THE FUTILITY OF WORRY !

THE FUTILITY OF WORRY: (Matthew 6:25-27). "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment ? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they ? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ?" Jesus is simply saying in this passage, "Which of You by worrying and being over anxious is going to change anything ?" We all know that worry is like a rocking chair: it keeps you busy, but it doesn't get you anywhere, it'll make you sick. Luke's Gospel records the same teaching and says, "And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life. . ." (Luke 12:22). (v.23). "The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment." In other words, the God kind of life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment." Another translation of this verse read, "be not anxious about tomorrow." Of course, we have to plan and prepare for tomorrow. We have to make certain provisions for the future. But what the Lord was teaching us here is that He doesn't want us to be filled with anxiety and worry about tomorrow, food, drink, and clothes. We can save with the gospel songwriter, "I don't know about tomorrow, but I know who holds my hand." That's all that is important. WORRY NULLIFIES YOUR PRAYER ! (Philippians 4:6). "Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition [definite request] with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. The amplified Bible translation. "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known in the God." "You" is the understood subject of the sentence. When the Lord said, "be careful [anxious] for nothing," He was saying, "[You] be careful for nothing. . ." In other words, "don't you Fred or have any anxiety about anything." As long as you fret and have anxiety concerning the things you are praying about you are nullifying the effect of your praying. You haven't cast it on the Lord; you still have it. If you have it, He doesn't have it. If He has it, you don't have it. As long as you are still worrying about your problem, laying awake at night, tossing from one side of the bed to the other, trying to figure it out, He doesn't have it. As long as your stomach chimes every time you think about it, as long as you can eat for worrying about it, he doesn't have it. You do. And really, all of your praying about it will not work, because you have not done as He has commanded. He has promised to bring it to pass, but only after you have committed your "way unto the Lord." When we cancel our curls on the Lord, we no longer have them. To illustrate, if I took the last five dollars out of my billfold and gave it to you, I wouldn't have it any longer; you would. Then if someone came along and asked to borrow a dollar, promising to pay it back the next day, I would have to say, "I don't have a dollar."