For When You Are Anxious
Anxiety.
Where do I even begin? What could I say that you haven’t already heard before?
I don’t have to define it. There’s no need to try to articulate the feeling of it. You know it. Some of you more than others.
Today, I want you to hear me loud and clear. I’m not here to give you a quick fix. I’m not here to judge, or shame, or even cause more anxiety. Today, I’m here to simply give you a practice that the Holy Spirit gave me. It’s a Biblical map of sorts. One that I’ve done several times since He first showed me, and one that, this week, He encouraged me to do more regularly. But we will get to that.
Today, is a hands-on lesson! Whooo! So grab your journal or a piece of paper, a pen, and let’s get started. (Optional: Instrumental music really helps me focus when I do this. Lately my favorites have been Dwell, Nathan Nockels, or William Augusto)
Ok! Ready?
Here we go!
Philippians 4:6
“Don’t be anxious or worried about anything…”
Now, I know there are some of you out there who just read this one line and immediately felt defeated. Some of you probably rolled your eyes because you’ve heard it a thousand times. Some of you might have just felt the anxiety heighten. To all of you: Take a deep breath, and hang with me for a moment.
“Instead, pray about everything.”
This is step one: Get your journal or piece of paper. I want you to first acknowledge you’re talking to your Father who loves you. This could look like closing your eyes and breathing, taking in His Presence, or just writing something like, “Hey Lord, I’ve got some things on me today that I need to give to You.” Then after you’ve acknowledged He’s with you, I want you to list out, with numbers, every single thing you can think of that you’re anxious about.
It could be eleven things like I listed out to Him on Saturday morning, or it could be only two. It could be really big things like, “I’m afraid you’re never going to provide _______” or it could be smaller things like, “I’m anxious because I don’t know when I’m going to be able to clean my house this week.” Don’t rate them. One is not more or less important than the other. The Lord cares about all of it. So get it all out. There may even be things you didn’t realize you were feeling anxious about. Whatever comes to your mind, list it out.
⭐️Example:
“Hey Lord, I’ve got some things on me today that I need to give to You.
- I’m afraid you’re not going to provide for this trip I really want to go on.
- I’m overwhelmed with this messy house and my schedule is all over the place this week. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to clean it.
- I don’t know what to do with this friend in my life that isn’t really being a good friend.
- I’m scared of what my job is going to look like in the fall.“
I’ll wait….
Still in Philippians 4:6.
“Tell God what you need…”
This is step two: Now, you may be thinking, I thought I just did that. That’s what I thought when I first started doing this, but if you look closely at your list, you probably didn’t ask God for anything. And that’s great, because now I want you to make another list. Start with number one and list out (again, with the numbers) a prayer for each thing. Ask Him for what you need with each anxiety. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) You gotta ask.
⭐️Example:
- ”Lord, I really need You to provide for this trip. It’s something we’ve talked about several times and not only do I want to go, but I felt like You wanted me to go too. If it’s not something I need to do, make it clear, but otherwise will You please provide the money for me to go.”
- ”God, I need You to make margin in my schedule this week, and then please give me the grace and the energy to be able to clean my house swiftly. I also need You to help me give grace to myself if I don’t get everything done.”
- ”Papa, I need guidance with this friendship. I need You to show me what to do with this person in my life. Give me wisdom and grace but also give me direction and help me to place them in my life where You want them to be. You know them. You know what they are going through and what is in their heart. Help me to pray for them and love them even though it’s really hard to do so right now.”
- ”Lord, I need You to give me clarity for what You want me to do in the fall. Give me direction and help me to trust You, even if You delay showing me a little longer.”
I’ll wait…
Believe it or not, we are still in Philippians 4:6.
“And thank Him for all He has done.”
Step three: This one is tricky. Again, we’ve heard it. Gratitude changes everything. It’s true. But I think we are often very generic with our thanksgiving. It’s ok to thank God for simple things, or for family, but don’t miss the intentionality here. I want you to make yet another list, still starting with number one (again list it out with the numbers, we love organization over here) and I want to look at each anxiety you listed and find something to thank God for in each situation and circumstance.
⭐️Example:
- “Lord thank You for being a Provider. It blows my mind that You would even care about something like this. Thank You for seeing and knowing the desires of my heart and for being a Father that loves to give to His kids. Thank You for the history I have with You. The past moments when You have provided abundantly more than I needed, even for a trip.”
- ”God, Thank You for a house to clean. Thank You for the space You have given me to take care of and to live my life in. Thank You for helping me find creative ways to steward the gifts You have given me. And thank You for helping me give grace to myself when life is crazy and I don’t get everything done.”
- ”Papa, Thank You for friendships. Thank You for community even though it’s messy at times. Thank You for giving us the most perfect Counselor in the Holy Spirt. Thank You that although I don’t know what to do about this situation, You do. And You are working in ways even when I cannot see! Thank You for giving me the grace to pray for this person and to love them well, even when it’s hard.”
- ”Lord, thank You that although I can’t see the end from the beginning, You can. Thank You for always leading me to where You want me to go. Thank You for being trustworthy and promising to never leave me. Thank You for the grace to trust You when I can’t see.”
I’ll wait…
Now by faith… here is the promise. Not my promise… His Promise!
Philippians 4:7
“Then, you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
But wait, there’s more!
Philippians 4:8-9
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Put it into practice. This is how the Lord encouraged me this week. He doesn’t want me to wait until I’m spiraling to do this practice. He wants me to do it weekly. So the enemy has no foothold. This is how I keep my thoughts fixed on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. I practice giving Him the anxiety, the worry, the fear.
I don’t know where you are with anxiety. It may be something you’ve battled with your whole life. You may be on medication or need to talk to someone regularly. You may have just done this practice with me and felt no peace at all. I don’t know where each of you are at or what each of you are going through. I don’t know the battles you face or the trials you’ve endured. I don’t know your exhaustion levels or how weary your heart feels. I don’t know the ways you cope or what you have to do to keep it at bay. I don’t know, just like you don’t know with me.
But God does.
And friend, can I just tell you…
It’s. not. yours.
It’s not from Him, therefore, it’s not yours.
Stay with me for just a moment longer.
Now, it may be a thorn in your side, that He is allowing for one reason or another. But what did He tell Paul about his thorn? “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
It’s not yours to carry, it’s His.
And if you feel like you don’t know how to give it to Him, it’s ok. He will just carry you instead. For when you are weak… or you could say…
For When You Are Anxious, He is strong!
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