Shammah Temple Fellowship: Sermon of Sunday July 6, 2025
By Pastor Egide Nibitanga
Theme: Why does Jesus ask our hearts not to be troubled?
Reference scriptures: John 14:1-14
According to the World Health Organization, more than 70% of adult people have some degree of trauma. From economic uncertainties, fear of the future, … people are really troubled. But Jesus tells us to not let our hearts be troubled.
What is it that Jesus tells us about the future about which our hearts should not be troubled?
- Because He’s the one who grants us a promising future
Jesus promises us a very important thing in the future – where we will live with Him and the Father. Jesus promises rooms into His own Father and he is so precise to how truthful He is. He is calling people to put their trust in Him alone “Do not let your hearts be troubled”. This is Jesus’ way to ensure the disciples are not troubled, despite the timing: Him about to be caught and crucified. They were afraid and
What does this promise do in our daily lives?
- It tells us to live in hope, not trouble
Our hope, according to Jesus, is not from the environment, the things that surround us, easy or difficult. “Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:6).
- It reminds us that this world is not our home
It is important not to fix our eyes to the things of this world, as they are temporal, while the things from our Lord are eternal. We also need to live according to the wishes and promises of our God in heaven. “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which was against your soul,” 1 Peter 2:11. “For we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come,” (Hebrew 13:14).
- Because we pray in His own name
Praying in the name of Jesus is not a mere formula or sequence of words we use to end our prayers; it is more than that. It means you submit yourself under the authority of Jesus, it is also a communion with Jesus, a way of synchronizing His will to our supplication. It means that Jesus does want our requests fulfilled, so that the name of God be glorified. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures,” (James 4:3).
What can we ask so that the name of Jesus is glorified?
- Ask for things that promote the kingdom of God
Our prayers should not just words of our ego, they should be in the broader sense of God’s plan to the world, His work to the world. “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. It is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they,” (Matthew 6:25).
- Ask for things that make us dwell in God, and Him in us
These are the kind of prayers that draw us closer to God, that make us look more like Jesus, that makes our lives look more like the way God wanted them to. This prayer should not lack in our lives, we should consistently keep doing that.
In short, as Believers, we have to make sure that our hearts are not troubled, despite all the difficulties and problems around us. It is Jesus’ work and He is the one to accomplish it in His timing. Jesus not only promises a great future with Him and His father, he also wants us to partner with Him by prioritizing things that contribute to the promotion of His kingdom, to proclaiming His gospel all over the world.
