“. . . Do not worry. . . “ – Matthew 6:25
Our world is filled with temptations to worry. If I were to guess, I’d think death, passing from this life to the next would be the most worrisome to people. But according to statistics, that would be wrong. According to a search on Claude AI:
Inflation held the top spot as the number one global concern for over two years — more than 29 consecutive months — according to Ipsos’s What Worries the World survey, which polls over 20,000 adults across 29 countries every month. As of early 2025, about one-third of people globally (33%) cite inflation as their top concern. . . .
As of February 2026, crime and violence has risen to rival inflation globally, with roughly 32% of people across 30 countries citing it as a top concern.
Inflation and crime flow from concerns rooted in this world. Rust and moths, and thieves destroy the things of this world (Matthew 6:19). No matter how much you earn or how much you accumulate at the end of your life, you can’t take it with you. There are no U-Haul trailers on the back of hearses. That’s something to consider, maybe even worry about.
When it comes to the afterlife Claude AI indicated:
In a 2019 U.S. survey, 11% of respondents said they were very afraid of death, while 25% said they were not at all afraid.
∙A 1999 Los Angeles Times survey found that 83% of Americans said they were not afraid to die. Fear of death also tends to decline with age — among adults 18–44, about 18% said they were afraid, compared to only 7% of those 65 and older.
Worries Specifically About the Afterlife
∙More than half of Americans expressed concern about “not being forgiven by God” (57%), “not reconciling with others” (56%), and dying while feeling spiritually disconnected (51%). About half (49%) also worried about not being forgiven by another person.
One quarter of people surveyed had no fear of death and only 11% were “very afraid” of death. The survey says, “Fear of death also tends to decline with age.” That seems counterintuitive to anyone with a Biblical knowledge and a belief in the truth therein contained. It would seem the closer one gets to the most important event in your existence, the more serious or concerned one would be. Either people have adopted an ignorance is bliss mentality or simply don’t care. Maybe most people just don’t believe there is an afterlife. Possible. Of course, there is also the possibility some live in the blessed hope of eternal life through faith in Jesus. I pray it’s the latter and not merely the former.
Though 57% were concerned about not be forgiven by God, 56% were concerned with dying while unreconciled with others. It says 51% fear being “spiritually disconnected, and 49% dying while not being forgiven by another. It seems people are a bit torn between their earthly and heavenly responsibilities. Is this something to actually worry about? How should we respond?
Jesus taught us where our priorities should be saying, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Jesus taught it is foolish to be caught up in coveting or spending your life on merely material things (Luke 12:13-20). A fool is someone who fails to factor God into their life equation (Psalm 14). Jesus warned to live that way is shortsighted and destined for a sudden tragic reality check with eternal consequences. “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). Are you concerned? Are you worried? Will God one day say to you, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Luke 12:20). These are words worth pondering, and if you’re not right with God, to worry about.
If you have been moved to worry about your eternal destiny, consider this. The Bible states, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” (Hebrews 9:27-28a). The solution to your worries is Jesus. Since statistically people seem more concerned with material loss, let me put the truth to you in material terms. With each sin you are putting a broader wedge between you and God (Isaiah 59:1-2). With each sin you are going into spiritual debt, a debt which leads to an eternal death penalty if you die with it unresolved, unpaid. The longer you wait, the greater your debt becomes. This is a debt too large for us to pay. There is no cash, Bitcoin, or electronic currency enough to pay this debt off. You can’t write a check to pay this bill. You’re way overdrawn. On our own we are doomed. There is a crash coming. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5). What do I mean?
The good news is that Jesus paid our death-debt-penalty on the cross. He offers the benefits of that sacrifice freely as a gift of His grace to be received by faith (Romans 6:23). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Truly, God made Jesus who was sinless, to be sin for us. And the one who asks God’s forgiveness based on trusting Jesus as Savior, (not trusting in our efforts or works) that one is forgiven. But there’s more.
God doesn’t only cancel our debt of sin; He puts the sinless righteousness of Jesus to our account (2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-9). He doesn’t only pay our debt, He deposits an endless supply of His grace in our account. When we turn from our sins, admit them to God, ask His forgiveness based on believing in Jesus, we are given a fresh new start and eternal life as our blessed hope (2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Peter 1:3). That is worry dispelling truth!
But the truth is that even Christian’s sometimes worry. Even the disciples, the followers, the learners and students of Jesus, those serving and going deeper with Him, even they worry at times. Even pastors are tempted to worry! Even pastors worry. It’s a fact. I know because I’m a pastor and sometimes, I worry. What about that?
In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says to His disciples, “Do not worry.” Jesus doesn’t want His followers to suffer under the weight of worry. He says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He says His yoke is easy, His burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus shows us how to find rest for our worrisome souls. Jesus doesn’t only command us not to worry, but He explains how and why we shouldn’t worry.
What is “worry”? The word “worry” is the English translation of the Greek term merimnaō (Greek μεριμνάω) which occurs 19 times in the Authorized Version of the Bible and means, to be anxious about, to have a nervous preoccupation with, to have troubled thoughts over. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells His disciples not to worry.
