1. Storms, like stress, are created by competing forces or “fronts”.
(Gal. 5:17-24; Eph.6:10-18)

2. “be not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”
Since Stress is a produce of this battle that seeks to “choke” God’s word in our lives,
We need to understand:
1) Identification: Whose side Am I on? 2 Tim. 2:4
“No man that warreth entangleth himself…”
2) Dedication: Who am I Trying To Please? 2 Tim. 2:4 “That he may please Him who chose him…” (also Rev. 4:11)
3) Prioritization: What’s my Mission? (Eph. 5:15-17)
“be not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

3. This enables us to have some time for:
4) Concentration: Focus On What’s Important. (Ph. 3:14)
“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.”
In order to concentrate, we must learn:
5) Delegation: Let Other People Help Me. 1 Cor 12:27
“Ye are the body of Christ and members in particular”
This enables us to have some time for:
6) Recreation: Mark 6: "Come apart…,
and rest (anapau’ō: stop and refresh) a while”
This provides the quiet time necessary for…

4. All because we do not carry,
7. MEDITATION: I Must Make A Habit Of Prayer. Prayer is a great stress reliever!
Ps 29:11 “The LORD will give strength unto his people;
the LORD will bless his people with peace.”
“Oh what peace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pain we bear!
All because we do not carry,
everything to God in Prayer!”
Pastor Joseph Scriven 1855

5. Meditation: To think deeply, “muse”. 1. Prayerful Mediation involves:
MEDITATION: I Must Make A Habit Of Prayer.
Meditation: To think deeply, “muse”.
1. Prayerful Mediation involves:
A. A purposeful shift in our focus 1 Tim. 4:14
“Mediate upon these things;
Melatao’: to revolve in the mind so as to “take care of”
from melo: to be interested, concerned, careful.
1) We tend to move in the direction of our focus!
give thyself wholly to them”

6. A. A Purposeful Shift in our focus.
2) This involves a specific process Phil. 4:6
“Be careful (merimnao: anxious) for nothing;
but in every thing by prayer (proseu’chē: worship)
From Pros: (shift) toward
and euchomai: worship, seek God
and supplication (de’esis: petition)
with thanksgiving (Eucharisti’a: gratitude)
let your requests be made known unto God.

7. 1. Prayerful Meditation involves:
B. A Powerful Promise. Phil. 4:7
“And the peace (eirēnē: to join) of God,
{remember Mt. 11:29: “take my yoke upon you…”}
which passeth all understanding, (nous: intellect)
shall keep (phroure’ō: mount a guard)
your hearts (kardia: thoughts, feelings)
and minds (no’ema: perception, purpose)
through Christ Jesus.”
See also Jer. 33:3

8. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them;
2. God’s word is “soul” food.
A. The Bible (God’s Word) word describes itself as:
1) Milk: 1 Peter 2:2; Heb 5:12,13
2) Bread: Deut. 8:3; Jn 6:35, 63; 1 Cor 5:8
3) Meat: Heb. 5:14
Jeremiah 15:16
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them;
and thy word was …the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name”

9. 1) Consumption without digestion produces
B. Mediation is to the soul what digestion is
to the body.
1) Consumption without digestion produces
“heart burn.”
Luke 24:32-34 “Did not our heart burn within us, …
while he opened to us the scriptures?
And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together,
and them that were with them,
34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed…!”

10. and to do of his good pleasure.”
B. Mediation is to the soul what digestion is to the body.
2. Consumption + Digestion  Nutrients & Energy!
a) Meditation allows us to recognize God’s Will,
as well as how to respond to (apply) it.
Ph .2:13 “it is God which worketh in you both to will
and to do of his good pleasure.”

11. to do according to all that is written therein.
C. Consumption + Digestion  Nutrients & Energy!
Josh. 1:8 “this book of the law…thou shalt meditate
(Hāgâ’: muse, ponder) therein day and night,
that thou mayest observe (shamar: hedge about, protect)
to do according to all that is written therein.
Then thou shalt make thy way prosperous
(ṣālah:̣ push forward)
…And …have good success.”
(śākal: understanding; prosperity)

12. MEDITATION: I Must Make A Habit Of Prayer.
3. Jesus modeled prayerful mediation.
A. The busier he was, the more time he spent with God
Luke 5:15-16 "But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him…
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness,
and prayed."
Mk 1:35 “in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out…into a solitary place,
and there prayed.”

