TAKE NO ANXIOUS THOUGHT

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A common enemy to success in an

individual’s life is fear. The fear of

failure causes many people to become

anxious, overwrought, and stressed out.

Fear is perverted faith, or we could say

the reverse gear of faith. Faith is a

builder—fear is a destroyer. People tend

to fear the unknown. We find on several

occasions when Jesus appeared to the

disciples after He arose from the dead,

His greeting was: Fear not or Be not

afraid.

Even when Jesus spoke of all the

things that were to come upon the earth,

He said, “... see that ye not be

troubled...” (Matthew 24:6) In John

14:1: “Let not your heart be

troubled...” Then in Matthew 6:25,

Jesus admonishes us to take no anxious

thought concerning the necessities of

life.

In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us a better

way to deal with the everyday

circumstances of life.

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Take No Anxious Thought

Therefore I say unto you, Take

no thought for your life, what ye

shall eat, or what ye shall drink;

nor yet for your body, what ye 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

ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can

add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for

raiment? Consider the lilies of the

field, how they grow; they toil not,

neither do they spin: And yet I say

unto you, That even Solomon in all

his glory was not arrayed like one

of these. Wherefore, if God so

clothe the grass of the field, which

today is, and tomorrow is cast into

the oven, shall he not much more

clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought, saying,

What shall we eat? or, What shall

we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we

be clothed? (For after all these

things do the Gentiles seek:) for

your heavenly Father knoweth that

ye have need of all these things.

(Matthew 6:25-32)

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Take No Anxious Thought

Now notice verse 31: “Take no

thought, saying...” It’s all right to take

thought. It’s all right to make plans. But

don’t take thought by saying, “What am

I going to do? Interest rates and gas

prices are going up. Dear, God, what are

we going to do?” Words like that will

never produce faith; they will only

produce fear, doubt, and unbelief. Faith

comes from hearing God’s Word.

Negative thoughts will die unborn

unless you speak them. The way you

take a thought is by speaking it.

If you are going to take thought

concerning your needs, take them from

Philippians 4:19: “... my God shall

supply all (my) need according to his

riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Don’t

entertain thoughts that leave questions

unanswered.

Faith always stops at the question

mark. I believe that is the reason Jesus

said to not take thought by saying,

“What are we going to do?” Words are

powerful forces; if they are used rightly,

they will put you over in life. If you use

them in a wrong way, they will destroy

your faith and cause you to fail in life.

Jesus was revealing something that is

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Take No Anxious Thought

very vital to success in life: Don’t take

thought by speaking negative things

when you could speak God’s Word

and take His thoughts.

You can’t always keep the Devil

from putting doubt in your mind, but if

you refuse to speak it, it will never enter

your heart. The thought of doubt will

die unborn unless you speak it. Once

you speak it, you give birth to it. You

have taken the thought, and it becomes

unbelief. There is a time to speak and a

time to be silent. There are times you

may have to grit your teeth to keep your

mouth shut. When negative thoughts

that disagree with God’s Word begin to

bombard your mind, that is not the time

to start trying to make a faith

confession. When your Word level is

low, your faith is low, and you will most

likely be making the confession out of

fear instead of faith. That is a time to

either be silent or quote God’s Word

verbatim to nullify fear.

CONFESSIONS IN FEAR

You can build your faith by quoting

the Word of God, but it must be done

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Take No Anxious Thought

before fear comes on the scene. Let’s

say you have prayed and you have

confessed God’s Word until you believe

you have received and thank God for it.

At that point, you are fully persuaded

that you have received and the Word

abides in your heart.

But a month later if it hasn’t come

to pass, the devil will try to use your

carnal mind to steal the Word from you.

If you find yourself about to waver from

what you believed, that is not the best

time to start trying to make a

confession. Just refuse to take the

thought and rest in what you have

already said in faith.

We have an example of this in the

fifth chapter of Mark. Jairus had come

to Jesus in faith, “And besought him

greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth

at the point of death: I pray thee, come

and lay thy hands on her, that she may

be healed; and she shall live.” (Mark

5:23) We all recognize that was a faith

statement. Jairus spoke those words

when his faith was high. He believed if

Jesus laid His hands on his daughter,

she would live.

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Take No Anxious Thought

Jesus was on His way to Jairus’

house when someone came with bad

news. “... Thy daughter is dead: why

troublest thou the Master any further?”

