WENDY: Welcome back.

It's the most underlined passage in the Bible.

I'm sure you know it.

"Be anxious for nothing."

Of course, that's easier said than done, especially

in a world with hurricanes, terrorism, and creepy spiders.

So how can we heed the words of the verse many of us

know so well?

Author and pastor Max Lucado has the answer in his latest book.

NARRATOR: Bestselling author Mac Lucado says chances are you

or someone you know struggles with anxiety.

But he says there are ways to deal

with all the worries of life.

MAX LUCADO: A new day awaits you, my friend, a new season

in which you will worry less and trust more--

reduced fear and enhanced faith.

NARRATOR: In his latest book, "Anxious for Nothing",

Max provides a roadmap to worry-free living

and offers practical tips to finding calm

in a chaotic world.

Max Lucado is here with us now.

And we welcome you back to The 700 Club.

MAX LUCADO: Thank you.

Thank you.

WENDY: God bless you.

MAX LUCADO: Good to see you again.

WENDY: Well, I love your new book,

and believers-- we're taught that the Christian life is

a life of peace.

And for many of us, that seems easier said than done.

So then, we think, well, that must be our fault,

and then we become more anxious.

And then we even feel guilty for not being at peace.

So, Max, how do you escape that trap, even as believers?

MAX LUCADO: Yeah.

I think we need to remember that anxiety does come with life.

WENDY: Yeah.

MAX LUCADO: It just doesn't have to dominate our lives.

There's never a promise in Scripture

that we'll never have any anxiety.

In fact, the phrase, "Be anxious for nothing," is--

the literal translation of that is

to not allow yourself to be in a perpetual state of anxiety.

Anxiety knocks at the door, but we just

don't have to invite anxiety in for dinner.

WENDY: We don't have to answer it.

Right.

MAX LUCADO: Exactly.

WENDY: That's good.

Well, you say that in our nation,--

of course, right now-- there's a lot going on,

and it's easy to be anxious.

What is it about our American way of life

that's driving these anxieties?

MAX LUCADO: Yeah.

We are the most anxious nation on the planet.

And this is the most anxious generation

since this was measured.

I think two or three things.

Number one, we've had more change in the last 30 years

than in the last 300.

Number two, we don't know how to rest.

Our ancestors went down when the sun went down.

We're just getting started when the sun--

WENDY: That's true.

MAX LUCADO: --goes down.

WENDY: Me, for sure.

Yeah.

MAX LUCADO: We get bombarded with news

because of our smartphones and our devices.

There was a time when, if anybody heard about something

on the other side of the world, it was two weeks

after it happened.

WENDY: That's right.

MAX LUCADO: We hear about two minutes--

WENDY: That's right.

MAX LUCADO: --after it happens.

WENDY: And then, it used to just be the evening news, and--

MAX LUCADO: Exactly.

WENDY: --now it's 24/7.

MAX LUCADO: Now, it's 24/7.

And so there is this sense in which we're

feeling like we're bombarded with negativism,

but I would add that there's also

the consequence of secularism.

If you remove the discussion of God from the marketplace,

you're going to create a generation of people

who don't know where to go with their anxieties.

And there are certain things you can manage with meditation

or yoga and things like that.

But hey, those are toothpicks with a tornado

with some of the things that people are facing.

And so the Bible calls us to rejoice in the Lord,

to be anxious for nothing-- with everything,

by prayer and supplication, let our requests be made known

to God--

The peace of God.

So all of these phrases indicate that God

is involved in bringing about a cure to anxiety.

WENDY: Well, and in your book, you talk about some

of the most stressed out people in the world

are actually control freaks.

MAX LUCADO: Yeah.

WENDY: And I can relate to that a little bit.

So how do you--

how do you let go of some of the control?

MAX LUCADO: Yeah, I know.

WENDY: Because the truth is, we're really not in control.

MAX LUCADO: We're not, are we?

We're not.

And control freaks are anxious because we

can't control things.

We try to.

We think, if I can get everything just right

or get everything just--

if I can avoid change.

That's really the goal of a control freak--

to anticipate everything and to avoid change.

Well, that creates only a cycle of more anxiety

because we fail.

And so the big idea, Wendy, I think,

is to live in a relationship with God

to a degree in which you trust Him.

This is what the Apostle says in this passage.

He says celebrate God.

Ask God for help.

Leave your cares with him, and then meditate on good things.

C-A-L-M.

WENDY: Calm.

MAX LUCADO: Calm.

WENDY: [LAUGHS] We could all use a little more of that.

OK.

But let's be real.

Say somebody's lost their spouse.

They're going through a divorce.

They've lost their job.

How do you stay in a place of calm?

How do you do it?

MAX LUCADO: Well, the first thing.

Don't beat yourself up.

Cut yourself some slack, because all of us

go through seasons that are especially difficult.

Jesus did.

Jesus felt anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He was afraid.

And so what did he do?

Well, he turned to God.

He turned to God.

So when you feel these onslaughts of anxiety,

when you begin to feel overwhelmed,

the key is learning to manage your thoughts in such a way

that you do not get sucked into that downward spiral

of anxiety.

So the moment those negative thoughts come,

then the first thing to do is to turn to your Heavenly Father.

And the apostle Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord.

Rejoice in the Lord always."

He says it twice.

And the result of that is a gentleness,

he says-- a gentleness that can be made evident to all.

So rather than focus on the problem,

begin focus on God's ability to solve the problem.

The picture is Peter and the walking on the water.

The minute he took his eyes off of Christ, he began to sink.

So if you're sinking, odds are you've taken your eyes off

of God.

WENDY: I'm just suddenly--

I'm feeling more peaceful all of a sudden-- just right

now, talking to you.

Well, you talking about the prison of anxiety.

And of course, you said don't open the door to that.

How can we avoid the prison of anxiety?

MAX LUCADO: Well, I think there are two or three

things we can do.

Again, this passage is so practical.

The apostle Paul says, "Be anxious

for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

If all we had was that one verse,

I think we'd have a pretty good tool.

So in everything-- there's nothing too small, nothing

too great.

By prayer and petition.

Prayer is the big word for intercession or talking to God.

Petition means specific prayers, so we get very particular

and we say, OK, Lord.

I have an interview today at 2:30,

and I know they're going to be very cranky.

They're high demanding.

Get very specific, but then do so

with thanksgiving-- not with grumbling,

not with complaining.

But begin filling your heart with thanksgiving,

because thanksgiving and anxiety cannot share the same heart.

And the more you're grateful, the less you'll feel anxious.

WENDY: So I lost one of my favorite lipsticks

that's no longer on the market.

I have to get it on eBay now, so that's not

too little to pray for.

MAX LUCADO: Not too little.

WENDY: I can pray for that.

You

MAX LUCADO: Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine.

I think there are a lot more spectacular

miracles to start with.

Raise somebody from the dead.

Heal some lepers.

But there was a situation in which a wedding was out

of wine, and Jesus said, well, if it matters to you,

it matters to me so that what matters to Christ

will begin to matter to us.

WENDY: Right.

Well, this has been wonderful.

And we're out of time.

You can get more in Max's latest book.

It's called "Anxious for Nothing.

Finding Calm in a Chaotic World",

and it's available in stores nationwide.

As we mentioned earlier, Max is going

to be our featured speaker in our all-staff chapel service

later today, and you can watch by going to cbn.com

at noon Eastern time.

Just go, again, to cbn.com to see Mac today at noon.

Thank you so much.

God bless you.

MAX LUCADO: Thank you.

It was good to see you.