Break free from anxiety

I’m noticing a common struggle that keeps popping up in conversations – anxiety. But I’m not pointing fingers because it’s something I deal with, too. Anxiety doesn’t discriminate.

So what is anxiety?

The good ‘ol dictionary defines it as: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

But check out this second definition: the desire to do something, typically accompanied by unease.

Anxiety is more than just sitting and stewing with worry and nervousness, it can also be a compulsive behavior. A need to control and do something, even if it makes you feel uneasy during or after the process.

But how does one even become anxious? Where does anxiety come from?

The answer is fear.

Fear is the root and the fruit it produces is worry, unbelief, need to control, anxiety, addiction, apathy, isolation.

When you are anxious you are living in fear.

Satan will use anxiety as a tool to try and block you from hearing God’s voice. When you live with fear, it hinders your ability to hear from God. With your anxious thoughts running through your mind, you can’t hear what God has to say. God is always speaking, but we can’t fully listen when we are distracted with our own anxious thoughts. So if you can’t hear from God, it’s easy to start making decisions, especially compulsive ones, apart from Him. And we all know the result of decision making without God. Been there, done that, and I don’t want a t-shirt.

Now with wisdom of what you’re dealing with, you can accurately fight the enemy with Jesus. You have to know how satan attacks you in order to fight victoriously. Yes the battle has been won, and yes there is power in Jesus’ name, but your prayers need to be specific, not general, when fighting the enemy.

So how do you accurately fight the enemy with Jesus? Try these steps that help you break free from the enemy’s entanglement.

1. Spend quiet time with God. Play some soaking music.
2. Ask Jesus: “Do I have a root of fear? When did it first form? Why is it there?
3. Ask Jesus: “What is the lie I am believing?” For example, it might be that you don’t trust God, so you believe the lie that you need to do it on your own.
4. Break the agreement with the lie that you learned. Say to Jesus: “I break agreement with the lie that_________.” So with the prior example, “Jesus I break agreement with the lie that I have to take matters in my own hands.”
5. Ask Jesus: “what is the truth? What is it that you want me to know?” This is where He wants to reveal Himself to you!
6. Ask for forgiveness: If it is something someone did to you, count up the debt (what they owed you and thus didn’t receive) and then choose to forgive them. If it’s something you did, ask Jesus to forgive you for believing a lie.
7. Ask Jesus what He wants to give you instead. Jesus always trades up. So give Him your fear and wait for what He gives you in return!

I LOVE to do these steps because I’m always amazed at what God reveals to me. It’s amazing to me how much junk I carry around and the lies I have been believing. I’m in a season of some serious purging and I’ve never felt better. Are you ready to purge too? 

Proverbs 12:25 says, Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

There’s nothing better than being glad from a good word from the best source. So spend some time soaking in God’s presence to hear what He has to say. If you’ve never made quiet time to spend with Him, it might be awkward at first. But have more faith in Him wanting to show up and reveal Himself to you, than you trying to find Him. He wants to make Himself known. 

Want to try an activation to hear from Him? I wrote one here that I like doing 

One of the most powerful prayers you can pray is, “God, give me your eyes. Let me see myself how you see me.” I’ve recently been teaching this to my daughter as she encounters situations at school that make her feel “less than.” It’s been powerful to see it in her life and her confidence has grown. It’s been powerful in my life. I have taken to a boldness I’ve never had before. I have also noticed more peace in my life. 

I saw a meme that said something to the effect of: if you can trust a puzzle company to have every piece in the box to complete the puzzle, then why can’t you trust God to have every piece to complete your life?

Matthew 6:27, And who of you by worrying can add one hour to the length of his life?

Worry won’t add a single minute and it weighs us down. Let the creator of the universe put all the pieces of your life together. Live in peace, not worry. Live in freedom, not fear. It’s time to let that s–t go!

Do the steps to uproot fear, hear from God, and live in freedom!

I’d love to hear how it works for you! Please share in the comments!