Trust and faith when you deal with anxiety

[CherieR]

I know that the bible encourages us to walk by faith and trust in God with all the heart. These things, trusting in God and walking by faith, just don't come the most natural to me. I deal with anxiety quite frequently and at times panic attacks but these are less often than they used to be, but still not fun if it comes... What advice would you give on how to trust and step out in faith for someone like me who struggles in the area of trust in God?

 

[Demi777]

Theres nothing besides 'just do it' that i can say. Theres no preparation or steps. You just have to do it gets easier and easier

 

[Bingo]

"Sometimes we need to ask ourselves...why. Often a reason that sometimes we tend to hide.
We have to learn to confront our inner feelings and learn to adjust accordingly. Often just
faith and trust in knowing we can overcome obstacles if we put forth the effort, applying our
efforts along with applying God's 'principles' of life often has amazing rewards never thought of.
I pray you find what you need for trusting and faith in God's 'principles' of life here in the now."
'Praise God'

 

[Bingo]

"Let us not stray from the flock, for of the Holy Spirit within, answers are there."
'Praise God'

 

[NayborBear]

I would read Psalms 46. A lot!

I don't think it's as much a "walking by faith issue", as much as it's this:

The Socinians held to a rationalistic approach to Scripture and to faith. This philosophical approach, especially in regard to biblical doctrine, declares that all religious matters must be fully reconcilable with human reason, and that theological matters pertaining to the nature of God cannot be beyond the finite understanding of the human mind.

God instructs us to "lean not on our own understanding."
Proverbs 3
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

You'll come to realize that God's "healing/s?" Are done this way:

Isaiah 28
5 In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Fasting and praying help a lot also!

 

[Lanolin]

What exactly is it you are anxious about? Cast all your anxieties on the Lord for He cares for you. If you can name whatever it is, then thats half the battle won.

If its fear, cast it out. Perfect love casts out fear, for fear has torment.

One needs to confront the demons. If its darkness, shine the light on it. If its terror, say to it be gone, I have the comforter to comfort me. If its panic, say be still and know that He is God. JEsus calmed the storm even slept right through it. YOu can do the same. The joy of Lord is your strength...and he is a strong tower when you run to Him, you are safe.

Psalm 91 is also good to pray. Its very powerful, I had a lady in my bible study who said she always used to pray that when London was being bombed in the blitz. Imagine. They had to go underground and wear gas masks and put out black out curtains because overhead the planes would be flying over and bombing the city. Would that be the time to panic? In the natural you can understand why people would, but she said whenver she prayed that she would have miraculously divine protection. And not one casualty ever because all the churches prayed that psalm together and nobody died.

 

[Deuteronomy]

I know that the bible encourages us to walk by faith and trust in God with all the heart. These things, trusting in God and walking by faith, just don't come the most natural to me. I deal with anxiety quite frequently and at times panic attacks but these are less often than they used to be, but still not fun if it comes... What advice would you give on how to trust and step out in faith for someone like me who struggles in the area of trust in God?

Hi Cherie, when times are tough, it helps me to remember all that the Lord chose to do for those of us who are His, and what His motives were, which is His great and everlasting love for us (remembering too that He chose to die for us so that He wouldn't have to spend eternity apart from us, or we apart from Him).

It also helps me to think back to when I first came to faith, when I first trusted Him and surrendered the reins of my life to Him, knowing that He loved me & wanted/knew what was best for me, far better than I could ever hope to myself.

Then there are His great and wondrous promises to know and to always keep in mind. A couple of my favorites are found in the same chapter of Romans .. Romans 8:28, 32. God is always "for us", yes (even when nothing seems to be going well for us).

We all love it when things are going smoothly, of course, but I've found that I do far more growing as a Christian when life is anything but smooth sailing. This is why Spurgeon said:

"I've learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages" ~Charles H. Spurgeon​

We also need to remember that if life is easy all the time, we may actually need to consider whose "children" we really are, since God tells us plainly:

Hebrews 12​

5 MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,​

NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;​

6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,​

AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”​

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?​

8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.​

9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?​

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.​

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.​

We also have these very important commands to consider, written for us through the pen of the Apostle Paul, to:

Philippians 4​

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.​

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.​

So even in the midst of our prayers as we ask God to give us relief from our trials and sufferings, we can (and should) be thankful for everything, even for the things that make this life seem difficult or impossible in the moment, knowing that One who saved us in the first place also promised to sanctify us/make us more and more like His Son, as well as see us safely through this life to be with Him in Glory .. Philippians 1:6, 2;13; Hebrews 7:25.

