When You Are Anxious

If Your Mind Will Not Stop

Maybe it is late and you should be asleep. Your chest is tight. Your mind keeps running the same what-ifs. Maybe this has gone on for years, you have prayed about it more times than you can count, and you feel ashamed that it is still here.

We are glad you came. This page will not scold you. Anxiety is a heavy thing to carry, and carrying it does not make you a bad Christian. God already knows about it, and He is not surprised by you: he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust (Psalm 103:14). We will be honest with you, though. God's Word does call you to fight fear with trust, and we will not hide that. We will try to say it the way Jesus says it.

You do not have to read all of this. Read one section and stop when you need to. If one verse is all you can hold tonight, let it be this one.

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”1 PETER 5:7 · KJV

Feeling anxious is a normal part of life. For some people, though, it does not go away and can get worse over time. That is worth telling a doctor about. We are not doctors, and nothing here is medical advice. We can open God's Word with you and point you to people who can walk with you.

An Invitation from a Fellow Sufferer

Many anxious Christians have felt this next verse as a slap: “What is wrong with you? Stop it.” Please read it again, slowly, and look at who is talking.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”PHILIPPIANS 4:6–7 · KJV

The man who wrote these words was a prisoner. He calls them my bonds (Philippians 1:13). He was no stranger to fear. Of another hard stretch he said, without were fightings, within were fears (2 Corinthians 7:5). In this same letter he says God spared a dying friend lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow (Philippians 2:27). Paul is not looking down at you from some calm place. He is writing from inside the trouble.

What Careful Means

The word is not always bad. Paul uses it for Timothy, who would naturally care for your state (Philippians 2:20). So this verse does not tell you to stop loving people, stop planning, or pretend nothing is wrong. It is about the weight that crushes you, the care you are trying to hold up by yourself.

Yes, It Is a Command

We will be honest. Be careful for nothing (Philippians 4:6) is a command. But the next word is but. Paul does not say, “Stop feeling this.” He tells you where to take it. It is what you would say to someone staggering under a load: “Set that down. You do not have to hold this by yourself.”

God has always spoken to His people this way. He told Joshua, Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, and He gave the reason in the same breath: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest (Joshua 1:9). The command rests on His presence. So the feeling of fear is not the sin. But letting fear lead you, when God has said He is with you, is not the life He wants for His children. Worry is not a harmless habit, and it is not just your personality. It is a load He has told you to set down.

So if you are afraid while you pray, you have not broken this verse. You are in the right place. Just do not stop at telling God the fear. Prayer that only rehearses the what-ifs is still worry. Say it, ask Him, thank Him, and then leave it with Him. A closed fist cannot take anything, and you cannot grip the worry and receive the peace at the same time. Leaving it with Him is not a feeling. It is a decision to trust Him, and you may have to make it again in an hour.

• Prayer is talking to God. You do not need the right words. The words in every thing mean nothing is too small to bring and nothing is too big.
• Supplication is asking. Tell Him exactly what you need, even if you told Him yesterday. Jesus taught that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1).
• Thanksgiving is not pretending everything is fine. It is naming one true thing: “Lord, I am scared, and You have not left me. Thank You.” Some nights that is the whole prayer.

What God Promises

Verse 6 is what you bring. Verse 7 is what God does. His peace shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Keep is a soldier's word. Paul uses the same verb for a city kept ... with a garrison (2 Corinthians 11:32). Picture God's peace standing guard over you.

This peace is not the absence of trouble. Paul was still in chains. If the feeling of peace comes and goes, that does not mean you prayed wrong. God has not promised that the thing you fear will never happen. He has promised that you will not face it without Him: I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5).

Jesus and the Weight of Tomorrow

A lot of anxiety lives in a day that has not come yet. What if the test comes back bad? What if the money runs out? Jesus spoke to this on a hillside, to ordinary people who wondered about food and clothes.

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”MATTHEW 6:26 · KJV

When Jesus says Take no thought (Matthew 6:25), He does not mean you should never think ahead. It is the same Greek word Paul used: do not be anxious. And Jesus gives reasons, gentle ones.

• You have a Father. Jesus says your heavenly Father feedeth them, and your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things (Matthew 6:26; Matthew 6:32). If He looks after the birds, He has not lost track of you.
• Worry cannot deliver what it promises. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? (Matthew 6:27). Worry feels like getting something done. It is not.
• You can put God first and leave Him the details. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). That is a Father's promise to see to what you need.

