Father God, I pray in the name of Jesus there'll be something like an explosion of faith in this room, faith across this camera to believe you, to trust you, to rest in you. Father, right now, I don't even know. Somebody might need to come to this altar. We lay down worry right now in the name of Jesus. We lay down. If you've got a major problem, come meet me right now. We lay down worry right now in the name of Jesus. We lay down, if you got a major problem, come meet me right now. We lay down, I want to pray for major problems. We lay down anxiety, worry, fears. If you got a doctor's report of cancer, something that's been troubling

you, God, you can get on your knees in the aisles. I don't care. We're about to lay everything down right now. By faith. Just get close. If you're battling something heavy, just get close. I'm going to obey God. If you're battling some great need, some great doctor's report, come on, get close. And if you can't get close, get as close as you can.

And whenever you get as close as you can and whenever you get as close you can't fall down on your knees no everybody leaves with peace today the devil is alive hold one chord for me Frank go up no no no Go up. No.

No. No. This ain't no sermon. A shift is about to happen in this room right now. No. No, we are the children of God. We are the sons and daughters of the Most High. He who is able, now unto him who is able. Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, now unto him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above anything we

could ask or think. No, we leave no worries. We're not leaving the room with no worry, no anxiety. It's going to to bow right now we're walking out of this room with peace we're walking out of this room with peace Lena lay hands just lay hands stretch hands I'm stretching hands to everybody in this room by faith I'm touching you right now

by faith. If you're near somebody, just touch them, stretch out. Like I need a connection point of faith. The Lord got you. Shakia got you. Alexis, if you're watching me right now, live, just touch the TV, touch your phone. Stretch your hands as a point of contact by faith. If somebody's kneeling next to you, touch them by faith. Father, right now in this moment, we are stretching out these hands. We are touching each other by faith. Somebody's touching

that screen. Somebody's touching a phone. Somebody's touching that television screen. Father, we lay down right now everything that's causing worry and anxiety and stress every financial problem every medical report every relational issue every marriage issue everything that's making us heavy every need every godly desire everything, that's been burning our heart. Trauma from the past, someone we need to forgive, something we keep rehearsing in our mind, something that is outside of our control, that only you can do something about it.

We lay it down right now. It's laid down with my kidney report. We trust you. I pray for a release right now of faith in this room. Faith across that camera. If he dresses the lilies and beauty and splendor how much more how much more if he watches over every sparrow how much more how much more if If he watches over every... If he dresses...

With beauty and splendor... How much more if he washes over every sparrow how much more if he If you If you Touch

Touch Hallelujah God Hey God Hey God Hallelujah God Touch If he watches over every sparrow of the addresses He dresses. He dresses.

If he washes over every sparrow, how much more? How much more? If he washes.