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PHILLIPEANS 4:6 “DON’T WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING; INSTEAD, PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING; TELL GOD YOUR NEEDS, AND DON’T FORGET TO THANK HIM FOR HIS ANSWERS.” (TLB)
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (KJV)
“Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” (NKJV, NASB, ASV, NIV)
“Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (RSV)
Yeah, I caught that! I listed a memory verse from the Living Bible first! I don’t do that very often, but its simplicity makes it an excellent version to memorize in this case. “Don’t worry about anything! But pray about everything.” We will address the other versions in a minute.
Honestly, I want to address something I’ve been worrying about here lately: I worry a lot! It is not lost on me that if any group of people should be the happiest, least worried people in the world, it should be us Christians. Yet, if we hang around fellow Christians for very long, we will learn that sometimes, the exact opposite is true.
I agree, life is tough, not some of the time, but it often seems tough all of the time. The world hates us because we claim to have the exclusive words of truth about life. Satan hates us because we believe we can proclaim Jesus’ life-saving Gospel to every person who desperately needs it. What is so hard to understand is why we often demonstrate that we kind of don’t like each other.
Without doubt, living a life of faith is sometimes tough, hard work. Jesus gives us “the Words of Life,” and once we accept them and turn from our wicked ways, He also brings us eternal life, freedom from sin and death and a life that, although pretty tough sometimes, promises to bring us victory. We should be the happiest people on earth!
If I use the Living Bible version of Phil 4:6 as our memory verse, I can’t help but be reminded of a simple little song titled “Be Happy.” It was released in 1988 by a singer named Bobby McFerrin with a definite Caribbean flavor. I doubt that any of us has not heard this little ditty. Select the link listed below and listen to it again:
Don't Worry, Be Happy
“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.
Ain’t got no place to lay your head, somebody came and took your bed, Don’t worry, Be Happy.
The landlord say your rent is late, he may have to litigate, Don’t worry, Be Happy.
Ain’t got no cash, ain’t got no style, Ain’t got no gal to make you smile, Don’t worry, Be Happy.
‘Cause when you worry your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down, Don’t worry, Be Happy.
Although Mr. McFerrin’s song and lyrics lack any substantial spiritual advice, it can’t be denied that there is still some truth in the thoughts. It is very true. Whether Christian or not, all of us experience lives where we have some trouble. If you haven’t experienced any in a while, hold on…it’s coming. We have to admit the next part too. When we worry, we make it double…we double our trouble. Unfortunately, we have all found that just singing, “Don’t worry, be happy” rarely does the trick. Yet Paul was saying kind of the same thing. “Don’t worry about anything.” Right! How’s that working out for you?
The other versions of this verse provide us with a little bit better understanding of what Paul may have been trying to imply. The KJV does suggest a truth, that the cares of this life can overwhelm us and, as a result, we do need to find out how to “be careful for nothing.” But that can possibly lead us to think carelessness is a good thing. Most often, it is not. Most of the other versions use the word “anxious.” Now that is very easy to understand.
In our busy, hectic world, anxiousness is easy to give into. I look a lot more like the guy in the picture on the left than I do a happy little gopher without a care in the world. The mortgage, the family, the job, the trials and sicknesses of normal life can weigh anyone down. And, if they last long enough, we can soon find a life full of anxiety and care that seems too much to bear.
Although the philosophy of “just being happy” rarely relieves the anxiety, I do think that every once in a while, we need to just step back, look at how great we really have it and tell ourselves, “Be Happy Dude!” Unlike the song’s sentiment, because it rarely works to just tell ourselves, “Don’t worry, be happy”, it might help to follow the advice Paul gives us in the rest of the verse.
“Don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything.” I want to handle it all on my own by worrying about it, planning how to fix it and then getting anxious and frustrated about it when it doesn’t work out. Paul tells us to use prayer, supplication and thanksgiving. Replace the first three with the second three.
Literally, pray about everything. It is amazing how much lighter the burden becomes when I take it to the Lord in prayer. Supplication is an old style word meaning “the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly.” And thanksgiving: it isn’t just for November. Look at how much you have before you start groaning about how much you don’t. A thankful, grateful heart can relieve loads of stress and anxiety, if we will just let it.
Using those three…prayer, supplication and thanksgiving…now, take it to Jesus. Let your requests be made known unto God. Tell Him about it! Believe that He hears your prayers, loves you and actually wants to help you with your needs and requests. Let those actions remove and replace the worry that seems to plague us all the time. We can often find that the greatest burden of worry and stress comes from our own inner doubts and fears and can easily be replaced by following that simple advice: Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything.
Questions to ponder: Why is it that music seems to help relieve the worry and stress? I loved the 2014 secular song by Pharrell Williams, “Happy”
There was something addictive about watching a bunch of people who just chose for a few moments to Be Happy. Don’t we have songs like that too? Remember “I’m so Happy” and “The Joy of the Lord is our Strength” and “Rejoice Evermore”.
The very next verse, Phil 4:7 says something very interesting: “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Why should the world have the secret to no worry and be happy? Surely, our Christian faith gives us the best reasons to be happy. So, why aren’t we? Is it possible that the only reason we aren’t happy some times is because we don’t want to be? Can happiness just come from making a decision to be happy?
Other Scriptures to consider: Scriptures tell us that In the world we will have troubles, pain and sorrow. The world will hate us but Jesus said, “Take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Scriptures also tell us, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
Rejoice evermore! (1 Thess 5:16) Rejoice in the Lord (Ps 33:1, Ps 97:12, Isa 41:16, Isa 61:10 Joel 2:23, Hab 3:18 “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the Lord your God.”
Phil 3:1, Phil 4:4
SO, Why aren’t we happy? (Other versions: Be careful, be anxious, have no anxiety)
1. Second half of the verse, “in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.” We don’t have the first, because we don’t practice the second. (Song: Take it to Jesus.)
2. Sometimes, I believe we like being unhappy. Is that possible? Other songs: Three versions of “Happy Birthday.” “Doom, despair and agony on me…”
3. Maybe it takes work to be happy. Can you “Be Happy” if you choose to be? Can you be happy by just constantly saying, “I AM HAPPY?”
Our Song: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”
A song to remember: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgFzREi2n_c
 
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