Do you ever hear a song that you fall in love with? When I find a song I enjoy, I immediately head to Amazon, download the song and play it over and over. I set it to “repeat” and the same song just keeps looping. It drives my kids crazy! They beg me to stop playing the same song over and over.

Anxious thoughts work the same way. We set our minds to the very things we fear and play those thoughts over and over. Let me say it another way…we are “meditating” on anxious thoughts. The problem with this is the anxiety grows stronger and stronger as we meditate on them. Now the anxiety (more on anxiety here) has grown stronger and we feel weaker. We experience powerlessness over our own thoughts.

Here is the truth- we have a choice in what we meditate on. A little more truth- we can’t think 2 thoughts at the same time. A lot more truth-God’s Word speaks to our fears. We can choose to mediate on truth, squashing the fear. When we meditate on God’s Word instead of anxiety, we are retraining our brain to think new thoughts. I’m not going to say it’s easy, but it’s definitely worth the work.

The Battle Plan:

1. Each day choose a verse and write it on a 3×5 card. Spend the day meditating on the verse and thanking God for who He is and His promises in the verse.
2. Designate a time of worry. You heard that right. Telling you not to worry might feel like telling you not to breathe! So set some time aside and pray those worries up to God. Cast them on Him!
3. Oh! And ask God to help you with any unbelief in His promises (more on that here). Unbelief doesn’t change Him or His promises, but it can diminish your experience of a life lived for Him.

Verses:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ~1 Peter 5:7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. ~John 14:27

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. ~Isaiah 41:10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. ~Philippians 4:13

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ~Proverbs 3:5

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. ~2Timothy 1:7

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. ~Isaiah 26:3

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~Jeremiah 29:11

For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. ~Isaiah 41:13

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” ~Matthew 11:28-30

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD. ~Romans 8:38-39

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. ~Psalm 56:3