When anxiety creeps in unexpectedly, it can feel like we\u2019ll never get control of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do all the things: antidepressants, abdominal breathing, I stay away from caffeine, eat right, walk every day, I\u2019ve spent enough hours in counseling, and it\u2019s all helping<\/em>\u2014but let\u2019s be realistic\u2014nothing & no one has what it takes to silence the father of lies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Those first few days I tried everything I could to keep anxiety from accelerating: keeping busy, listening to podcasts, some fresh air, flat out pretending it wasn\u2019t happening. In a desperate cry for help, what I\u2019d known all along in my head suddenly bulletproofed my heart<\/strong>, Fight your fears in prayer<\/em>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I went straight to my bible concordance and typed in anxiety<\/em>. It\u2019s not as though I haven\u2019t prayed against this awful condition, but this was different. It was like Jesus was saying, \u201cThis kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are times when we need only pray for and against circumstances currently affecting our lives. But there are those ongoing troubles that will not cease until we\u2019re home with the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In stretches of quiet and rest, we can tend to forget what had us in tears weeks, months, years before. In our need to feel we have everything under control\u2014we stop acknowledging our weaknesses to the Lord. Scripture is very clear that it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. We are still occupants of our sinful consequence. We have enemies we can\u2019t even see.<\/em> We are strangers, foreigners, warriors. We are marked by our enemies as children of God.<\/em> Our next battle lay right around the corner. And, hear me now sweet friend, there are some spirits of evil that require ongoing knock-down drag-out fighting until our last breath is taken.<\/em> Fear is one of them.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Scripture verses referencing anxiety and fear started adding up on my phone screen like I hit the jackpot. I have yet to cover all of them! <\/em>The Father who knit us together keeps us together still<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From beginning to end the Bible addresses every kind of fear there is. The fear of death, the fear of failure, the fear of loneliness, sickness, addiction, enemies, disaster, the fear of fear itself<\/em>. What\u2019s even more exciting is how God provides, through the blood of His spotless Son, the deadliest weapon against every evil spirit there is. Prayer<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em>We don\u2019t hesitate. We don\u2019t take breaks. This is no time to be self-confident, to pull up our bootstraps and stick our chest out. These are spirits beyond human animation. Before<\/em> that bully even thinks to torment, threaten, berate us\u2014we draw our sword\u2014we call on Jesus Christ the Lord<\/em><\/strong>!<\/em> God\u2019s army of angels descends, and our enemies turn on themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are just a few key verses for you to arm your heart and put into prayer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2665 \u201cYou keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.\u201d (Isaiah 26:3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2665 \u201cCast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.\u201d (1 Peter 5:7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2665 \u201cDo not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.\u201d (Matthew 6:25, 33)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2665 \u201cThe Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?\u201d (Psalm 27:1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can have perfect peace in the midst of trouble\u2014not because we put all things in order\u2014because we seek Jesus first<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When anxiety creeps in unexpectedly, it can feel like we\u2019ll never get control of it. I do all the things: antidepressants, abdominal breathing, I stay away from caffeine, eat right, walk every day, I\u2019ve spent enough hours in counseling, and it\u2019s all helping\u2014but let\u2019s be realistic\u2014nothing & no one has what it takes to silence the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143625079,"featured_media":10322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[54418],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bible"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pacmrQ-2DR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4940,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=4940","url_meta":{"origin":10159,"position":0},"title":"Keeping Your Soul From Freezing This Season","author":"Jo Alo","date":"January 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m a surefire pessimist. Just ask my optimist husband. I wasn\u2019t finding one ray of beauty this Illinois 6-below season\u2014but I needed to. Needed a big shot of reality for my declining attitude. With two solid months of wild winds, slippery ice, gray skies ahead it\u2019s already a struggle not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "depression"","block_context":{"text":"depression","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=5551"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_7343-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_7343-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_7343-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_7343-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_7343-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17914,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=17914","url_meta":{"origin":10159,"position":1},"title":"What Do You Fear?","author":"Jo Alo","date":"March 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"It's one thing to say you worship God\u2014it's another to do His will. Jesus was furious with the religious for projecting themselves as experts in a law they didn't follow. They wore the right clothes, said the right prayers, taught in the synagogues. 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Hurrying, I pressed into the door. Before turning the handle, I rushed to Jesus,\u00a0Whisper Your sweet everythings into my ears. The one way the raised in Christ endure in all this dust and ash is praying in spirit and truth. God knows I want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "prayer"","block_context":{"text":"prayer","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=853"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/fc9b8-dsc_0174-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C746&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/fc9b8-dsc_0174-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C746&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/fc9b8-dsc_0174-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C746&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/fc9b8-dsc_0174-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C746&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/fc9b8-dsc_0174-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C746&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3947,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=3947","url_meta":{"origin":10159,"position":3},"title":"The Bitter & Sweet of Grief","author":"Jo Alo","date":"October 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"First the bitter. I\u2019ve never lost a loved one, before today. Sunken eyes, dragging form cause me to fear this will be the last moments all four of us will be together. Once we cover recent therapies and medical realities, we hear his hoarse voice faintly say, \u201cI\u2019m reading Job.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Bible"","block_context":{"text":"The Bible","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=54418"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/img_6570.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/img_6570.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/img_6570.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/img_6570.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1429,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=1429","url_meta":{"origin":10159,"position":4},"title":"Days’d and Confused","author":"Jo Alo","date":"May 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Forgive me. But today I\u2019d like to scratch all Days off the calendar. Volunteering many moons ago at a Pregnancy Crisis Center, my first director was a lovely hearted woman. She housed a host more wisdom than I. She taught me, Every appointment of our lives is God appointed. 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Does it mean we wear a smile on our face when all we want to do inside is cry? Does it mean we pretend sadness and sorrow can't touch us\u2014and we're fine, it's fine, and we're all fine? 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