{"id":750,"date":"2014-04-24T20:30:03","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T01:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christiancrier\/?p=750"},"modified":"2015-07-24T09:43:03","modified_gmt":"2015-07-24T14:43:03","slug":"5-prayers-to-help-with-anxiety-or-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christiancrier\/2014\/04\/24\/5-prayers-to-help-with-anxiety-or-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Prayers to Help With Anxiety or Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

What prayers can we use to help us deal with our anxieties or stress?\u00a0 What examples can we find in the Bible? \u00a0How can you write your own prayer or psalm?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David, Man of Stress and Anxieties<\/span><\/h2>\n

If ever there were a man who had to deal with constant stress and anxieties, it was David during his flight for his life from Saul.\u00a0 King Saul was relentless in his pursuit of David and some estimates were that this was a 15 to 20 year chase! Imagine that, running for your life for nearly two decades and David was literally running for his life.\u00a0 He lived in caves, hid in the deserts, played a mad man one time, and had to constantly be on the move.\u00a0 These difficult times were when he wrote many of the psalms.\u00a0 Some of these psalms are more like cries for help than they are prayers but these make excellent prayer sources and God loves it when we pray back the words of God to Him for they are inspired by Him.<\/p>\n

Psalm 86:1-5<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

\u201cIncline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,\u00a0for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly; <\/span>save your servant, who trusts in you\u2014you are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord\u00a0for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,\u00a0abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;\u00a0listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you\u00a0for you answer me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Some believe this may not be David\u2019s prayer but regardless, it is inspired by God as are all of the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16<\/a>).\u00a0 Whoever it is, we know that the psalmist is crying out to God and sees himself as being poor and in need, as are all humans.\u00a0 We need God in our lives. This man was a servant and he trusts in God.\u00a0 To trust God is to know that He will do what is best for us and will listen (incline His ear) and will answer us. His love, goodness, forgiveness and steadfast love are for \u201call who call upon\u201d Him.\u00a0 In your day of trouble, just call out to Him and He will answer you.<\/p>\n

Psalm 18:6, 16-19<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

\u201cIn my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. He sent from on high, he took me;\u00a0he drew me out of many waters. \u00a0He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. \u00a0He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Distress comes to all people, including those who are saved and those who are not.\u00a0 The difference is that God delights in those who are His own children and we have the great privilege of calling \u201cupon the Lord\u201d because He is your God. The psalmist cried out loud for help here.\u00a0 The Hebrew word for \u201ccried out\u201d \u201cshava\u201d which means \u201cshout\u201d or to \u201ccry out loud\u201d for help and so we see this as a loud wailing and not a simple inaudible prayer.\u00a0 God wants us to cry out.\u00a0\u00a0 The psalmist has the assurance that he will hear his voice and knows that his cry \u201creached His ears.\u201d \u00a0You can have that assurance too because you know that your prayer is heard.\u00a0 \u00a0He hears you and your cries touch His heart like a baby\u2019s cry touches the heart of a mother.\u00a0 He will support you in your calamity, and rescue you.\u00a0 You must believe that He cares for you.\u00a0 Pour out your heart to Him.<\/p>\n

Psalm 4:1, 3, 5-8<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

\u201cAnswer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!\u00a0You have given me relief when I was in distress. \u00a0Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. Offer right sacrifices,\u00a0and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say, \u201cWho will show us some good? \u00a0Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord! You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. \u00a0<\/span><\/sup>In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here the psalmist asks for an answer and there is urgency in his words.\u00a0 We often have a sense of urgency when we are hit with various trials.\u00a0 The situation may seem impossible but nothing is too hard for God (Jer 32:17<\/a>). The psalmist acknowledges that he received an answer, and so must we when He answers us as it says that He has \u201cgiven me relief when I was in distress.\u201d\u00a0 Put your \u201ctrust in the Lord\u201d and you can \u201clie down and sleep\u201d because He makes you \u201cdwell in safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psalm 31: 1-5, 7-8<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;\u00a0let me never be put to shame;\u00a0in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me;\u00a0rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me,\u00a0a strong fortress to save me! I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction;\u00a0you have known the distress of my soul,\u00a0and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I love the wording where he writes that he takes refuge in God and asks for deliverance.\u00a0 This deliverance is not a cry for salvation but one of a physical deliverance.\u00a0 Are you seeking deliverance from an illness, persecution, financial troubles or from all three of these?\u00a0 You can rejoice for God is a \u201cstrong fortress\u201d and His love is a \u201csteadfast love\u201d and you can rest assured that He has seen your affliction and has \u201cknown the distress of\u201d your soul.\u00a0 He will set your \u201cfeet in a broad place\u201d meaning that He will set you on a firm foundation and the ultimate foundation is Jesus Christ, the Solid Rock (1 Cor 10:4<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Conclusion \u2013 Write you Own Psalm or Prayer<\/span><\/h2>\n

Why not write out your own psalm or prayer.\u00a0 Put pen to paper or keyboard to a document and spill it all out to God.\u00a0 When you are in distress, cry out loud to God in private.\u00a0 Find a secluded place somewhere, maybe out in the country, then just as a child cries out to their mother or father, and cry out to God because He is more compassionate and loving than any parent could ever be.\u00a0 Spare nothing and just lay it all out to God.\u00a0 Pour out your heart and tell Him how you feel, what you\u2019re in desperate need\u00a0 of, and trust Him for He will incline His ear to those children of His who have been born again (John 3:3) which is literally \u201cborn from above.\u201d\u00a0 If you are not born again, then God will not hear you.\u00a0 Many are brought to Christ because they are broken and God is near the brokenhearted and those who are of a contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18).\u00a0 Put your trust in Christ today and become a child of God (Rom 10:9-13).\u00a0 Then you can rest at night and sleep in peace, for God will listen to your prayers and help you with any anxiety or stress that\u00a0 you may have because He knows we are only dust and like a father, He pities those who are His own children (Psalm 103).<\/p>\n

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts<\/a><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>Article by Jack Wellman<\/span><\/h2>\n

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know<\/a>\u00a0whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer\u2019s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus<\/a> or check out his book\u00a0 Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What prayers can we use to help us deal with our anxieties or stress?\u00a0 What examples can we find in the Bible? \u00a0How can you write your own prayer or psalm? David, Man of Stress and Anxieties If ever there were a man who had to deal with constant stress and anxieties, it was David […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1485,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[192,19,193,1580,191],"class_list":["post-750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayers","tag-anxiety","tag-bible","tag-david","tag-prayers","tag-stress"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Prayers to Help With Anxiety or Stress<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What prayers can we use to help us deal with our anxieties or stress?\u00a0 What examples can we find in the Bible? \u00a0How can you write your own prayer or\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christiancrier\/2014\/04\/24\/5-prayers-to-help-with-anxiety-or-stress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Prayers to Help With Anxiety or Stress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What prayers can we use to help us deal with our anxieties or stress?\u00a0 What examples can we find in the Bible? 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