Tag Archives: Anxiety

How to pray against anxiety and fear

This blog post by Russ Pond speaks much-needed truth:

When anxious and fearful thoughts come flooding in, it can be very difficult to quiet your mind and connect with God in prayer. In the middle of a panic attack, the last thing on your mind is getting alone with God. But, prayer can be very helpful in stopping those confusing and terrifying thoughts.

Learning how to pray can calm an anxious mind and fill your heart with peace:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6, 7).

When anxious thoughts, fear, panic or worry come against you, present your requests to God. Pray and petition him, and as you do, his peace which goes beyond all understanding will guide your hearts and mind in Christ. This is more than just a recommendation—it’s a truth that can transform a fearful mind into a mind of peace.

Here are some steps that have helped me connect with God:

1.  Believe

Faith is essential. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). We must believe that God will respond to our prayers. If we doubt, we are like a wave tossed about by the sea, unsettled in all our ways (James 1:5). Here’s how Jesus explains it:

“Have faith in God. . . All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it” (Mark 11:22-24).

2. God hears you

We pray and pray and it seems like nothing changes. We beg for freedom, we cry out for a respite of peace, but it seems so elusive. We hear a thought in our head, God does not hear my prayers and we think it’s our thought. Quietly, we agree with this subtle attack of the devil. The enemy constantly accuses us and lies to us. He is the father of lies (John 10:10) and he spews his lies and confusion all over of us to thwart God’s beautiful plans for our lives.  We cannot give into this voice that says God does not hear our prayers. God listens.

Another subtle lie from the enemy is that we are not worthy enough for God to hear our prayers. It’s just not true! When you receive Christ, you are instantly made worthy. He took our sins and we took his righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it this way, “God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Now that you are righteous in Christ, you can boldly come to the throne of grace in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

3. Know who you are in Christ

Too often, we approach God in prayer with a sinner mentality. “Lord, I’m a wretched sinner. Woe is me! I’m not worthy to come before you.” Once you receive Christ, you are no longer a slave—you are a child of God!

“You are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you” (Galatians 4:7).

In Christ, you are a child of the Most High God. You are special! You are cherished, loved, protected and pursued by God. You are his child!

4. Words carry power

We must be very careful about the words we speak. Words carry incredible spiritual power. Death and life are in the power of our words (Proverbs 18:21). Salvation comes when we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts (Romans 10:9).  Jesus said it this way, “Whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart” (Matthew 12:34, 35).

If you want to experience peace, don’t speak evil, doubting words. If you feel an anxious thought coming on, don’t say, “I’m probably going to have another panic attack.” Rather, pray something like this, “Father, my body feels anxious right now, but you said that you will give me perfect peace when my mind is focused upon you. Right now, Lord, I fix my thoughts upon you. I trust in you!”

5.  Build your prayer muscle

Prayer is a lot like a muscle. You need to work on it, strengthen it and build it up. Don’t wait till you need it to start strengthening it. A professional athlete doesn’t start working out the day before a big race. It takes months and months, even years, to develop the ability to race well. In the same way, we should pray daily, flexing and strengthening our prayer-time muscle.

“Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next” (1 Timothy 4:8).

Prayer: Father, this week, teach me to pray effectively. Show me how to build and strengthen my prayer muscle so that when anxiety, panic or fear hits, I can rest in the confidence that you are with me.

Who has your back?

 

 

When you are in a dark and dangerous place, fear and anxiety set in. You need to know that you will be protected. You start remembering God’s truths:

 

He is always with me. Matthew 28:20

 

He goes before me. Deuteronomy 31:8

 

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. Psalm 118:6

 

But does He really have my back? I mean, when life gets tough, I need to know! In fact, God does have your back:

 

Isaiah 52:12 “The Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

 

Psalm 139:5  “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.”

 

Sometimes God protects our body, even though it is just a temporary shelter for us.  He ALWAYS stands guard to protect our mind and our heart, to keep us from evil. He provides protection from all directions.

 

“So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

 

 

Wandering leads to anxiety

 

 

I was probably 3 or 4 years old at the time. We lived in a suburb of Chicago and my mother had taken me to the Marshall Fields department store. I loved that store. At Christmas time they would have the most elaborate motorized displays in the store windows. And inside there were so very many things to catch my eye. And therein was my downfall. I’m sure it was something shiny that caught my eye and led me to wander away from my mom. (How quickly that happens.) And when you are very small, you only have to wander a short distance to find your self hidden from view and quite alone. I remember looking up and not seeing my mother. Quite upset, I wondered why she had abandoned me and left me all alone in this huge store! Of course, in reality, it was I who strayed away from her, not the other way around. But when we are feeling upset and alone our perspective is easily twisted to see things differently. I’m sure I became quite anxious and started to cry, which brought everyone’s attention to me and reunited my mother and me.

