Each of us has about 70,000 thoughts each day.  That’s rather a lot.  And it’s what we do we our thoughts – our think time – it’s the thoughts we have, that have such a huge impact on the lives we lead.

Worry and fear are a plague on the lives of so many people. Oh sure, we don't like to admit it. We don't like to show it. Although the reality is, you can't really help it.

Ever sat on a train or a bus or even on a park bench for that matter, and looked at the faces of the people around you? Some of them are bored but many, many others have a furrowed brow. And when they move, you can just tell, through their body language, that they're suffering from stress.

In fact, stress is one of the greatest ills in our society. Depending on where you live, the surveys tell us between 1/2 and 3/4 of all people suffer from unhealthy levels of stress.

Stress is just today’s word for worry and fear. So today, today we're going to take a look at just one thing. One really practical thing that you and I can do that will help banish worry and fear and the stress that comes from those two, from our lives for good. I have to warn you, this actually works. So if you don't want to get rid of fear and worry and stress, do something else right now.

If you talk to a pastor, he'll probably tell you that the thing that you have to do to get rid of fear and worry is to have faith. That's what you need. Trust in God. It will all work out. Actually, I agree with him. But there's something else. It's knowing how to have faith. It's knowing how to apply our faith to the realities of life.

Today I want to share with you, one very practical 'how to' tip. We're going to do that through the apostle Paul. Locked in a dungeon on death row. And if anyone had any reason to worry it was this man, Paul.

We're going to look at what he wrote to his friends in Philippi. It was a letter that he wrote. We now know it as the Book of Philippians in the New Testament. We'll have a look at what he wrote about this whole subject of not being afraid. It comes from Philippians chapter 4, verses 8 and 9. He says:

Finally my beloved. Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, pure and pleasing, whatever is commendable. If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me and the God of peace will be with you.

Now I want to start with that last bit first. And there's a reason for that. Because what Paul's telling us here, is that he himself has discovered how to have God’s peace. How not to be afraid. How not to spend his life worrying. See, this is not some theory lesson. This is a guy on death row explaining how to have peace. He says:

Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me and the God of peace will be with you.

So Paul's saying, 'You guys know my life. You know how often I've been threatened. You know how often people have risen up against me when I got up to speak and how often they've wanted to harm me and kill me. You've seen all of that. You know that. You've seen me in action and you've seen how I coped with the pressures and the threats.

You want to have the same peace as I've got? You want to have a life free from fear and worry? Then do the things that you've seen me doing and the things that I'm telling you about now and you will have that peace too. God’s peace.'

I think that's fantastic. Because what we're about to look at is proven. It works in the direst of circumstances. Doesn't that excite you? You know, there's not a one of us who doesn't have some reason to worry. There's not a one of us who isn't going through some storm right now. And just in case there's the odd person who isn't. Just recognise that it's only because you're between storms. The last one's blown out and the next one hasn't swept in yet.

So what's the practical guidance that Paul gives us in this passage about how to dispense with fear and worry out of our lives? Let's take a close look. Philippians, chapter 4, verse 8:

Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable - if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

You know what he's saying here? What we do with our mind matters.

A man by the name of Norman Vincent Peale, in 1953, wrote this book. The Power of Positive Thinking. And I used to be really skeptical about this. Because my attitude was, faith in God is not about positive thinking. Positive thinking has a self-help connotation for me. It's like, I can get out of all my problems, without God, by thinking I can. All I have to do is think positive. But that's not what Norman Vincent Peale meant. And actually, it's not what Paul means here either.

Paul's just setting out a simple truth. We only have so much brain band with each day. We only have so much time that we can spend thinking. Only so many hours to think. Some of that time we spend sleeping. Some we spend doing things that require our total attention. So we don't have time to think about much else. I guess some of us spend time vegged out in front of a TV show, not really thinking about anything.

And then there's the rest of the time where we have time to think. And we either think good thoughts or bad thoughts. Encouraging thoughts or discouraging thoughts. We can think thoughts that look at our situation. Which may be difficult. Which may be scary. Which may be whatever. And we can think good or bad thoughts. And the way we think is going to influence how we see things and how we feel things.

The human brain, believe it or not, has about 70,000 thoughts each day.  Busy little thing isn't it? And what Paul's saying here is, 'Look, spend your brain time, your 'think' time thinking good thoughts. True, honourable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent. Thoughts worthy of praise. Think about these things.'

You know what, that makes a lot of sense. And it's something we have to learn. We have to teach ourselves. Because if our mind is used to thinking bad thoughts, unhealthy thoughts, destructive thoughts. If that's our habit, we need to break the habit. We need to get into Paul's habit of thinking.

Here's how it works for me. A negative thought comes into my mind. "You know, that guy over there, he doesn't get it. He's never going to get it. He just drives me nuts." Well maybe he doesn't get it. Maybe he has some issues but I've decided something. If I think that way, it's going to influence how I treat him and how I feel. So when one of those thoughts comes floating in, I just boot it out. It's not that I'm unrealistic. I'm not sweeping things under the carpet but I replace the bad one with a good one.

I think to myself, "Okay, I'm not thinking that. Instead, how can I care for him today? How can I support him today? God, you love him just as much as you love me. Show me Father how I can build him up and develop him and grow him. Father, be my God, help me with this."

Does it make sense? This is a discipline, it's a habit we need to learn. And the more we do it, the more we come to a habit of booting out the destructive thoughts and replacing them with good thoughts – God thoughts, here's what happens.

Our whole outlook changes. God honours it. And where things once threatened us. Now God gives us solution. Where things once scared us, He gives us faith and peace. And all of a sudden, we find ourselves in the habit of resting our mind in the good things. And good things grow from that. Peace is one of them. Joy is another.