Worry and Anxiety

[Fellow Traveler]

Find comfort and peace in the Word of God that promises you hope and a future. Fear, worry, and anxiety are all weapons of Satan to keep us from trusting in God and walking by faith in Him. These emotions can overwhelm us and keep us paralyzed. Learn how to be free from worry and anxiety by meditating on the Word and casting your cares upon Jesus! Start today and take small steps today toward living fully free from anxieties.

Top Bible Verses for Anxiety​

Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:6-7: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

2 Timothy 1:7: For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Psalm 55:22: Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Philippians 4:6: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Hebrews 13:6: So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Joshua 1:9: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

A Prayer to Soothe an Anxious and Worried Heart: "Dear Lord, I thank you that I can come to You always for any reason. I’m grateful that when I pray to You, You answer me. Help me to come to You at the beginning of my fears and anxieties instead of waiting until I can’t stand them anymore. The quicker I come to You the better. You want to free me from ALL my fears. Help me look to You for help more often so that I can be radiant with Your joy. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen."

For more guided prayers to use when you feel anxiousness begin to rise, use our collection provided here: Powerful Prayers for Anxiety

 

[JoshebB]

Find comfort and peace in the Word of God that promises you hope and a future. Fear, worry, and anxiety are all weapons of Satan to keep us from trusting in God and walking by faith in Him. These emotions can overwhelm us and keep us paralyzed. Learn how to be free from worry and anxiety by meditating on the Word and casting your cares upon Jesus! Start today and take small steps today toward living fully free from anxieties.

Top Bible Verses for Anxiety​

Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If I may.....

First, that is a fine and excellent list. Commendable. However, it proof-texts where it should not. For example, the Philippians 4:6-7 text begins with the directive to let one's gentleness be known, followed by rejoicing in the Lord, and ending with the directive to change the way one thinks, or upon what one thinks. To direct a person only to pray without doing all else that Paul directs is inappropriate. It's bad teaching.

It is also important to understand worry and anxiety are not the same thing. Some may use the words interchangeably and in some cases that may be acceptable, but for people who suffer medical anxiety there is a significant difference. In the Greek there is an overlap between the two different words used for worry and anxiety. They both share the meaning of caring about something but merimnaó carries with it the added connotation of distraction, distress, and lost trust to the point of potentially sinning. What Paul has described in Philippians 4 is very much what modern clinicians do (aside from the administration of medication to treat symptoms, which doesn't actually solve the problem). Anxiety is a very solvable problem.

It's also worth noting that much of what the New Testament teaches about worry and anxiety has its context in 1) the persecution Christians chronically faced, and 2) the pending wrath of God that would be poured out on the enemies of Christ. These were not first-world worries or anxieties. That does not mean the principles ensconced in scripture don't have significance or meaning for us two millennia later. They do..... when the whole of the passage is used and not just select verses.

 

[Dean]

Find comfort and peace in the Word of God that promises you hope and a future. Fear, worry, and anxiety are all weapons of Satan to keep us from trusting in God and walking by faith in Him. These emotions can overwhelm us and keep us paralyzed. Learn how to be free from worry and anxiety by meditating on the Word and casting your cares upon Jesus! Start today and take small steps today toward living fully free from anxieties.

Top Bible Verses for Anxiety​

Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:6-7: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

2 Timothy 1:7: For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Psalm 55:22: Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Philippians 4:6: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Hebrews 13:6: So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Joshua 1:9: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

A Prayer to Soothe an Anxious and Worried Heart: "Dear Lord, I thank you that I can come to You always for any reason. I’m grateful that when I pray to You, You answer me. Help me to come to You at the beginning of my fears and anxieties instead of waiting until I can’t stand them anymore. The quicker I come to You the better. You want to free me from ALL my fears. Help me look to You for help more often so that I can be radiant with Your joy. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen."

For more guided prayers to use when you feel anxiousness begin to rise, use our collection provided here: Powerful Prayers for Anxiety

Nice link you posted. I like this from it.