 

Isn’t that how it is in our relationship with God? In times of despair, we ask, “God where are you? Why have you abandoned me in my time of need?” But of course, it is not God who abandons us, but our own desires which drag us away from Him. Feeling alone and separated from God leads to anxiety. In fact, whenever we feel anxious and find ourselves worrying, it is a good sign to show us how we have wandered from God in our thinking and behaving and into the lonely anxiety of our own ways.

The way to find calm and peace that restores us is through putting ourselves back into His presence. The good news is that we don’t have to call a store detective or put ourselves in the lost and found department to wait for someone to discover us again. We simply need to turn around and find Our loving God right there ready to comfort and guide us.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

The Praise Effect

God has spoken quite a bit about anxiety and fear during my illness. Sometimes it seems I have given up my entire life, health, finances, and even much of my identity. But anxiety, which is basically a lack of trusting God, still creeps in. Sound familiar? We get anxious about relationships, finances, jobs, future direction, and so much more. I have learned much of what I need…I just need to apply it consistently in my life. If I worry or become anxious about things, I am doubting that God’s promises are true, or thinking that I can do better. I hate to admit this, but if I am honest with myself (Psalm 139:23-24), it comes to this:

Either I trust myself, or I trust my sovereign God.

Yesterday, we looked at the well-known passage of Philippians 4:6-7 which in summary says, don’t be anxious; always present your requests to God in prayer with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving when we are anxious? How does that make sense? Let’s have God answer that in His own Word:
“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.” Psalm 50:23
“Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy.” Ps. 107:22
“God inhabits the praise of His people.” Ps. 22:3
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3

What is so significant about God inhabiting our praise? We know that God is Holy and sin cannot exist in His presence. Worry and anxiety, IF we let it control us, is sin; it is telling God, “I don’t fully trust you.” When we praise God and thank Him for who He is and all He has done, we cannot also worry at the same time. If I could apply an image from my sanctified imagination, praise and thanksgiving are like a ‘force field’ against the things that war against our relationship with God. The ‘cure’ to anxious thoughts is praising and thanking God.

I find that one thing that really helps keep this in check and increases my daily trust, is to list everything for which I am thankful and tell them to God. Every day, at least ten specific things. And let every anxious thought be countered by thoughts of praise and thanks. It may be our greatest problem is not rebelliousness but thanklessness. God desires a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. And anxious thoughts find it nearly impossible to dwell in the company of these.

What are you thankful for today? Let it replace your fear and anxiety!

Great and Powerful

It is hard to imagine the fear that “the great and powerful Oz” struck in the minds of movie goers in this 1939 film. At first glance it seemed that Oz was indeed great and powerful what with the blazes of fire and clashes of thunder. But our mind easily conforms to movie trickery, and in the end, it was just a little man behind the curtain, wasn’t it? Nothing to fear in reality.

Our fears and anxieties are like that. They prey on our ability to imagine things that aren’t real. As a kid, I was able to imagine all sorts of ‘bogey men.’ As adults, it seems our imaginary monsters have been replaced with grown-up worries, still imaginary, yet frightful. Some are based on very real circumstances: a pile of bills and a small checking account, pain and sorrow that continue without abatement, soured relationships, failing health. But for the follower of Jesus, the question remains: “Whom do I trust?” If we say He is Lord and master of our life, then our problems come under His jurisdiction too. They don’t own us. If they did, THEY would be Lord, right? And we know we cannot serve two masters.

Unlike Dorothy in Oz, we don’t have to fight a wicked witch solely in our own power. And as important as a group of close friends is in our perilous journey, even they are not enough to defeat our foe. But there is within us, the Holy Spirit, all the power we need. The full authority of God the Father, His power and might, His holiness, His glory, His greatness, His unending love and amazing grace all rest within us. If we trust Him with our eternity, cannot we trust Him with our current life? And if we truly trust Him for all things, whom then shall we fear?

Our God is not a little man behind the curtain. He uses no trickery…He is who He says. If we can trust our Great and Powerful God with our eternal life, can we not trust Him today with every situation, real or imagined, that causes us fear and anxiety? It is a choice we make many times daily.

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you. Psalm 55:22