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Prayer for Anxiety
For the mind that will not stop, at 3 a.m. or in the middle of the day
Anxiety does not wait for a good reason. It arrives with the bills, the test results, the silence after a message, or with nothing at all. The Bible does not scold anxious people; Elijah collapsed under a tree, and God sent him food and let him sleep before saying a word. This prayer is for that moment, and you can shorten it to a single line if that is all you have.
The prayer
Lord, my mind is racing and I cannot make it stop. I have turned the same worry over so many times that I no longer know what is real and what I have imagined. You told us not to be anxious, and I am, and I am bringing that to you rather than hiding it.
I hand you the thing I am afraid of. You know what it is. I ask for the peace you promised, the kind that does not depend on the problem being solved first. Slow my breathing, quiet my thoughts, and let me feel that you are in the room.
Give me enough for today. Not the answer to every tomorrow, just what I need to get through the next hour with you. Remind me of the times you have carried me before, because in this state I forget them.
I cast this on you, because you care for me. Amen.
In one breath
Lord, I cannot quiet my mind on my own. Take what I am afraid of and give me your peace for the next hour. Amen.
Verses to hold on to
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
1 Peter 5:7 was the verse of the day on May 31, 2024. See that day
How to pray it
- Pray out loud, even in a whisper; it slows the thoughts down in a way silent prayer often does not.
- Name the specific fear rather than saying "everything"; God can be handed one thing at a time.
- Keep a verse like Philippians 4:6 on your phone and pray it again when the worry comes back, because it will.
Make it your own
Say what you are living, in a few words, and receive this prayer written for your situation.
- Your words
- Your prayer
Questions
Other prayers
- Prayer for Grief and LossFor the weeks after the funeral, when everyone else has gone back to normal
- Prayer for StrengthFor the day you have nothing left and still have to get up
- Prayer for a Loved OneFor someone you love who is going through something you cannot fix for them
- Prayer for My ChildrenA parent's prayer for a child of any age, from the cot to the grown-up who no longer calls
- Prayer When Faith Is WeakA prayer for the days when believing is hard and God feels far away
- Prayer for ForgivenessA prayer to ask God's forgiveness, and to find the strength to forgive someone else
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