A Psalm for anxiety
Do a few dozen responsibilities and concerns fight against one another in your brain?
Feeling nausea or fear in the pit of your stomach?
Are you ever overwhelmed by the sense of defeat and failure when you haven’t failed at something?
Hello, Anxiety.
You’re a tough one to beat.
When I’m struggling with anxiety, I like to read Psalm 13 and Psalm 31. Several other Psalms speak to fear, oppression, and grief–which can feel similar to anxiety–but these two seem to zero in on the cloak-and-dagger enemy that is anxiety: our own minds and emotions.
Here’s a prayer from Psalm 31:
Oh, Lord,
You are the Comforter and the Healer.
I need your power in my life.
I feel a lot of anxiety and pressure right now.
I honestly can’t tell how much is true pressure,
real deadlines,
or just my own unrealistic expectations.
I am pressuring myself,
attempting to either control, direct, or manage
everything I care about.
I need you to manage me.
Take away the shame,
calm my distress,
sooth my afflictions,
relieve my groaning,
comfort my grief,
strengthen my weaknesses,
defeat my oppression,
remember my pain,
repair my brokenness,
defeat my terror,
reveal my confusion,
champion my injustices,
rescue me from danger.
You are my
rock,
refuge,
rescuer,
confidante,
leader,
guide,
deliverer,
safe haven,
merciful judge,
shelter,
sight,
friend,
preserver,
sun,
champion.
My pressures are nothing to you.
My worries are almost laughable (except you would never laugh at me).
My future is secure in you.
My insecurities are unnecessary.
All my days are numbered.
Not one of them is lost to you.
Lord, teach me to number my days
that I may live them for you,
every moment,
free of fear and anxiety,
I trust you and love you,
In the powerful name of Jesus,
Amen.
“My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those that pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and lie silent in the grave.” (Psalm 31:15-17)
Some more prayers and blogs about anxiety:
How to cast away your cares
10 Psalms to read when you’re overwhelmed
Prayer for a rushed day
A prayer for trust, peace, and mindfulness
A prayer for the freak-out moments
Discouragement, abandonment, and faith
How to control anxiety so it doesn’t control you
Do I really want rest?
““And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”. (Matthew 6:25-33)
