God's 7 step plan for Conquering Anxiety

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you Do not fear; I will help you. 

If God is holding your hand, and is walking with you, why are you so afraid? You have nothing to fear... Nothing.

Hello Friends. How have you been doing? Have you been struggling with anxiety recently related to Coronavirus or other matters? It's okay to be honest with yourself.

God sees, God knows and God cares.

Really.

Guess what? He's not going to leave you to drown in it alone. If you are a child of God, your Heavenly Father gives you a Biblical way to have victory over anxiety. He gives us a very clear step by step battle plan in Philippians 4:4-8.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Anxiety does NOT get to have a grip on you, but you have to fight it. Lean in beloved, God is handing you your battle plan.

1. Rejoice in the Lord- What do you enjoy about the Lord? List 5 attributes you can praise Him for. Really focus on delighting in who God is here. This is a big step. What is bigger? Your anxiety or your God?

2. Let your gentleness be evident- What does it mean to be gentle? Google says: the quality of being kind, tender, or mild-mannered. Who will you be kind, tender, or mild-mannered to today? (A "thinking of you" text to a family member or friend is a great start!)

3. Do not be anxious about anything- Anything? Yep anything. But how paul?!?! How can I just not be anxious??

4. By prayer and petition... present your requests to God- God invites you to bring your requests. Bring your hard questions and doubts and fears and what if's. Jesus is there for the hardest, darkest things. Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.' God is with you ready to listen, daring you to ask.

5. With thanksgiving- This is key! When you come to God to present your requests you must have the right heart attitude! We have to pray like Esther when she was speaking to the king. In Esther 8:3-6 Esther displayed how when petitioning a person in authority over us, we must do so in humility and trust. "Only when we are planted in the soil of gratitude will we learn to grow and thrive" Jennie Allen. What are you thankful for? There are so many things! Thank God for the breath in your lungs, because that means He still has a purpose for you!

6. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This is a Promise!! God promises He is going to guard your heart and mind now. Relax into that truth and let it penetrate deep into your spirit. Let it be bigger than your anxiety. Also believe it! Do you believe God is going to guard you? Will you trust Him? Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. 

7. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. This is where you make a choice. This is where you have to put in a little sweat. What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about everything that is wrong in your life? Are you focusing on everything you think God should be doing? Luke 6:45b for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks If your heart and mind are negative, how can you expect positivity to blossom?

Your mind and heart are the root of your being. If your thoughts and attitudes are negative, fearful, and anxious; how can you expect positivity, trust and faith to blossom? 

We have to change what we are focusing our energy on!* Start with one Biblical truth to think about. Go find one! Next something noble. Now something right and so on. By the time you finish your mind will be so full of God, gratitude, and scripture your anxiety may just feel smaller. (See step 6) 

There you go friends! This is God's battle plan for you in how to have victory over anxiety. But I must warn you this may not be a one and done process. I have had days where I have had to go through this every few minutes for hours. It's a choice. It's a battle. But the work is worth it, and your not alone. Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still. 

* If you don't think you can change your mind, Paul addressed that too. 2 Corinthians 10:5, 1 Corinthians 2:16b, Romans 12:2 Go see for yourself!