I FEEL LIKE I’M CONSTANTLY STRESSED OUT-CAN THE BIBLE HELP?

Psalm 18:6-19 . . . In my distress I cried out to the Lord . . . He heard me from his sanctuary.

The Lord makes his awesome power available to those who seek him.
Psalm 46:1 . . . God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
Peace, assurance, and rest come not from our efforts and activity, but in stillness before God.
John 14:1, 27 . . . The peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
The peace of Christ is experienced not only in the absence of trouble but in the very midst of trouble.
Mark 6:45-52 . . . He saw that they were in serious trouble . . . he came to them.
We don’t have to endure the troubled waters of our lives alone.

The various biblical words translated trouble convey a range of meanings, including a negative or threatening event and the emotional response of an individual to that event. Perhaps the closest word in our modern language would be stress. Trouble in our lives creates stress, and stress, in turn, creates more trouble. The Bible indicates that trouble enters our lives from a variety of sources-including our own decisions and behavior. Whatever the source, God makes his resources for comfort, peace, and rest available to us through his Spirit.

DOES GOD CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME?
Psalm 71:6 . . . Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!
Psalm 31:7 . . . I am overcome with joy because of your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul.
God’s love for me began before I was born, continues throughout my life, and extends through eternity.

HOW DOES GOD SHOW HIS CARE FOR ME?
Psalm 78:72 . . . He cared for them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands.
Psalm 121:7-8 . . . The Lord keeps you from all evil and preserves your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.
Psalm 145:18-20 . . . The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him sincerely. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked.
Matthew 6:30 . . . If God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith!
1 Peter 5:7 . . . Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.
God protects, provides, and preserves us-now and forever.


PROMISES FROM GOD:
1 Peter 5:7 . . . Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.
Psalm 23:6 . . . Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.
Isaiah 46:4 . . . I will be your God throughout your lifetime-until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you.
Psalm 55:22 . . . Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.
Psalm 91:11 . . . He orders his angels to protect you wherever you go.
Psalm 145:18 . . . The Lord is close to all who call on him.
Romans 8:28 . . . God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

WORDS

WHY SHOULD WE BE CAREFUL WITH THE WORDS WE USE?
BIBLE READING: Psalm 19:1-14
KEY BIBLE VERSE: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

OUR WORDS OUGHT TO PLEASE GOD.
Would you change the way you live if you knew that every word and thought would be examined by God? David asked God to approve his words and thoughts as though they were offerings brought to the altar. He began this psalm noting that the whole creation manages to express God’s glory. He ended his thoughts with a prayer that God might be pleased with his words. As you begin each day, determine to let God’s love guide what you say and how you think.
BIBLE READING: Proverbs 13:1-6
KEY BIBLE VERSE: Those who control their tongue will have a long life; a quick retort can ruin everything. (Proverbs 13:3)

WORDS ARE SO POWERFUL THAT SILENCE IS SOMETIMES THE WISEST ACTION.
You have not mastered self-control if you do not control what you say. Words can cut and destroy. James recognized this truth when he stated, “The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do” (James 3:5). If you want to be self-controlled, begin with your tongue. Stop and think before you react or speak. If you can control this small but powerful member, you can control the rest of your body.
BIBLE READING: Matthew 12:33-37
KEY BIBLE VERSE: You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. (Matthew 12:34)

OUR WORDS REVEAL WHAT IS IN OUR HEART.
What kinds of words come from your mouth? That is an indication of what your heart is really like. You can’t solve your heart problem, however, just by cleaning up your speech. You must allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with new attitudes and motives; then your speech will be cleansed at its source.
BIBLE READING: Colossians 4:2-6
KEY BIBLE VERSE: Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone. (Colossians 4:6)




Proverbs 29:11 . . . A fool gives full vent to anger, but a wise person quietly holds it back.
Avoid speaking in the heat of anger; you will usually regret it later.
James 4:11 . . . Don’t speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God’s law.
Avoid criticizing other people.

Hey MaKelly and fellow Soul-Winners,

I hope you all are having a great day!

I have a unique situation  that I have not run into until now.

This woman claims to believe in a creator/god,and believes that when she dies she will go to heaven...because she is comparativley better than some other people. The reason this situation is unique tho,is that she don't believe the Bible is the Word of God and it is not reliable concerning anything...as I talk to her and try to use Scripture to back up my words and my belief system...she discounts everything I say that is backed by Scripture

I've tried to show her the danger of her relativistic doctrine...and that the Bible could bring her something objective or solid on which to build a doctrine on but she flat out refuses.I've talked to her twice but still no difference. We all know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God...but this lady has proved to be somewhat unarming when it comes to using Scripture to witness to her.

I continue to pray for her and to live out the Gospel life in front of her praying that the Holy Spirit convict her of her sin of disbelief...which is all I know to do at this point.

