How To Cure Worry

the word john series
Hope for Today (English)
How To Cure Worry
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John 16:16-27

Greetings in Jesus’ precious name; we are glad to be here with you again today. Thank you for joining us on Hope for Today. This program that is produced by Heralds of Hope. We are an organization dedicated to using media to make disciples of Jesus Christ to accomplish the great commission in our lifetime. We focus on Bible teaching and Bible distribution. Each week our Bible teaching broadcasts circle the globe in English and 22 other major languages.

And why so much focus on the Bible you might ask? It’s like this: when you want to know how to fix a broken machine, you try to talk with the people who made it. They are the ones who know everything about it. So, if it’s broken, the maker will know how to fix it. In the same way, God is the one who made us. He knows what we need and what is best for us. If something is broken or not working right, go to Him and see what He recommends. We focus on the Bible because this is God’s recommendation for us, and living His way is the best way. 

Today we will be continuing our study from the Gospel of John. We are looking at chapter 16, and the title is How to Cure Worry. Wait, how to cure worry? A cure is “a complete or permanent solution,” and we know what it means to be cured of cancer or another disease. But how can we be cured of worry? I mean, think about the last two years. Just look at what has happened in our world, and who knows what will happen next? Things seem to be getting worse and worse. How can anyone expect to cure worry?

Great question. Thankfully God as our Maker knows us very well, and His Word has the answers. God doesn’t want us to be consumed with worry; why would He? It is not good for us. Prov 4:21-22 says His Word is “life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”  I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t want to be healthy. Actually, many people who are obsessed with their health and go to extreme measures to improve. So, if God’s ways bring health and worry is not good for us, how can we look at our circumstances and not have worry?

That’s another good question. Stay right here, and we will listen to Pastor J Mark as he answers that question from John 16 with 3 “secrets” for how to cure worry. Before He comes, let’s ask God to guide our time together. Lord, thank you so much for your Word, and I pray that you’d give J Mark wisdom and clarity as he explains your Word to us. I ask that your Spirit guide us and show us how we can be more like Christ today. I especially ask that you help us surrender our fears and worries to you. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

All of us are alike. We wonder what is going to happen tomorrow. We make our plans, but we cannot always carry out our plans. They do not always work. And then, because they do not work, we tend to worry. That is, we get distressed; we are unsure what the end will be. Sometimes in our worry, we really get quite upset, don’t we?

I will show you HOW TO CURE WORRY from Jesus’ teaching to the disciples in John 16:16—27.

16. A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

17. Then said some of his disciples among themselves, what is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?

18. They said therefore, what is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.

19. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?

20. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

21. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

22. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

23. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

25. These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.

26. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:

27. For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

In this text, Jesus tells us the real SECRETS of how to cure worry. Would you like to know what those secrets are? These secrets do not need to be whispered.

I tell you boldly about the first one: Trust the Promise.

Jesus said, “I am going to the Father.” That was very important. But the disciples got worried. They could not understand what Jesus meant. Because they could not understand what He meant, it gave them much trouble in their hearts. They did not yet know His purpose and work.

Some people are like those disciples. When they can’t understand something, they let it trouble them, creating great moments of distress, unrest, and worry. They do not trust the promise of Jesus. Jesus made a promise, but they did not believe that promise because they couldn’t understand it.

Our failure to understand is no call for worry. Perhaps our worry should rather be when we fail to believe or trust the promise. That should give us cause to worry. So, the first secret to cure worry is to trust the promise.

The second secret is a blessed continuation of the first: Enjoy the Presence.

Each experience in life must be kept in its place. God desires good for us. He doesn’t want us to go through distressing moments. He wants us to have joy, real joy. Jesus used the illustration of a woman giving birth to a child: when the time comes, she has much sorrow because of the pain of delivery; but once the child is born, she forgets about the pain, and she rejoices that her son is born. Oh yes, if you are a mother, you know what Jesus was talking about.

Jesus is surely right; after the moment of sorrow, joy comes. So, He told the disciples that sorrow is only passing, only passing because of the situation at the moment. He said, now you are sorrowful, but you will rejoice. When you see me again, your heart will rejoice. I recommend this secret of enjoying the presence of Jesus.

Now quite certainly, you and I do not experience the presence of Jesus like those early disciples did. He is not here with us in bodily form. But by faith, we can experience the presence of Jesus. That is an effective secret to cure worry. I wish I could explain it better for you. But I’ll tell you what you can do. You can experience it if you follow on the way with Jesus.

When the first and second secret are brought together, worry is cured as you Learn to Pray.

Sometimes I get a request from a listener to send him or her a prayer book. From this counsel of Jesus, it should be clear to us that we don’t need a prayer book. What we need is to make our prayers to God the Father in the Name of Jesus.

And my dear friend, you can talk to God, our Father, just like you talk to your neighbor. He can be just as real as that to you. So, learn to pray. Jesus said, “You ask in my Name, and the Father knows exactly what your needs are.” Be very simple, be straightforward. Tell God, the Father, what your needs are, and ask in the Name of Jesus. That is what He said we should do. He said, “I do not say that I am going to pray to the Father, because the Father loves you because you love me.” For that reason, He will answer you, and joy will come when answers come.

So, learn to pray. That is a wonderful way to cure worry. Prayer is simply talking to our heavenly Father. Jesus said, when we ask, we make our requests in Jesus’ Name: “Whatever ye shall ask the Father in my name He will give it to you. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name…At that day, you shall ask in my name.”

God desires that we have joy. Jesus used the illustration of a woman to illustrate how joy can come to us. He has made us that way, to have joy. You can cure worry by using these secrets that Jesus gave us: trust the promise, enjoy the presence, and learn to pray.

Thank you, J Mark, for this teaching from God’s word. What do you think? Was today’s teaching helpful? Feel free to share with us your thoughts from today’s program. Or if you’d like to hear it again just let us know. Here are several ways you can contact us.

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We thank you again for joining us for today’s program. I encourage you to join us again next week as Pastor J. Mark continues teaching from the Gospel of John. We look forward to being with you then and will leave you with these verses from Jude, “now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

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