Worry is something that takes place in our mind. Worry is the product of wrong thinking, faithless thinking. Dr. E. Stanley Jones, a missionary to India wrote of the diametrical opposition of worry and faith and said:
I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath–these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely–these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, “We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non- worriers, but that is a fact.” But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; we are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality. [1]
Worrying is not something a disciple of Jesus should do. In Matthew 6 there are a number of Worry Dissolving Questions deduced from Jesus’ teaching. These are very practical questions we can turn to when tempted to worry. So, get your Bible and turn to Matthew 6 and let’s get a leg up on stopping the worry in our lives.
Who are you trying to please God or people? Jesus taught:
Matthew 6:1-7 (NKJV) – 1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
The first step in cracking the rock burden of worry is to focus on God not people. Don’t focus on what others think or do. Focus on God. Often our worry is rooted in trying to please or impress others. We do things to leave an impression, or we wonder why our intended impressions don’t seem to have effect. More often than not people aren’t impressed or don’t even care. Impressing others has no eternal value. Going along with the crowd isn’t the answer. Any dead fish can float with the flow; it takes a live fish to swim against the current. Pray to God. Pray creatively; in your own words; from your heart. Get alone with God and pray with Him. Don’t try to impress people that you pray or by how you pray. We should do what we do simply to please God regardless of what people think. So, the first step in dissolving worry is to focus on God.
Have you prayed? The one thing His disciples asked Jesus about was how they should pray. “Lord, teach us to pray. . .” (Luke 11:1). Evidently prayer was such a big and central part of Jesus’ life and ministry that His disciples saw it as essential in their walk with Him. In Matthew Jesus teaches them how to pray saying:
Matthew 6:8-15 (NKJV) – 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
This is not a prayer to be mindlessly recited. Jesus has just instructed us to not pray with “vain repetitions” (v.7). No, this is more of a guideline, an outline of prayer for us to personalize and put in our own words. This is a parameter of prayer for us to follow personally.
Jesus points out that, “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” Think about that. God knows what we need not what we want. He knows what we need even before we ask Him which means He’s aware, personally involved in our lives. God is watching you like a father watches their child. It’s a tender perspective on God but not a weak one. God has a plan for us. His objective is to prepare us for eternity with Himself. The things of this world are ingredients to be used to build us and form us and make us something beautiful, sound, suited for eternity.
If you feel yourself tempted to worry, find a quiet place and pray. Seek the Lord’s help. God is your greatest Resource. When we look at this model prayer Jesus directs us to pray in the following way:
a. Pray with someone – It’s interesting that in Jesus’ model prayer He only uses “our” and “us,” not “me” or “my.” Praying with someone can help you overcome your worries. Find a trustworthy disciple or disciples who will be honest with you and sincerely pray with you over what is worrying you. Group prayer is greatly used by God to dissolve our worries. When the early disciples were worried about what would happen after Jesus ascended to heaven, they prayed together, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and the Church was birthed. With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, their worries didn’t seem so worrisome anymore (Acts 1 and 2).
b. Pray to your Father in heaven. Seek God’s help; call upon Him. Recognize God is involved in your life circumstances (v. 9).
c. Pray to the Father realizing He is holy. There is no God like our God. That He is “hallowed “or holy means that there is none like Him (v. 9). Recognize and believe that truth. The bigger you see God to be, the smaller your worrisome problem will be. Get the proper perspective.
d. Pray in a way that focuses on His higher kingdom purposes. Pray for God’s Kingdom purposes; for His truth to be stated and upheld; for eternal purposes not merely material ones (v. 10).
e. Pray for God’s will to be done. Pray for God’s will to be done (v.10). What is God’s will? Search the scriptures to find out. Sometimes it will state point blank what it is (e.g., 1 Thessalonians 4:3). Other times you’ll have to find a principle to apply. But the word of God is your guide to His truth and will (Psalm 119:105; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). How do you discover God’s will? Present yourself to Him as a living sacrifice with no ulterior motives and settle it in your heart to obey what the Spirit shows you (John 16:13; Romans 12:1-2).
f. Pray to God for your daily practical “bread” needs. Trust God for your daily needs (v,11).
g. Pray forgivingly for both your personal and to have forgiveness of others. Pray with a clean uncluttered heart. If you have any relational loose ends or unforeveness toward others, toward yourself, or that others have toward you, resolve it (v.12).
h. Pray for God to lead you in times of temptation and trial. Pray for God’s guidance and trust Him even if He allows you to be tempted (v. 13). Your faith muscle can only get strong by being exercised (1 Peter 1:6-9).
i. Pray for God to deliver you from “the evil one.” Understand and take into account the spiritual dimension of your situation (v.13). Don’t just rely on worldly weaponry but on spiritual weapons (2 Corinthians 10:3-4; Ephesians 6:10-18). The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet (Romans 16:20). Resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). Jesus by the Spirit in you is greater than your adversary (1 John 4:4). Remember those truths.
j. Pray worshipfully that God’s kingdom would come and His will would be done. Always, ALWAYS climax your prayers in worship that surrenders all to God and His will (v.13).
k. Pray very practically. Don’t overlook the truths that convict you. Be honest in the presence of God; truthful. This is especially relevant when it comes to forgiveness (v.14-15). Know that unforgiveness can short circuit your prayers and be a source of troubling worry.