One Day at a Time

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”MATTHEW 6:34 · KJV

Jesus does not say tomorrow will be easy. He says it is not yours yet. God fed Israel in the wilderness with bread for each day (Exodus 16:4), and He still gives grace that way. You do not have tomorrow's grace today, because you do not need it today. When your mind races ahead, bring it back gently: What is true right now? What is the next right thing to do? The next step of obedience is yours. The outcome is His.

“O Ye of Little Faith”

You may get stuck on one phrase. Jesus says, O ye of little faith (Matthew 6:30). We will not skip it. Jesus ties worry to trust, and so must we. Whatever stirred up your fear, whether trouble, an anxious body, or an old wound, it walks you to the same question: do I trust God with this? That is the real battle. More facts and more plans cannot win it, because the question underneath is not “What will happen?” It is “Will He take care of me?”

You may not be able to choose what your heart is doing right now. You can choose what you do next: pray, open His Word, thank Him for one true thing, and take the next right step. The feelings may lag behind. Trust is a choice long before it is a calm.

But listen to how Jesus says it. It sits inside a promise: shall he not much more clothe you (Matthew 6:30). And think of Peter, sinking in the sea. Look at the order: And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith (Matthew 14:31). The hand came first. All Peter could do was cry, Lord, save me (Matthew 14:30). He was caught.

So struggling to trust is not the same as being lost. Little faith is still faith, and Peter's was reaching for the right Person. A racing heart does not prove you have stopped trusting God. Fight for trust with everything He has given you, and remember who is holding whom. Your faith does not hold you up. Christ does.

What Time I Am Afraid

David wrote one of the shortest and most honest prayers in the Bible.

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”PSALM 56:3 · KJV

David does not say if. He says What time. The title of this psalm places it when the Philistines took him in Gath, and the history says he was sore afraid (1 Samuel 21:12). This is the man who had faced Goliath of Gath. Now he was in Goliath's city, and he was terrified.

So trust is not the absence of fear. Trust is where you turn when fear comes. Notice the verb. David does not say he will feel better. He says, I will trust (Psalm 56:3). And God does not despise a frightened person's tears. David asks Him, put thou my tears into thy bottle (Psalm 56:8).

If You Have Panic Attacks

A panic attack can come with no danger in sight. Your heart pounds. You cannot catch your breath. You sweat, shake, or feel dizzy. It does not mean God has let go of you, and it is nothing to be ashamed of.

• Say the verse, or just its first words. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee (Psalm 56:3).
• Breathe slowly and deeply. That is ordinary medical advice, and it is no lack of faith. God made your body, and He made it able to settle.
• Remember that it will pass. Most panic attacks last between 5 and 20 minutes. It feels endless. It is not.
• Call someone. “I am scared. Can you stay on the phone with me?” is enough.

Throw It on Him, Again and Again

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you (1 Peter 5:7). Casting is a strong word. The only other place the New Testament uses this verb is when the disciples cast their garments upon the colt (Luke 19:35). You do not have to sort your trouble first or find the right words. Throw it on Him, all of it: the big thing, the small thing, the thing you feel silly about.

The reason is at the end of the verse. Not “He puts up with you.” Not “He will get to you when He can.” Rather, he careth for you (1 Peter 5:7). In Greek, care and careth are two different words. Your care is the anxious kind. His is the steady concern of a Father who is not worried at all.

You Will Probably Pick It Back Up

Here is something few people say out loud. You will give your fear to God in the morning, and by lunch it will be back on your shoulders. You may wonder why He has not done anything yet. That does not prove you failed to give it to Him. It only means you get to do it again.

God is not annoyed by this. We imagine Him sighing when we come back with the same request. That is not the God of the Bible. Scripture says, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). You can come at three in the morning. You can come for the fortieth time. And notice the promise in the psalm: Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee (Psalm 55:22). He may not remove the burden when you ask. He has promised to hold you up.

You Have an Enemy

Look at what Peter says right after he careth for you (1 Peter 5:7): Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith (1 Peter 5:8–9). Peace comes from God. The torment of fear does not. The enemy wants you to believe God has forgotten you, and he will use any fear he can find, even one that began in your body.

That does not mean every racing heart is an attack, and you do not need to go hunting for one. It means your fear is worth resisting, and you do not resist it alone. Christ has already won: in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Romans 8:37). The enemy cannot reach your salvation, but he would gladly rob you of your rest in it.

God Means to Settle You

Anxiety tells you that you are the only one. Peter says otherwise: the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world (1 Peter 5:9). Then he closes with a promise. After you have suffered a while, the God of all grace will make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you (1 Peter 5:10). Settle you. That is His plan for your restless heart.

