Tips to Manage Anxiety and Stress

This article is from the Anxiety Disorders Association of America--www.adaa.org. I would like to also add to this list: praying to God, meditating on and praying the Scriptures that deal with overcoming fear and anxiety as posted on this blog, and meeting with God in His Word, the Holy Bible, every morning before the day begins. Let Him speak to you through His Word. Also, praying to Him throughout your day and casting all your anxiety on Him whenever you feel it rising up in you. You can be honest with Him. He is your Sovereign Lord and He is in control. You can trust Him. He loves you so much!

Tips to Manage Anxiety and Stress

When you're feeling anxious or stressed, these strategies will help you cope:
•Take a time-out. Practice (stretching exercises), listen to music, get a massage, or learn relaxation techniques. Stepping back from the problem helps clear your head.
•Eat well-balanced meals. Do not skip any meals. Do keep healthful, energy-boosting snacks on hand.
•Limit alcohol and caffeine, which can aggravate anxiety and trigger panic attacks.
•Get enough sleep. When stressed, your body needs additional sleep and rest.
•Exercise daily to help you feel good and maintain your health. Check out the fitness tips below.
•Take deep breaths. Inhale and exhale slowly.
•Count to 10 slowly. Repeat, and count to 20 if necessary.
•Do your best. Instead of aiming for perfection, which isn't possible, be proud of however close you get.
•Accept that you cannot control everything. Put your stress in perspective: Is it really as bad as you think?
•Welcome humor. A good laugh goes a long way.
•Maintain a positive attitude. Make an effort to replace negative thoughts with positive ones--like verses from God's Word (italics mine).
•Get involved. Volunteer or find another way to be active in your community, which creates a support network and gives you a break from everyday stress.
•Learn what triggers your anxiety. Is it work, family, school, or something else you can identify? Write in a journal when you’re feeling stressed or anxious, and look for a pattern.
•Talk to someone. Tell friends and family you’re feeling overwhelmed, and let them know how they can help you. Talk to your clergyman. (italics, mine) Talk to a physician or therapist for professional help.

Fitness Tips: Stay Healthy, Manage Stress

For the biggest benefits of exercise, try to include at least 2½ hours of moderate-intensity physical activity (e.g. brisk walking) each week, 1¼ hours of a vigorous-intensity activity (such as jogging or swimming laps), or a combination of the two.
•5 X 30: Jog, walk, bike, or dance three to five times a week for 30 minutes.
•Set small daily goals and aim for daily consistency rather than perfect workouts. It's better to walk every day for 15-20 minutes than to wait until the weekend for a three-hour fitness marathon. Lots of scientific data suggests that frequency is most important.
•Find forms of exercise that are fun or enjoyable. Extroverted people often like classes and group activities. People who are more introverted often prefer solo pursuits.
•Distract yourself with an iPod or other portable media player to download audiobooks, podcasts, or music. Many people find it’s more fun to exercise while listening to something they enjoy.
•Recruit an “exercise buddy.” It's often easier to stick to your exercise routine when you have to stay committed to a friend, partner, or colleague.
•Be patient when you start a new exercise program. Most sedentary people require about four to eight weeks to feel coordinated and sufficiently in shape so that exercise feels easier.

A Little Bird

This morning while praying to God, I gave Him all of my recent disappointments and hurts that I had been trying to pretend did not bother me. After drying my tears, I made a cup of tea and looked out the window to my backyard. The song, It is Well with My Soul, came to mind. I quietly sang the first verse and my heart and mind became still. I thought about the words, "When sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well. It is well with my soul'." I thought about how it can be well within me even when there is still sorrow around me. Nothing had changed outwardly after I prayed, but I was relieved of the weight I had felt. I was freed up. As I continued to stare out the window, a sweet little bird with a yellow tummy landed in the practically bare branches of my English rosebush directly in front of me, hopped a time or two, seemed to look at me through the blinds, and then flew off.

I was delighted! Such an unexpected gift. I thanked God for it's coming and felt a surge of faith and love. I felt validated. God had heard me. He had heard my prayers and sent that little bird to lift my spirits. I knew it as sure as I knew my name. I just had to share it. Oh, how I love my God! He is faithful to us all.

Morning Reading, Charles Spurgeon

Morning and Evening
Charles H. Spurgeon
February 13, 2012
Morning Reading
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God.

