Watch Anxious for Nothing Video Bible Study

"Where is God?" is one of the first and most common questions we ask when facing life's storms. God never promised a life without storms. But he promised to be with us when we face them. As we do our part - rejoice in the Lord, pursue a gentle spirit, pray about everything, cling to gratitude - God does his part...he builds a fortress of peace around our hearts and our minds.

Our primary call to action in the fight against anxiety is prayer. The power of prayer is not in chanting the right formula or quoting some secret code, but in the heart of the one praying. God is not manipulated or impressed by formulas or eloquence, but he is moved by sincere requests. As his children, we honor him when we tell him exactly what we need.

A gentle person reacts to stress with steadiness and fairness. We can choose to pick up every disappointment, stress or frustration that is tossed our way, or we can choose not to. We not only have the choice of how we will perceive trials, but how we will react to them. Contagiously calm people trust that God is always in control and encourage others around them that everything will be okay.

Anxiety is not so much the onslaught of a storm as the continual threat that one is coming. When we don't have peace in our Christian life, we assume the problem is within us, which leads us to feel guilty. But while the presence of anxiety is unavoidable, the prison of anxiety is optional. The prescription for anxiety is to "rejoice in the Lord." This is not a call to a feeling but to a decision.