Can prayer help with anxiety?

Merriam Webster dictionary defines anxiety as “apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending or anticipated ill: a state of being anxious”. Therefore anxiety is a feeling of nervousness about past events or future events. Anxiety often feels very real and debilitating because it is protective in nature. When we feel anxious, it is because our brains have detected real or perceived danger. Anxiety can impact us mentally and physically.

A woman sitting against a white background, visibly upset, clutching her knees with anxiety.

Some of the cognitive symptoms are: lack of focus, thinking the worst of situations, thoughts being on “repeat”, thinking you know what others are thinking, etc. Some of the physiological symptoms are: racing heart beat, sweating, stomach aches, headaches, chest pain, cold chills, hot flashes, nausea, and many others.

How to Pray When Dealing With Anxiety

Many times anxiety drives us to look for solutions because of the symptoms we feel. Oftentimes, those solutions leave us feeling unsatisfied. Sometimes, we can’t even think of a solution. Prayer gives us the opportunity to talk to God and get those concerns out of the mind. Having too much on our minds can produce a feeling of overwhelm, and if not resolved leads to problematic anxiety. Prayer allows us to take our problems to someone higher that can handle it.

The Power of Prayer Over Anxiety

Prayer and faith combine together to help us with anxiety. Talking to God gives us the opportunity to share our concerns and faith helps us trust that God will take care of us. Also, the relief that comes from the response from God is unexplainable. David describes often in the book of Psalms how he cried to the Lord and the Lord heard and delivered him. When we cry, our faith helps us believe that God will hear and help us. We don’t get to decide how He helps, but we know based on the Bible that He will help.

Prayer is a tool that we can use to give our anxieties to God. Casting all your care (anxiety) upon him; for he careth for you. ([1Pe 5:7 KJV] Prayer is the way we communicate with God. When we feel anxious, it is often because we do not believe that we have the sufficient tools to manage the challenge that has been presented to us. Maybe our past still haunts us and we feel we can’t handle the memories, or what the future holds seems daunting for us to face and it causes us to worry constantly, think the worst, or mistrust most people/situations.

Maybe our body reacts with aches, pains, sweats, racing heart beat, and/or difficulty sleeping. BUT BECAUSE GOD is the greatest power, when we pray, we give what we think we can’t handle to GOD. He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). If we put our trust in Him, then He can help us! YES...prayer can help with anxiety because our future and our past belongs to God.

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