13. and our own inner compulsions,
A. The Busier Jesus was, the more he Prayed.
1) Clarity produces confidence!
“Not hard work, but doubt and misgiving produce anxiety as we become oppressed by the pile of unfinished tasks.
We sense uneasily our failure to do what was really important as the winds of other people's demands,
and our own inner compulsions,
have driven us onto a reef of frustration.”
Tyranny of the Urgent

14. “Lord, Teach us to Pray!” (Luke 11:1) how much more do we?
1) Clarity produces confidence!
a) If Jesus needed this “quiet time” to deal with the
stresses on him,
how much more do we?
b) The Disciples didn’t ask Jesus to teach them to preach,
But rather…
“Lord, Teach us
to Pray!”
(Luke 11:1)

15. that please him.” but the will of him that sent me.”
2) Prayer kept Jesus Focused. John 6:38
“I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will,
but the will of him that sent me.”
John 8:28-29 “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things
that please him.”
arestos’: agreeable or “fit” His plans.

16. (God’s Directions for the Day!)
B. How did He know what “fit” God’s plans?
1) Through PRAYER!
a) This is how he got his “Marching Orders”.
Is. 50:4,5 “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:
he wakeneth morning by morning,
he wakeneth mine ear to hear…”,
(God’s Directions for the Day!)

17. B. How did He know what “fit” God’s plans?
2) Prayer is two way communication with God.
a) In Prayer we talk to God.
b) In Mediation, we listen to God “talking” to us!
We “digest” God’s Word and Will!
2 Tim. 2:15 “study to show thyself approved (dokimos:
acceptable, agreeable) unto God.”
2 Tim. 3:16 “All scripture…is profitable…that the man
of God may be perfect, (arteos: fresh & complete)
Thoroughly furnished unto all good works.””

18. and He shall bring it to pass.”
Conclusion: Prayerful Mediation is the key to
1) Delighting in God (Ps. 37:3-6)
“Trust in the LORD and do Good…Delight thyself
ʿānag: soft and pliable
also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit (galal’: roll on) thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him;
and He shall bring it to pass.”

19. Hāgâ’: ponder in pleasure
Conclusion: Prayerful Mediation is the key to
1) Delighting in God Ps. 1:1-2
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the way of the ungodly…But His delight (ḥē’peṣ: pleasure)
is in the law of the LORD and in His law
doth he mediate day and night
Hāgâ’: ponder in pleasure

20. and He shall direct thy paths.”
Conclusion: Prayerful Mediation is the key to
1) Delighting in God (Ps. 37:3-6)
2) Being Directed by God. (Pr. 3:5,6)
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and He shall direct thy paths.”

21. Delighting in and being Directed by God.
Conclusion: Prayerful Mediation is the key to
Delighting in and being Directed by God.
(Zec 4:6) "Not by might, nor by power,
but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."
3) Power in Prayer is tied to God’s will. 1 Jn 5:3, 15
“this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments:
and his commandments are not grievous...
This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:”

22. and will manifest myself to him.”
4) God’s Will is consistent with and revealed by His Word.
John 14:21 “He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him.”
Make much of God’s Word and Will and
God’s Will and Word will Make much of you!

23. shall renew their strength.”
Application:
“be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer…
let your request be made known unto God.
And the peace of God…shall keep your hearts and minds.”
i-rah'-nay: rest, quietness. From eirō to JOIN!
When we worry or stress, who are we really “joining”?
When we “Trust, pray and obey” we’re joining God.
Is. 40:31 “They that wait upon the LORD
(kaw-vaw' bind together)
shall renew their strength.”

24. Jesus’ Strategy for Stress-less life.
“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me…
and you’ll find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.”
Mt 11:28-30

25. Jesus’ Strategy for a stress-less life includes
Prioritizing Prayerful Meditation.
Mk 1:35 “in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out…into a solitary place,
and there prayed.”

26. Brought to us a peace and rest.
I met God in the morning,
When my day was at its best
And His presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.
 All day long His Presence lingered;
All day long He stayed with me;
And we sailed in perfect calmness
Over a very troubled sea.
 Other ships were blown and battered,
Other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them
Brought to us a peace and rest.

27. You must seek Him in the morning If you want Him through the day.
 Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind.
When I too had loosed the moorings,
With His Presence left behind.
 So, I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way;
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day.
 Ralph Spaulding Cushman