God bless you! (Numbers 6:24-26)

~Deut

1 Thessalonians 5​

23 May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.​

24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.​

.

 

[Deuteronomy]

Hi again @CherieR, here are some quotes from missionary/author Elisabeth Elliot. I hope that you'll find them encouraging, and that some of them may also help you find new reasons to trust/have faith in the One who loves you so, especially when life seems hard and you feel very anxious about the future.

"This hard place in which you perhaps find yourself is the very place in which God is giving you opportunity to look only to Him, to spend time in prayer, and to learn long-suffering, gentleness, meekness - in short, to learn the depths of the love that Christ Himself has poured out on all of us."​

​

"Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process."​

​

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."​

​

"Leave it all in the Hands that were wounded for you"​

​

"God never withholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. He never denies our heart's desire except to give us something better"​

​

"God has promised to supply all of our needs. What we don't have now we do not need now"​

​

"The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances"​

~Deut

 

[DustyRhodes]

I know that the bible encourages us to walk by faith and trust in God with all the heart. These things, trusting in God and walking by faith, just don't come the most natural to me. I deal with anxiety quite frequently and at times panic attacks but these are less often than they used to be, but still not fun if it comes... What advice would you give on how to trust and step out in faith for someone like me who struggles in the area of trust in God?

Having gone through such things over the years, my life
has grown leaps and bounds i the spirit of God. I've now
arrived into my mid seventies and will share with you how
many years ago now, I've come out of the doldrums. I found
that a strict prayer life is very valuable. When I say prayer, I
mean meditation in the word of God. So I read about half 12
verses or so, then close the bible, sit and put myself in the
presence of God. I don't hear words but as I grew in the spirit
I found there is something more precious than words, and the
union with God grows stronger. I began to feel His presence.
It is important to make prayer a strong habit. About 20 minutes
a day is sufficient to start with. Make it a priority and whatever
else in life comes second and lower. A good start is to say "Here
I am Lord, what do you want of me." God bless you this day and
forever. The power of God can bring us to amazing places.

 

[breno785au]

My friend last year suddenly started experiencing anxiety and panic attacks. He said he had no idea how it felt for people who go through such a thing until then.
Made me realise, its so easy to throw a Bible scripture someone and say just do this without having experienced it myself.
Perhaps someone who's been through it can guide and help in full understanding, like dusty's post above.

P.s. not discounting sharing scriptures with someone to help them but I feel somewhat apprehensive doing so myself without understanding.

 

[Bingo]

"Amen'.........God consciousness, a personal intimacy with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis
often things are revealed, that on our own we would not thing of. This can help illuminate
deeper meaning in a lot of scripture. Over two decades, I have made time each day for my
quiet time. Keeping in mind of God's 'principles' of life. I have learned not to complicate the
simple things, for they are enough of a challenge to uphold, love, kindness, goodness, self
control and discipline with the right attitude and behavior. Striving to be the right example
changes those around us...believe it. The 'light' within will shine for others to witness God's glory."
'Praise God'

 

[dcontroversal]

Be not anxious about one thing, but by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God

Two things that really helped me in my life...

a. I do not worry about things beyond my control
b. I do not worry about something that has not happened yet

 

[CherieR]

My friend last year suddenly started experiencing anxiety and panic attacks. He said he had no idea how it felt for people who go through such a thing until then.
Made me realise, its so easy to throw a Bible scripture someone and say just do this without having experienced it myself.
Perhaps someone who's been through it can guide and help in full understanding, like dusty's post above.

P.s. not discounting sharing scriptures with someone to help them but I feel somewhat apprehensive doing so myself without understanding.

Panic attacks are not dangerous but when you are experiencing one, not as easy to think logically. I have often done self talk such as it is just anxiety and I got this... stuff like that and I often pray while driving for a good ride. At times when the panic was at its peak I would pray but many of these were panicky praying which may have made the panicky feelings even worse. Many times I have thanked God for his presence and that may have helped.

 

[Lanolin]

Cheries when you say panic attacks what do you mean, do they just randomly come against you out of the blue, or are they triggered by something specific? Just trying to understand.