Have you fasted? A tool in our antiworry toolbox that is often overlooked is fasting. Jesus said:
Matthew 6:16-18 (NKJV) – 16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Notice, Jesus didn’t say if we would fast but when we fast. Jesus presupposes that as His disciples we would fast. When we deprive ourselves of food or some other thing, it helps us focus. Fasting has physical benefits like triggering our immune system into action and resetting a worn out metabolism. But the spiritual benefits are that it helps us subdue our flesh, focus on God, and hear Him with greater clarity.
Moses fasted. David fasted. Elijah fasted. Esther fasted. Daniel fasted. Ezra fasted. Nehemiah fasted. The repentant Ninivites fasted. All Israel fasted. Anna the prophetess fasted. John the Baptist’s disciples fasted. Paul fasted. And most importantly, JESUS FASTED. Those who hear from God and who were mightily used by God, fasted. Pray about it, then fast away your worries.
One of the criteria John Wesley had for anyone seeking to be one of his ministers was whether they fasted. He instructed his ministers to follow his lifelong practice and fast twice a week (Wednesday and Friday). God used Wesley to spark a revival that saved a nation, abolished slavery, protected children, and got people seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven. What might God do with and through us, if we fast? Pray about it, then fast, because it just may be God’s means to wash away your worries and much, much more.
Do you have the right perspective? Jesus taught:
Matthew 6:19-21 (NKJV) – 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Are you looking at your situation from a heavenly or worldly perspective? Fix your eyes on investing in Heaven. Ask yourself, “What is eternally important?” Focus on eternal worth.
Are you looking at the right things? Jesus taught:
Matthew 6:22-23 (NKJV) – 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Job covenented with God to not look sinfully on women (Job 31:1). King David said he wouldn’t look on that which is wicked (Psalm 101:3). When he broke this statement, he ended up sinning with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:2). Earlier Jesus spoke of looking at someone lustfully and it being sinful (Matthew 5:27-29). The Apostle John warned of “the lust of the eyes” (1 John 2:16). Focus on light not darkness. What you look at visually effects you spiritually. Your worry could be sparked by looking at wrong things.
Who are you serving? Jesus continued:
Matthew 6:24 (NKJV) – 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Are you worried about a personal war or God’s war against evil? Your top priority must be to please God not yourself or others. Ask, “Lord, what is Your will in this situation; what does Your word say?” If you live like Dr. Doolittle’s Push-me-Pull-you, you’re life will be filled with unwanted worries. You have to settle in your heart to put God first.
Who are you trusting? Lastly Jesus concluded:
Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV) – 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
If you want to squash worry, you’re going to have to settle the question about whether you are trusting God or relying on yourself, or others. You’re going to have to go beyond what is physically seen? That’s what faith does. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). These words of Jesus are a call to look back and remember God’s faithfulness, and face the present and future based on God’s faithfulness. If you’re going to dissolve worry, you have to go beyond mere physical sight. Have faith in God.
Life is more than food and clothing (6:25). Reassess your value system. The birds (animals) don’t worry, neither should you (6:26). They work, but they don’t worry. It’s amazing how work can work out worries. Worrying won’t add anything to you (6:27). Worrying is a waste of time. The inanimate lilies and grass don’t worry, yet they are beautifully adorned and cared for by God. We’re worth a lot more than plants to God (6:28-30). Do not worry like unbelievers (6:31-32). You’ve been born again with the Holy Spirit inside you to give you spiritual life and to lead you, to empower you, act like it. Don’t just look and live horizontally but look up! “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3). We die to self and find life in our relationship with Jesus.
The final two verses of Matthew 6 are climactic. Seek God and His kingdom FIRST, and all the other stuff, including your worries, will be taken care of (6:33). This isn’t an excuse to live frivolously or with no order in life. God is orderly (1 Corinthians 14:33 and 40). But His order consists of living true to His word. Don’t worry about tomorrow, focus on today (6:34). The only plans for the future worth considering are God’s prophetic plans. You can make, and worry about a weekly, monthly, one year, five-year, ten-year, and even a life plan, but if you just put God and His Kingdom plans first, He will take care of the rest.
I’ll close with this. Hudson Taylor who spearheaded missions to inland China said the following:
“Let us give up our work, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into [God’s] hand; and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about.” [2]
Father in heaven, we come to You in Jesus’ name. Please help us not to worry. Please desolve our worries. Help us to focus on You and Your will done in our lives, on earth as in heaven. Help us to practice what Your Son Jesus taught in Matthew 6. Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name please help us overcome our worries. Father, Son Jesus, and Holy Spirit please help us be and do what You call us to be and do, for Your glory, until Jesus returns. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
[1] Dr. E. Stanley Jones, Transformed by Thorns, p. 95. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/w/worry.htm
[2]http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/w/worry.htm