Life can be quite stressful and it is normal to have occasional bouts of anxiety. When this happens, I find it quite helpful to turn to my Bible and find a verse to pray over. In the last month, I have been struggling with stress induced insomnia and after many nights of not falling asleep until 3am, I decided to spend a full day absorbing God’s word. Philippians 4:8 was the verse that restored my normal sleep patterns!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

Sometimes negative thoughts overwhelm us and our focus cannot be distracted from them. Our minds spin in circles and we find ourselves in a downward spiral deep into darkness. It is only when we come up for air and find a way to redirect our thoughts that we find a way of escape. Let’s explore some practical steps rooted in faith to overcome anxiety so that we can find peace and joy!

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:4-9 (ESV)

Rejoice

The first piece of advice we receive from these verses is to rejoice. When bad things are happening to us, it is easy to tell ourselves that our situation is too hard, but we need to remember that in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV), we are promised that we will not be tempted beyond our ability. If we truly believe this verse, there will be a way to escape any temptation that is thrown towards us. Finding a way to rejoice might be a fantastic starting point for restoring peace and joy!

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)

While we may not be able to go straight from the source of our anxiety to rejoicing in our anxiety, similar to what Paul did in Colossians 1:24, we can at least start with something not related to our anxiety. Do we have a roof over our head? Rejoice! Do we have food on the table? Rejoice! Did we receive a phone call from a beloved Aunt? Rejoice! Praising God for the good things in our lives is never a bad thing.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.

Colossians 1:24 (ESV)

Be Reasonable

Now that we have found something to rejoice over, we can move on to being reasonable. So often, our anxieties stem from irrational fears. Did we say something that might have offended someone? It is only natural to imagine the worst possible outcome. Did someone unfairly criticize our performance at work? Maybe we are plotting revenge.

The key is to reign in our thoughts and bring ourselves back to what is, rather than what might be. When we bring rational thought in, we can focus our thoughts on how to apologize, or how to appropriately resolve our work situation in a manner more befitting of Christ. Being reasonable solves so many problems!

Do Not Be Anxious

Once we have found something to rejoice over and have returned to reasonable thought, it should be much easier to temporarily let go of our anxiety.

Of course, it may not be entirely possible to do this on our own, so we should consider which resources God has placed at our disposal. Remember that balancing spiritual practices with professional help is not a sign of weakness or lack of faith, but a sign of wisdom. If anxiety persists, consider seeking professional guidance in addition to faith-based approaches.

Pray and Supplicate

Even if there is still some anxiety that remains, at this point, we can turn to God in prayer and supplication. When something goes wrong, it is often helpful to talk to someone, and who better to turn to than your best friend. When we make God our best friend, good things happen. God is patient, God is kind. He always has an open ear.

Rather than dwelling in negativity indefinitely, we can bring our concerns to God, then we can leave them there. We can pray for ourselves and anyone else involved in the situation. There is nothing that we can say that will turn God away, and if we let him, he will always give us comfort. Without prayer, it can be quite challenging to find true peace and joy.

Be Thankful

After this conversation with God, we can then find something in the situation to be thankful about. Maybe it is simply that we had the opportunity to converse with our best friend, God.

Then we can find something else to be thankful for. Maybe we can be thankful that our attention was drawn to a personal sin that we can now fix. Or maybe we can be thankful that we have the opportunity to show our coworker how gracious we can be when we were unfairly called out at work.

If you can’t muster up any gratitude, repeat the rejoice, be reasonable, don’t be anxious, and pray cycle until we can find something to be thankful for.

Receive Peace

Once we do complete the full cycle through this passage, we are now ready to begin the process of receiving God’s peace. It may take many iterations, but if we persist, eventually complete and lasting peace will come. To see how this complete transformation happens, let’s reread Philippians 4:8-9.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9 (ESV)

When allow God to impart peace into our lives, we will be able to focus on truth, honor, justice, purity, beauty, excellence, and worthiness. These are the thoughts that will keep the anxiety away and begin to replace it with peace and joy! Verse 9 assures us of this. What a great promise!

Reflection Questions

Consider the following reflection questions

  1. Can you recall a specific time when turning to a source of comfort, like the Bible, helped you navigate a challenging situation?
  2. Of the practical steps suggested, which one resonates with you the most? How might you incorporate it into your life during moments of anxiety?
  3. Reflect on a recent challenging circumstance. Can you find something to be thankful for within that situation? If not, how might adopting a cycle of rejoicing, being reasonable, avoiding anxiety, and praying help cultivate gratitude?
  4. How can faith and rationality work together in overcoming anxiety? Are there situations where you’ve successfully integrated both approaches?
  5. What are your thoughts on the idea of balancing spiritual practices with professional help in times of persistent anxiety? How might you approach seeking both sources of support?
  6. Consider the qualities mentioned in Philippians 4:8 (truth, honor, justice, purity, beauty, excellence, and worthiness). How might focusing on these qualities contribute to your peace of mind?
  7. Reflect on a time when negative thoughts overwhelmed you. How did you manage to redirect your thoughts and find a way to escape the downward spiral? How can you apply those lessons and the lessons from this passage to future situations?

Reflective Prayer

Use this Bible verse to pray using the ACTS method: Adoration, Confession, Thankfulness, Supplication

  • Adoration: Praise God. Does this verse bring any specific characteristics of God to mind?
  • Confession: Tell God that you are sorry for specific sins. Does this verse bring any specific sins to mind?
  • Thankfulness: Show gratitude towards God. Does anything from this verse inspire gratitude?
  • Supplication: Make requests for yourself and for others. Does anything from this verse inspire a prayer?

If helpful, you can use a prayer journal template.

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English Standard Version (ESV): Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.