When the devil attacks which may happen anytime, we do have protection with Gods armour. If its your mind we have Christs minds and the helmet of salvation. We have a breastplate of righteousness. We have girded up our loins with truth, for offence we have a sharp sword, and defence a shield of faith. And on our feet sandals of the gospel. See Ephesians 6:13-18

You said you want to step out in faith...so check, are your feet shod? You wouldnt step on scorpions and snakes with barefeet would you.
Have you got your shield...your faith. It covers you. Many shields would have a symbol showing you belong to God. You in Gods army. Now Im not saying these are literal they are just word pictures that Paul gave to the Ephesians to encourgage them to be strong in the Lord.

Ive had a spirit of terror cast out of me. I received this spirit as a child, my earliest memory was of being abandoned alone by my parents. I grew up fearful I always thought my parents were either going to kill me or leave me, I would be terrified. I also sometimes I had dreams of being suffocated. I dont quite know how this happened as was only a baby at the time but never really bonded healthy with my mother, and I do know that as a child if I did anything wrong like dare to cry put as babies do, I wasnt comforted but cursed. Now i dont understand why, maybe it was cos I was the second born daughter, maybe I was overlooked. Who knows, but God knows. I grew up extremely timid and shy and could never raise my voice or dare speak out in case I was silenced again. People noticed and they often would ask if Id actually been abused cos sometimes I would have spells where I would get agitated and want to run away for no discernable reason. I also couldnt sleep sometimes and be awake at night I would have no peace, afraid of ...something. And demons found it easy to attack me.

Anyway to cut a long story short upon my deliverance this was spirit of terror was cast out and after that I was free and never had those fearful, anxious or feeling intimidation again. It tooks some ministers to speak life into me like 'you are my daughter' and 'you are fearfully wonderfully made' and even to know that God loved me. That He was always there and that He cared, even in my darkest hours. i just didnt know it back then. GOd reached in down deep in my soul and touched my heart, I had built up a big shell around me where it hurt, and found it hard to trust anyone so there was this inner wound. GOd healed me I just write this as a testimony to His goodness. With God there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. He will deliver you just call on Jesus name. If theres any panicking or dangerous situation that you cant think logically all you need to call on is Jesus and he's right there.

 

[Dan58]

Panic is fear gone wild ....... https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-panic-attacks.html

 

[NayborBear]

Panic attacks are not dangerous but when you are experiencing one, not as easy to think logically. I have often done self talk such as it is just anxiety and I got this... stuff like that and I often pray while driving for a good ride. At times when the panic was at its peak I would pray but many of these were panicky praying which may have made the panicky feelings even worse. Many times I have thanked God for his presence and that may have helped.

I guess the best way to begin is in the acknowledging, that we, all of us? Are like "gold ore", in needs of refining. Many times (not as simple as 1 and done, as much as we would like to thing that it is? It ain't!) in what would be called "The Smelting/Refining Process?" Dross removal? Which, in many cases, is the Refiner Himself, instructing the "smelters", to "remove" the dross. And, in so many cases, tis not the "trusting in God", of His refining of us, as is the "trusting" of The "smelters" in the "doing" of "their" job. Test the spirits, in your ascertaining, that they are indeed of God.

The harder part is in one's becoming cognizant, that it IS dross, and the very real uncertainty (or panic attack/s), of one's ability of moving forwards, from that point, WITHOUT it! The fear? Is Real! But, you already know this. What ya may not know, and what the adversary doesn't WANT ya TO KNOW? This fear? It is not YOUR fear! It's the adversary's!

I can't make ya, or force ya to TRUST that God KNOWS what He's doing, and wants you to be "THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE!" NOBODY CAN! And God Himself, will not strive long with your spirit either!
Only YOU can do this!

The best any of us can do, is help ya understand what's goin' on!
If it's any consolation to ya? God don't care for "cookie cutter" christians. Why? Cuz 1 grenade will get 'em ALL!
So, should you start feeling like you "don't fit", in your "local assembling" of believers? Due to this smelting/refining? Or, you start feeling uncomfortable in "your clique?" Perhaps, is time to "move on."

Because, as sure as I am sitting here typing this? The deeper understandings of God? WILL, not shall! WILL, CHANGE your life!
May not be the life you may WANT? But, is the life God wants FOR YOU! NEWNESS of MIND!

 

[CherieR]

Cheries when you say panic attacks what do you mean, do they just randomly come against you out of the blue, or are they triggered by something specific? Just trying to understand.

