Zero stress must be our goal.

A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday Evening, March 12^th 2025, by
Evangelist PAUL ACQUAH,
Live on MZ Radio London, London UK.

In today’s fast-paced and demanding world, stress has become a constant companion for many. The pressures of work, relationships, finances, and health can easily overwhelm us, leaving us anxious and restless. However, the Bible offers a powerful antidote to this cycle of stress and worry. It reminds us that we are not meant to carry the weight of life’s challenges alone. Instead, we are called to bring every concern to God through prayer and thanksgiving, trusting that His peace will guard our hearts and minds.

Achieving zero stress doesn’t mean living a trouble-free life – it means learning to respond to life’s difficulties with faith and peace, knowing that God is with us. When we embrace this  mindset, we can experience true calmness and clarity, even in the face of uncertainty. In today’s message titled, “Zero Stress Must Be Our Goal,” Evangelist Paul Acquah challenges us to let go of control, lean into God’s promises, and experience the peace that only He can provide. Be blessed as you listen!

Stress has become such a normal thing in today’s culture that to say zero stress must be our goal is against tradition, but we are commanded to live without stress, worry, anxiety, fear or depression. Philippians chapter four verses six and seven: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”

So that’s beyond your natural understanding. Therefore, if you’re going to have a peace that surpasses natural understanding, it’s Supernatural peace and stress-free life. That means you’re going to have the peace of God; the supernatural peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  And that leads to zero stress life. In this text of scripture, we see that if we’ll follow what we are told to do in verse six, we’re assured to have the supernatural peace of God listed in verse seven which leads to a life without stress, worry or anxiety: “Having the peace that passes all understanding guarding our hearts and minds”. 

There’re three conditions, or three things we’re called to do in Philippians 4:6 and if we’ll do all three, we’re assured  to have supernatural peace which will enable us to live without being stressed or anxious. The first thing it says is we are to be anxious for nothing. Don’t be stressed about anything. Don’t worry about anything.   You may say do you think if I’m having marriage problems, I can’t have a little worry about that? What if my children seem to be going off track, I shouldn’t be worried about them.  What about if I’m having a big financial problem, shouldn’t I be worried?  But no, it says be anxious for nothing (Philippians (4:6-7).

So, you need to cast your cares on to the Lord. ^“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1Peter 5:6-7). First Peter 5 verse 7: It says casting some of your care upon him.  No, I’m sorry casting all of your care upon him for he cares for you. The Amplified Bible says it this way:

^6 “Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you,⁷ Casting the ^[c]whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, ^[d]once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you ^[e]watchfully”.

Many refuse to get rid of their worries and their cares because they think well, if I don’t care for them and I don’t make sure thatthey’re taken care of, who will care for them?  Well, if you’ll humble yourself and cast them over to the Lord, you’re going to find out the Lord cares for you. The Lord loves you more than you love yourself or you love someone.  The Lord loves you more and he knows how to take care of you. If you love someone,  if you love your  children, you’re going to protect them, you’re going to provide for them.  Well, how much more is the Lord going to do that for you.  

We need to cast our cares onto the Lord because he cares for us. The Bible says be anxious for nothing but a lot of times we think well, Lord, are you telling me to stop trying to think about my problem.  Are you trying to say stop thinking about the problem you have. He’s not saying that because it’s impossible to stop thinking about something.  Right now, something may just be dominating your mind and the only way you can get free from that dominant thought isto totallyreplace it with another thought. The verse says be anxious fornothing but it didn’t stop there,  he keeps saying what to do with those cares and worries.  But in everything by prayer and supplicationwith thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. 

So, you need to get yourmind on the Lord and cast your cares  on him and start thinking about the Lord.  Therefore, what doyou need to do with your worries?  You need to turn your burdens into prayers. Turnyour cares into prayers, you need to be serious with this:  It says castingall of your care upon him.  Actually, the word ‘casting’ in the Greek, is a violent word.   It means to slam on. It means slam your cares on the Lord.  You need to be forceful with worries.  Why? Because they’re sticky creatures.  Have you ever been into the throne room or prayer closet and you prayed about something and you thought you gave it over to God. Then you came out and you still have it on your mind.  You still have the worry.   It’s like a tissue paper on your shoe,  You can’t even get rid of it, so that’s the way you have to be forceful with worry.  You throw it out onto the Lord.  What do you do when you throw your problems to the Lord?  They don’t come back to you.  Your problems are not thrown  back to you because deliverance is assured (Psalm 50:15). 

God is a good God so don’t hesitate to slam your worries on him. Don’t get all stressed out about trying to carry your own burdens. There’s a need all around us and the problems that we go through, but worry and stress are not the answer. Worry, Stress and Anxiety are a great curse to our society. The bible says that a merry heart does good as medicine. A merry heart is a good medicine; But a broken spirit dries the bones.  A glad heart promotes health; but the bones of a sorrowful man dry up.  (Proverbs 17:22)

There was a real study of 5,000 members of century club of members who lived to be 100. They still had sound mind and they shared what was the common denominator that allowed them to live for so long and it was an interesting thing. They found out it wasn’t their diet, it wasn’t their exercise, it wasn’t whether they drank or smoked. So, what was it?  It was how they managed stress in their lives.  The common denominator was how they managed stress in their lives.

 There is a big cancer hospital in the US that has a room they call the laughing room. They just show some funny movies and they send people down there to laugh. Why?  They already discovered that a merry heart does good like a medicine. That’s from the bible. Worry never helps anyone or anything.  How many of you have ever worried?  I have both my hands up. But how many of you did worry ever help you?  Never, not even one time does it help.  So why are we doing it?  Because it’s contrary to tradition not to worry. It’s contrary to tradition not to live in fear. 

You need to understand that worry is not the way to show people that you care about them. You can care about them by praying for them and loving them and speaking the truth in love to them. 

There’re several Bible passages and warnings about worry and anxiety. Instead of worry do these three things and we find out what the three means here in Philippians 4:6-7. Psalm 37:1, “Do not fret because of evildoers”. Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the Lord and  he will sustain you”. That burden includes worry and anxiety. Matthew 6:34 therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things sufficient for the day is its own trouble 

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:32, “But I want you to be without worry”.Then 1Peter 5: 6 -7 says, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God”, and it goes on to say “Casting all your care upon him for he cares for you”. One of the best ways to humble yourself before the Lord is to simply cast your cares on him. I just wanted to let you know that stress, worry and anxiety are not from God. Philippians 4 verse 6 says be anxious for nothing or don’t worry about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and Minds through Christ Jesus.