No matter what you feel overwhelmed or stressed about - God provides a way of escape. You are not alone. 1 Peter 5:6 and 10 tell us "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you...he will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

 

[Aeliana]

Fear Leads to Worry

And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?
MATTHEW 6:27

Fear and worry are closely related. You might say fear is the parent of every kind of worry because every worry starts as a fear. The Bible clearly teaches that God’s children are not to worry. When we worry, we rotate our minds around and around a problem and come up with no answers. The more we do it, the more anxious we feel. When we worry, we actually torment ourselves with a type of thinking that produces no good fruit. Worry starts with our thoughts, but it affects our moods and even our physical bodies.

A person can worry so much that it makes them feel depressed and sad. Worry places stress on your entire system and causes a lot of physical ailments like headaches, tension in muscles, stomach problems, and many other things. It never helps, and it does not solve our problems.

We can worry about hundreds of different things, from what people think of us to what will happen to us as we age. How long will we be able to work? Who will take care of us when we get old? What happens if the stock market crashes? What if gas prices go up? What if I lose my job? Quite often, worry does not even have a basis or a nugget of truth to it. There is no known reason to even think about the things that worry and then frighten us.

The only answer is to stop worrying by placing your trust in God. He has the future all planned, and He knows the answer to everything. What we worry about frequently never happens anyway, and if it is going to happen, worrying won’t prevent it. God’s Word promises us that He will take care of us if we trust in Him.
Trust in Him What are you worrying about? Cast your cares on Jesus. He wants you to trust Him with every thought, burden, and worry that you’re carrying because He’s fully capable of taking care of you (see 1 Pet. 5:7).


Joyce Meyer

 

[Dean]

Fear Leads to Worry

And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?
MATTHEW 6:27

Fear and worry are closely related. You might say fear is the parent of every kind of worry because every worry starts as a fear. The Bible clearly teaches that God’s children are not to worry. When we worry, we rotate our minds around and around a problem and come up with no answers. The more we do it, the more anxious we feel. When we worry, we actually torment ourselves with a type of thinking that produces no good fruit. Worry starts with our thoughts, but it affects our moods and even our physical bodies.

A person can worry so much that it makes them feel depressed and sad. Worry places stress on your entire system and causes a lot of physical ailments like headaches, tension in muscles, stomach problems, and many other things. It never helps, and it does not solve our problems.

We can worry about hundreds of different things, from what people think of us to what will happen to us as we age. How long will we be able to work? Who will take care of us when we get old? What happens if the stock market crashes? What if gas prices go up? What if I lose my job? Quite often, worry does not even have a basis or a nugget of truth to it. There is no known reason to even think about the things that worry and then frighten us.

The only answer is to stop worrying by placing your trust in God. He has the future all planned, and He knows the answer to everything. What we worry about frequently never happens anyway, and if it is going to happen, worrying won’t prevent it. God’s Word promises us that He will take care of us if we trust in Him.
Trust in Him What are you worrying about? Cast your cares on Jesus. He wants you to trust Him with every thought, burden, and worry that you’re carrying because He’s fully capable of taking care of you (see 1 Pet. 5:7).


Joyce Meyer

Good one. Let me add this.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28

 

[Fellow Traveler]

Since my last post on this thread I have been doing a study on "Fear and Anxiety" and it seems my emotion education is growing. The biological and evolutionary purpose of our core emotions are very interesting to me.

I have learned that the symptoms of anxiety are usually described as fear, nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, and feeling overwhelmed.

But wait, there’s more: breathing difficulties, chest pain, concentration problems, digestive issues, headaches, insomnia, muscle tension, and low energy. Anxiety can even cause disturbing and obsessive thoughts, memory loss, and forgetfulness.

Anxiety can have a strong effect on your emotions. It can overwhelm and alter the serotonin and dopamine systems of the brain. It can surface in agitation, anger, and just a general sense of annoyance and make you feel moody, lonely, sad, and depressed. Anxiety can even cause body odor, hair loss, and excess armpit sweat.

But don't sweat it the Bible has all the answers.

Jesus said "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

 

[Darby]

Also diet can significantly impact anxiety levels; consuming a balanced diet rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables may help reduce anxiety symptoms. Conversely, high sugar and processed foods can worsen anxiety, so it's beneficial to limit these in your diet.