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.