Recently when we reviewed our prayer lists my wife and I were surprised to discover how many of the request’s center around stress and anxiety. Even people who are mature believers serving the lord feel the pressures of life. Of course, prayer is the answer, but so is applying God’s promises in His Word. We can’t just pray for God to change our circumstances so all anxiety is gone, we pray for God to help us adjust to our situations by trusting Him in faith instead of reacting in fear. To help us to do this, here is God’s Rx for stress:
Isaiah 41:10 “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.” We have 2 commands and 5 promises here. Can you find the 2 commands? What about the 5 promises? The commands are to 1. not fear or 2. be dismayed. That’s usually where we go first. But how do we avoid these responses? Are we to ‘fake it until we make it’? NO God gives 5 reasons why we don’t have to fear. 1. “I am with you.” 2. “I am your God.” 3. “I will strengthen you.” 4. “I will help you.” 5. “I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Write those 5 promises down and look at them every morning and whenever you feel anxiety starting to build. Then you have to choose if you will believe your fear or God’s promises. If you choose to put your faith in God’s promises, then take each of the 5 and apply it to your current situation. Use this verse as a basis of your prayer to God.
Psalm 16:8 “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Like Peter walking on water, we often get our eyes off Jesus and onto that which is going on around us – the storm. That’s when we, too, start to sink. Our solution is the same as Peter’s, get our eyes back on Jesus and keep them there. What if we would always keep our eyes on Him and not on what we are going through? That would be wonderful, but it’s not always easy. Who can totally ignore the pressures and challenges of life? The goal isn’t to ignore our responsibilities in life, but to not be worrying about them, either. We determine a course of action to should take. But we don’t fixate on it, think about it, worry about it and have it dominated our thoughts and life. Memorize this verse so you can automatically apply it to your life.
Psalm 23:1-3 “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul.” The lie anxiety tells us is that we are forsaken by God and we have to face this alone. Then when we realize that our resources are no match for the obstacle or pressure or expectation or pain, we become discouraged and wonder why God allows things like this to happen to us. Surely if He loved us He would prevent this! Where is He when we need Him? But Palm 23 says He leads us to quiet waters. He does not lead us to stress. That doesn’t mean stress doesn’t happen, or that He will remove all of it, but it does mean that when we trust in Him we will have inner peace and our soul will be refreshed. Notice He “makes” us lie down. It’s not something we naturally do. We need His presence leading us, sometimes forcing us against our panic and fear, so we will trust Him. When Jesus is all we have we find that Jesus is all we need. Note, too, that we “lack nothing” that we need. We get our wants and our needs mixed up. If we don’t have it then we don’t need it. He promises to meet our needs, not our wants. Learn to live within His provision and there will be a lot less anxiety in your life.
Matthew 6:26-27 “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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” I often see birds right outside my window and they show no sign of worry or care. Where will the next meal come from? What will tomorrow bring? What if another bird doesn’t like me? God chose to give us a free will, but not birds. But the down side is that we can use it to anticipate all kinds of negative things before they happen. Worry doesn’t change things. It’s like a rocking chair – lots of motion but you get nowhere. Worry wouldn’t help a bird, and it doesn’t help us. God provides for the needs of birds, and He will provide ours as well if we trust Him. What are you worrying about today? Pray this promise and trust God to provide what He sees as your need.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” I memorized this when I was a new Christian. You may have as well. Did you notice two promises in this verse? God promises us peace, but He also promises us trouble! Actually, living in this fallen world provides the trouble, but God never promises us to He will remove it. We waste too many prayers demanding God to do something He never said He would do! Instead of focusing on removing our stress and anxiety, we need to concentrate on Him because He has already overcome all we fear and worry about. He allows some of it in our life to stretch us and make us more like Jesus, but He never allows more than we can handle with His help (see 1 Corinthians 10:13 – a promise which takes away our excuse that it is “too much” for us). List the challenges and ‘troubles’ you are facing now. Which are too great for Jesus?
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” What fills your thoughts and emotions: worry, fear and doubt or joy, peace and faith? Don’t wait for God to change your circumstances so you have peace, commit your circumstances to Him and trust Him to provide for your needs moment by moment so that you can be filled with His peace. Reject anxiety and open your heart to Him.
Pause and pray right now, turning today’s anxiety over to Him. Use the verses above to guide your prayer. You must still face the cause of the anxiety, but you can’t let the outer circumstances cause you inner stress!!!
Which of these verses speaks most to you today in your current situation?
What other verses are good to use when facing anxiety and fear?
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India & Africa & Spanish Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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