—1 John 3:1-2
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.” Consider who we were, and what we feel ourselves to be even now when corruption is powerful in us, and you will wonder at our adoption. Yet we are called “the sons of God.” What a high relationship is that of a son, and what privileges it brings! What care and tenderness the son expects from his father, and what love the father feels towards the son! But all that, and more than that, we now have through Christ. As for the temporary drawback of suffering ...this we accept as an honour: “Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” We are content to be unknown with Him in His humiliation, for we are to be exalted with Him. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” That is easy to read, but it is not so easy to feel. How is it with your heart this morning? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does your faith almost fail you? Fear not, it is neither your graces nor feelings on which you are to live: you must live simply by faith on Christ. With all these things against us, now—in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be—now, as much in the valley as on the mountain, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” “Ah, but,” you say, “see how I am arrayed! my graces are not bright; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory.” But read the next: “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.” The Holy Spirit shall purify our minds, and divine power shall refine our bodies, then shall we see Him as He is.

God's Covenant With You

I've recently signed up to receive the Morning/Evening devotionals of Charles Spurgeon from www.blueletterbible.org. I thought I'd share this one with you all because it so blessed me.

Morning and Evening
Charles H. Spurgeon
December 21, 2011
Morning Reading
Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant.
—2 Samuel 23:5

This covenant is divine in its origin. “HE hath made with me an everlasting covenant.” Oh that great word HE! Stop, my soul. God, the everlasting Father, has positively made a covenant with thee; yes, that God who spake the world into existence by a word; He, stooping from His majesty, takes hold of thy hand and makes a covenant with thee. Is it not a deed, the stupendous condescension of which might ravish our hearts for ever if we could really understand it? “HE hath made with me a covenant.” A king has not made a covenant with me—that were somewhat; but the Prince of the kings of the earth, Shaddai, the Lord All‐sufficient, the Jehovah of ages, the everlasting Elohim, “He hath made with me an everlasting covenant.” But notice, it is particular in its application. “Yet hath He made with ME an everlasting covenant.” Here lies the sweetness of it to each believer. It is nought for me that He made peace for the world; I want to know whether He made peace for me! It is little that He hath made a covenant, I want to know whether He has made a covenant with me. Blessed is the assurance that He hath made a covenant with me! If God the Holy Ghost gives me assurance of this, then His salvation is mine, His heart is mine, He Himself is mine—He is my God.

This covenant is everlasting in its duration. An everlasting covenant means a covenant which had no beginning, and which shall never, never end. How sweet amidst all the uncertainties of life, to know that “the foundation of the Lord standeth sure,” and to have God’s own promise, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” Like dying David, I will sing of this, even though my house be not so with God as my heart desireth.

What Is A Saint?

Romans 1:7 "...who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." (NIV Bible)

In my quiet time this morning, I began reading in Romans, and as I thought about verse 7, I wondered what the word "saint" meant. I've heard this word almost all my life, and it's mentioned in the Bible several times both in Old and New Testaments. I had a pretty good idea what it meant--those of us who believe in Jesus Christ. But still I wondered what the difference was between a believer and a saint, if any. This morning I looked it up in the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

The dictionary had much to say, but what really struck me were these words: "To be a saint is a present reality when a believer seeks to let the Spirit form Christ within."

I've been thinking about that ever since I read it. Especially the words, "let the Spirit form Christ within." Shouldn't this be the goal of all believers? I have really felt convicted about this. Am I letting the Spirit form Christ within me? I want to. I need to. And this morning I prayed for God to help me let the Spirit do His job. My life, my well-being, depends on my letting go of how I think life should be or how I think I should be treated. And after I let go, I need to grab onto Jesus and not let go, trusting in the Lord's will and in His love for me. He is faithful, ever-present, His love is unfailing, and His will for me is good, pleasing, and perfect.

Let the Spirit form Christ within....

A Prayer for Stress and Anxiety

Found this prayer that I thought might help someone.

Bible Studies and Books: A List

In response to an email recently, I listed some Bible studies and some books that I have read that speak to anxiety and I thought I would list as many of them as I can remember here on my blog in case someone else might be interested. Although Bible study, an active prayer life, and my Scriptures were my first line of defense against panic, I began reading Christian nonfiction books to encourage myself in my walk with the Lord and also to learn all I could about staying out of the pit of panic and depression. If you would like to share books that have helped you, please feel free to list them in a comment. :)



1. Bible studies by Beth Moore: Believing God, Breaking Free, Living Beyond Yourself, A Woman’s Heart, God’s Dwelling Place; Bible study by Jennifer Rothschild: Me, Myself, & Lies

2. Loving God with All Your Mind by Elizabeth George

3. The Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer

4. The Spirit-Controlled Woman by Beverly LaHaye

5. The Spirit-Filled Temperament by Tim LaHaye

6. The Psychology of Jesus

7. Boundaries by Cloud/Townsend

8. The Three Battlegrounds by Francis Frangipane

9. Hind’s Feet on High Places by Hurnard (This is a fiction book and a Christian classic whose main character is called, “Much-Afraid”. I identified with her very much.)

10. The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer

11. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

12. Who Switched Off My Brain?

13. Ruthless Trust, by Brennan Manning

14. The Celebration of Discipline by Foster

15. Fearless by Max Lucado