Has anyone else ran into this before?

bro. steve

Here are five elements that the Bible says are essential to having God both hear and answer our prayers. If we do these things we can be sure that our prayers will be answered. That is not to say that we can use these principles as spiritual "magic charms" to make God accomplish our will on earth. The whole point is to accomplish His will on earth as it is in heaven. Thus, central to praying properly is the idea of aligning our hearts and minds with the heart and mind of God. He will then enable us to pray rightly, properly, and in accordance with His will.

1. Faith

Mark 11:22-24 says, "And Jesus answered saying to them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.'" The principle here is that we must have faith that we have received what we have asked of God in order to receive it. There is no room for doubt (see James 1:5-8). This kind of faith is not forced or contrived, but it flows from a heart and mind that is abiding in Christ (John 15:7).

2. Persistence

Luke 11:5-10 says, "Then He said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him"; and from inside he answers and says, "Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything." I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.'" The clear lesson in this story is that God honors persistence in prayer. If we want to see answers to our prayers, we need to tarry in prayer, not just one time, but over and over again, not losing heart all the while.

3. Without Ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17 gives us another qualification for answered prayer. It says that we must "pray without ceasing." This command is echoed in Ephesians 6:18 which says, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." Since Jesus Himself wasn't literally praying constantly but only at certain times, it would be unwise to conclude that we should spend our entire lives actively praying. The idea here is that everything we do, say, and want in life must be filtered through the will of God according to the grid of Scripture. This will require that we are faithful to make time to pray because we will realize that prayer is inseparable from a lifestyle that depends fully on Christ.

4. Righteousness

James 5:16 says, "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." The principle which this passage exposes is that the church's prayer, as well as the individual's, is hindered by the presence of unconfessed sin. If we want to discern the will of God and pray rightly, we must first confess our sin to God and to those whom we have sinned against.

5. According to God's Will

1 John 5:14-15 says, "And this is the confidence that we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him." To pray according to God's will is to pray according to what God wants done. This is something the Spirit of God will enable us to do (see Romans 8:26-27) if we are humble and willing to listen and be changed according to the Scripture.

Answered prayer is possible and the desire of God, but we must do it God's way by His Spirit and according to His Word and guiding principles therein. May God make us effective and powerful pray-ers.

Christians are in constant warfare with a tricky enemy who refuses to give up.  It is a spiritual battle that gets hotter as time goes on.  When we are living for God, we become target practice for the devil.  It doesn't mean that we are necessarily doing anything wrong when things come against us; it is just the way Satan plays his game.  If you are doing something you have no business doing and you know it, you need to stop whatever it is, because you are only opening yourself up to satanic attacks. 

When cancer attacked my body, a lot of people who knew me wondered why.  Some even said, "It is not fair; you live so pure."  You don't get healed because you are good and live pure.  You get healed because you believe and act on the Word-God honors His Word if we will believe it.

A lot of people don't understand how faith works.  They take the faith message all out of proportion.  They don't understand that when you say you believe something has taken place before you see it, healing for example, you are saying it by faith.  They think that means you don't take medicine or you don't go to the doctor.  On the contrary, you need to go to the doctor and take medicine while you make a stand to receive your healing. 

When I found out I had cancer, we had just returned from a television crusade in Houston, Texas.  A doctor referred to us by a member of our church came by our home; took a look at my leg and said to Fred, "Your wife needs to go to the hospital immediately."  He called and made the necessary arrangements.  We thought that it was just a sprain or a strained muscle, and I would be home within a day or so.  I actually stayed a week in the hospital having tests done before they found out what was wrong with me.  At any rate, I never did get anxious, worried, or fearful.  I was at peace the whole time; I had learned to walk in the Spirit.

After several days of taking tests, (and some were very painful but God was with me all the way) the doctors came and told us the bad news.  The MRI revealed a tumor in my pelvic area, but because of its location, major surgery would have to be done to get a biopsy of it.  I was scheduled for surgery the next day-which was Monday.  That Tuesday morning, Dr. Taylor came and gave us the really bad news.  The tumor was a malignant cancer that had vital nerve endings and muscle attached to it, therefore, surgery to remove it was impossible.  The recommended cure was chemotherapy and radiation.  Fred, of course, was devastated.  He could not believe it.  Even with all of the pain I never felt any unrest or fear.  I was always in peace.  I said, "I have to trust God.  I know He is with me in this, and nothing is too hard for Him.

The first night I was in the hospital, I felt the Lord's presence so strongly that I knew He had come into my room, and I heard in my spirit, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it (John 11:4)."

So, instead of dwelling on thoughts of death, I kept my thoughts on God's Word.  That is why I want to exhort you not to take the Word for granted.  If I had not had 20 years of Word in me at that time, I don't believe I would be here today.    When you hear the word "cancer," fear will raise its ugly head (it's only natural), but you don't allow the fear to take hold.  I believe fear a lot of times is what actually kills people, so I would not allow myself to be fearful.

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Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.