(Mark 5:35) Jairus had spoken in faith,

but the dry winds of doubt were

blowing against him. Jesus knew he was

in a bad situation, and “As soon as

Jesus heard the word that was spoken,

he saith unto the ruler of the

synagogue, B

e not af

raid, only believe .”

(Mark 5:36) In other words, that was not

the time for Jairus to start making

confessions. He was not mentally up to

it. He just needed to rest in the

statement he had made when his faith

was high.

I have heard some people make

confessions out of fear—they were

saying the right thing, but it was out of

fear rather than faith. Fear had

paralyzed faith. Notice again the words

of Jesus. "... Be not afraid, only

believe.” In other words, Jesus was

saying to Jairus: “Just keep your mouth

shut, don’t say anything that will nullify

what you have already established by

faith before the bad news came.”

Yes, you can quote God’s Word in

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Take No Anxious Thought

any situation; quote it over and over to

yourself. Then when you want to speak

a word of faith to affect something, your

heart will be filled with the Word of

God. Your faith and your Word level

will be high.

There is a difference between

speaking God’s Word to put it inside

you and speaking the Word out to affect

something. There are times when all

Christians have some doubt. Don’t try

to speak the Word at those times to

change things. But rather speak it to

plant the Word in your heart and cause

faith to come. Or you can do what Jairus

did—keep your mouth shut. Sometimes

that is all the corresponding action you

need.

WORDS PRODUCE FAITH OR FEAR

“Therefore take no thought, saying,

What shall we eat? or, What shall we

drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be

clothed?” (Matthew 6:31) Why would

Jesus be concerned about us taking

these thoughts by saying them? Because

faith stops at the question mark and

these questions reveal that a person is

not fully persuaded that God has made

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Take No Anxious Thought

provision for them (II Peter 1:1-5).

Speaking faith-filled words

produces faith. Speak fear-filled words,

and they will produce fear. Questions

like, “What are we going to do? How

are we going to make this payment?”

produce fear. When you fear, you allow

satan to steal the Word from you. Every

time you say such things, you are

opening the door for the devil to speak

to your carnal mind. Paul encourages us

to cast down imaginations and every

high thing that exalteth itself against the

knowledge of God, and to bring every

thought into the obedience of Christ.

We should take no thought that would

open the door to the enemy (II

Corinthians 5:4-5).

Taking a wrong thought is

something you must deal with if you

expect to walk in God’s provisions. We

should take no thought that questions

God’s ability to provide what we need

for life and health. The thoughts we take

are important because the human spirit

is designed to produce in like kind from

the seed you plant in your heart. If you

plant thoughts based on worry, your

spirit will produce—or in fact, lead you

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Take No Anxious Thought

to the very thing you fear. Even Job

found that to be true.

Satan is very limited in what he

can do unless he can get you into fear.

Fear releases the devil’s ability against

you. He can no more prevail against you

if you are without fear, than God can

move in your behalf without faith! Faith

brings God on the scene, but fear is an

invitation to satan. Jesus reveals that

God will clothe you if you only have a

little faith (Matthew 6:30). “Therefore

take no thought, saying, What shall we

eat? or, What shall we drink? or,

Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For

after all these things do the Gentiles

seek:) for your Heavenly Father knoweth

that ye have need of all these things, But

seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his

righteousness; and all these things shall

be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

Make a decision to take God’s

thoughts and harness your tongue

because your words either release

satan’s ability or God’s ability

concerning your finances, your home,

and your physical body (James 3:1-13).

THINGS TO REMEMBER

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Take No Anxious Thought

Fear of failure is an enemy to

success. Resist fear as you would resist

the devil.

You can’t keep the devil from

putting doubt in your mind; but if you

refuse to speak it, the doubt will die

unborn.

Faith-filled words produce faith;

fear-filled words produce fear. Fear

brings satan on the scene. Faith brings

God on the scene—therefore take no

anxious thought.

Maranatha!

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Document Outline

- Take No Anxious Thought

- 1 Take No Anxious Thought

- Confessions in Fear

- Words Produce Faith or Fear

- Things to Remember

Table of Contents

Take No Anxious Thought

1 Take No Anxious Thought

Confessions in Fear

Words Produce Faith or Fear

Things to Remember