When the devil attacks which may happen anytime, we do have protection with Gods armour. If its your mind we have Christs minds and the helmet of salvation. We have a breastplate of righteousness. We have girded up our loins with truth, for offence we have a sharp sword, and defence a shield of faith. And on our feet sandals of the gospel. See Ephesians 6:13-18

You said you want to step out in faith...so check, are your feet shod? You wouldnt step on scorpions and snakes with barefeet would you.
Have you got your shield...your faith. It covers you. Many shields would have a symbol showing you belong to God. You in Gods army. Now Im not saying these are literal they are just word pictures that Paul gave to the Ephesians to encourgage them to be strong in the Lord.

Ive had a spirit of terror cast out of me. I received this spirit as a child, my earliest memory was of being abandoned alone by my parents. I grew up fearful I always thought my parents were either going to kill me or leave me, I would be terrified. I also sometimes I had dreams of being suffocated. I dont quite know how this happened as was only a baby at the time but never really bonded healthy with my mother, and I do know that as a child if I did anything wrong like dare to cry put as babies do, I wasnt comforted but cursed. Now i dont understand why, maybe it was cos I was the second born daughter, maybe I was overlooked. Who knows, but God knows. I grew up extremely timid and shy and could never raise my voice or dare speak out in case I was silenced again. People noticed and they often would ask if Id actually been abused cos sometimes I would have spells where I would get agitated and want to run away for no discernable reason. I also couldnt sleep sometimes and be awake at night I would have no peace, afraid of ...something. And demons found it easy to attack me.

Anyway to cut a long story short upon my deliverance this was spirit of terror was cast out and after that I was free and never had those fearful, anxious or feeling intimidation again. It tooks some ministers to speak life into me like 'you are my daughter' and 'you are fearfully wonderfully made' and even to know that God loved me. That He was always there and that He cared, even in my darkest hours. i just didnt know it back then. GOd reached in down deep in my soul and touched my heart, I had built up a big shell around me where it hurt, and found it hard to trust anyone so there was this inner wound. GOd healed me I just write this as a testimony to His goodness. With God there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. He will deliver you just call on Jesus name. If theres any panicking or dangerous situation that you cant think logically all you need to call on is Jesus and he's right there.

What I mean by panic attacks are those intense moments of fear. Normally for me if they come, I am already tense or at least a little anxious beforehand. For some people it may come out of the blue, seemely out of nowhere. Yesterday I was in traffic and I felt somewhat anxious during that but as I was about to exit and the I could go much faster, I started to feel panicky and got super anxious partly because I needed to use the restroom. And I did also cry out to Jesus that day for help, and I was ok despite how anxious I felt. During a panic attack there are different feelings in your body you might get. Your heart may beat fast, your hands/body may shake some, you might felt lightheaded, your mouth may feel dry etc. And not everyone necessarily will have all these physical sensations and it can be different for different people. Some people may even have a nausea feeling or minor aches. Thankfully I don't have the nausea feeling much at all unless I am sick or maybe eating too much at a time or something.

 

[Dan58]

Yesterday I was in traffic and I felt somewhat anxious during that but as I was about to exit and the I could go much faster, I started to feel panicky and got super anxious partly because I needed to use the restroom.

No offense, but that seems like a very superficial thing to get anxious about.. I suspect you've got some underlining problems that might trigger anxiety when you experience a little stress? The need to use a restroom shouldn't put you into panic mode?

 

[Blik]

What I did that worked for me was to take time out to be alone, then go on a fast. My fast was to immerse myself in God's word. No food or anything of the material world I could get along without. I used Tom Bradford's commentary to help me study God's word. He kept scripture fascinating and he doesn't add any man-made doctrines, only some ancient Hebrew history. I also spent lots of time in listening prayer.

It took me five days of this and then I felt like a remade person. It was several years ago that I did this and I still feel it changed something within me that could only be described as adding joy to my life, joy that isn't dependent on anything happening in my world.

 

[Bingo]

What I did that worked for me was to take time out to be alone, then go on a fast. My fast was to immerse myself in God's word. No food or anything of the material world I could get along without. I used Tom Bradford's commentary to help me study God's word. He kept scripture fascinating and he doesn't add any man-made doctrines, only some ancient Hebrew history. I also spent lots of time in listening prayer.

It took me five days of this and then I felt like a remade person. It was several years ago that I did this and I still feel it changed something within me that could only be described as adding joy to my life, joy that isn't dependent on anything happening in my world.

"Thanks for sharing. When we let go of the outer world, and come close to our inner self, often we
experience a renewing of ourselves, within. For within, often we find harmony with dealing with
worldly things. I have learned over much time, inner God 'consciousness' brings an inner joy of peace.
Make no mistake, a spiritual 'awareness' shall be a joy to behold in any age."
'Praise God'