What You Cannot Skip

If trust is the battle, you cannot fight it without God's Word and prayer. They are not extras for calmer Christians. They are how a frightened believer stays close to the One he is learning to trust.

• Go to God first. Before you run the scenarios, before you pick up the phone, pray. In every thing (Philippians 4:6) means He is not your last resort. David said, Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice (Psalm 55:17).
• Meet with Him on purpose. Keep a daily appointment with Him, early if you can, before the day has its say. Keep a list of what you are praying about, and look back to see what He has done.
• Fill your mind with His promises. Anxious thoughts have to be answered with something true. Find verses for your fears, carry them with you, and learn them by heart. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee (Isaiah 26:3).
• Give thanks on purpose. Thanksgiving is in the verse for a reason. It turns your eyes from what might happen to what He has already done: forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:2).
• Pray with God's people. Be more faithful to church, not less. Ask someone to pray with you, and pray for them too.

None of this is a bargain. These are not coins you drop in to buy a calm evening, and they do not replace your doctor. If you are doing all of it and your heart still races, you have not failed, and God has not stopped listening. Slow breathing can settle your body. Medicine can ease your symptoms. Only the Holy Spirit gives peace: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace (Galatians 5:22). So keep coming to Him. See How to Pray.

Getting Help Is Not Unbelief

God made you body and soul, and each affects the other. Bad news can tighten your chest. A body that has not slept can darken every thought. So anxiety may have more than one cause, and it may need more than one kind of help.

Please hear this plainly. Seeing a doctor, talking with a Christian counselor, and taking medicine your doctor prescribes are not failures of faith. God promised to heal Hezekiah, and Isaiah still called for a lump of figs (Isaiah 38:21). Luke was the beloved physician (Colossians 4:14). It is not a sin to take medicine that gives you the clarity to fix your focus on Jesus.

Keep each thing in its place. Medicine may ease the misery, and it cannot give hope. Hope is found in Christ. He should be your first option, not your last, and He can be first while a doctor helps you too. Talk with your doctor before you start or stop any medicine. Nothing on this page about trust, sin, or prayer is a reason to stop a medicine or skip a doctor's visit.

Is This My Fault?

Anxious people ask this hard, so we will answer gently and honestly. Fear can grow from something we are hiding. David said, When I kept silence, my bones waxed old (Psalm 32:3). You cannot keep going back to what you know is wrong and enjoy God's peace, and no doctor or medicine can lift that guilt. It is part of the picture often enough that a faithful pastor will ask about it early. So ask it yourself, before God: Is everything right between me and Him? Is there a sin I will not give up, or someone I will not forgive? Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts (Psalm 139:23). If something comes to mind, the way out is short. Tell Him, and turn from it. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9).

Not all anxiety has that root, and being anxious does not prove you are hiding something. Job's friends were sure his pain proved his sin, and they were wrong (Job 42:7). Being ill is not a sin, and confession and medical care are not rivals. If you have asked honestly and nothing comes to mind, do not go digging. What you have confessed is forgiven. If you keep confessing the same thing, or keep checking whether you are really saved, tell your pastor. God does not want you carrying that alone either. Your safety rests on Christ's finished work, not on how calm you feel (John 10:28). See Eternal Security.

Watch What Feeds It

Right after the promise of peace, Paul gives a list that begins, whatsoever things are true (Philippians 4:8). A what-if is not yet true. When your thoughts spin, ask, “Is this true, or is it a story I am telling myself?” You cannot always stop a thought from coming, but you can stop feeding it. For many of us, that means setting down the phone, the news, and the late-night search for symptoms. If a symptom worries you, take it to your doctor, not to a search bar. And when God gives you a quiet hour, guard it as the gift it is.

Care for your body too, with sleep, food, and time outside. Stay close to God's people, even when you would rather hide. And be careful what you reach for to quiet the fear. Alcohol and pills not prescribed for you only add a new weight. If that is where you are, you are not beyond help (When You Are Addicted).

One Small Step for Today

You do not need a plan for the rest of your life. You only need one small step for today.

Here it is. Send one message to your pastor, or to a friend who loves Jesus: “I have been struggling with anxiety. Would you pray for me?” That is all. You do not have to explain everything. God never meant you to carry this by yourself. Bear ye one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2). When Paul was cast down, God comforted him by the coming of Titus (2 Corinthians 7:6). He may want to comfort you by a friend too.

If you do not have a pastor, look for a local church that teaches the Bible, and tell the pastor there.

If You Do Not Know Him Yet

This page has been speaking of a Father's care. If you have never trusted Christ, that is the place to begin. Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). He paid what you could never pay. Turn to Him and trust Him alone today. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).