Stop Anxiety in Its Tracks

Father, I want to fix my eyes on You and not be anxious about the World around me.

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, 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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God knew that we people would struggle with our emotions, so He made sure to give us passages and verses in His Word that would help us. The passage above explains how to deal with anxiety. It tells us to be anxious for nothing. Do not worry. Instead, when those worries and anxieties creep in we are to pray and make our requests known to God. He adds a few words on how we are to pray: “with thanksgiving”. We first combat anxiety by stopping any anxious thought in its track and praying. Not only do we pray and ask, we also give thanks during that prayer. We fight anxiety with thankfulness! We remind ourselves of what God has already done, and what we can be thankful for. This helps us remember how good He is! What should we worry about in light of how good and gracious our Heavenly Father is?

Then, the peace of God, which is more than we can possibly understand, will guard both our heart and our mind. That sounds nice, doesn’t it? Picture a shield around your heart and emotions, and around your mind and thoughts. God longs to protect you and guard you from the lies and worries that Satan throws at you, but you have to follow His plan.

The next time an anxious thought comes, follow the simple steps found in this verse:

1.    Stop the thought. Take it captive as the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5

2.    Say a prayer. Whatever you are worrying about, ask God to handle it.

3.    Thank God for something He has already done, in that situation or in another situation.

4.    Trust Him to guard your heart and your mind with His perfect peace.

5.    Repeat these steps every time you have an anxious thought.