Anxious Today? Stop, Drop & Pray

Did you know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. and affects 40 million adults? I identify with that because I too was plagued with worry and anxiety, frequently overeating to stuff my feelings down. Part of my healing was learning to rely on God to help me manage my negative emotions. When I wrote my initial draft of Take Back Your Temple, I had a section on overcoming temptation. One of the tips was to "Stop, Drop & Pray." You might know that children are taught they should "Stop, Drop & Roll" if their clothes catch on fire. In like manner, when your life is on fire and you are anxious about any situation, great or small, your automatic reaction should be to "Stop, Drop & Pray." In other words, take a moment to acknowledge the negative emotion you are feeling (stop), humbly acknowledge your need for God (drop), and ask God for help in your situation (pray). You can "Stop, Drop & Pray" anytime and anywhere. The "Drop" does not mean you need to get on your knees or even lower your head or eyelids. Instead, it is a position of the heart. In humility, you recognize God's power and your total dependence on Him to get you through life. Philippians 4:6-7 gives this prescription for anxiety:

Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus.

So be anxious for nothing, but pray about everything...with thanksgiving! Now you might wonder...how can you be thankful when you don't know if God is going to answer your prayer? I used to wonder that. But I got a revelation on how you can be thankful even before you see your prayer answered:

1. If you ask according to a promise or word that God has already spoken in the bible, then you know that the answer to your prayer is "yes". In John 15:7, Jesus said: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you." What an amazing promise!
2. God knows what you are going to ask before you ask it because he knows everything. He is just waiting for you to acknowledge your need for Him.
3. Because God already knows you are going to ask, he has already answered "yes" in the spiritual if it agrees with His word.
4. So you can thank God on the basis of that "yes" even before you see the answer manifested in the natural!

Whenever you feel anxious or feel any negative emotion such as anger, depression, envy, worry and others, "Stop, Drop & Pray." Study the bible so you can learn about God's promises and ask more effectively for what you need according to His word. If you have a story of answered prayer to share, please send it to me and I will post it on our site. Be blessed with health, healing, and wholeness, Kimberly Taylor Author/Christian Life Coach of the Take Back Your Temple program P.S. When it comes to weight loss, do you often know what you should do but have a hard time doing it? I struggled with this issue on my own weight loss journey, but I discovered that “Nothing is different until you think differently.” The value of the Take Back Your Temple program is that you will learn how to think differently through using Biblical keys to overcome obstacles. You’ll discover how to win the Spiritual and mental battle that often causes us to become inconsistent and get off-track on our weight loss journey. Join a community of like-minded Christians losing weight and keep it off. Click here to learn more about the Take Back Your Temple program