Anxiety in the Bible

Welcome And How To Support SPEAKER_00 0:00

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Why Fear Is So Universal SPEAKER_01 2:03

Thank you so much for joining us this series of these podcasts. You know, as we're looking at fear, we're doing about 10 podcasts, 10 chapters of the book that's out there as well. And we just want to let you know that fear is a very, very common, a very common emotion. So it doesn't matter what part of the world we're birthed, it doesn't matter what our criteria is, it doesn't matter where we come from, it doesn't matter if we're in faith or out of faith, doesn't matter how we look at life. Fear is extremely powerful, and it is so encouraging to know that the Bible really speaks about it a lot, 365 times. Jesus addresses it through the Old Testament, through the New Testament. But there's a really interesting part within the New Testament, you know, and thank you for joining us, you know, and uh the title of this podcast is Anxiety in the Bible. You know, these are quick-fired 30-minute podcasts, you know, quick chapter books that we're doing here. And this is just throwing a blanket out. This is just throwing a blanket out on that word fear, the word just running around the world at the moment. When you look at the situations of the world, when you look at everything that's kicking off around the world, whether you're in church, out of church, whatever your belief system may be in the world, you're just having a look at that word fear. It is very prominent, it's very real in many areas. Many of us live with it, many of us have experienced that, many of us have it on a daily basis, many of us may just deal with it as it comes and when it goes, but you know, it doesn't matter the colour of your skin, it doesn't matter your culture, it doesn't matter your background, it doesn't matter your education, it doesn't matter how much money you got, it doesn't matter or where you are from in this world. Fear hits every one of us at some point in our life. You know, some people really experience most and the majority of their lives living in fear, living in fear of the history, living in fear of the present, and living in fear of what may be. But what does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? Because that's what we're about on these podcasts, and we thank you for joining us across the world as you revisit these podcasts time and time again. But this is a really interesting title, the third one in the series that we are doing, Anxiety

Philippians 4 As A Practical Guide SPEAKER_01 4:09

in the Bible. So we're going to press in probably to one of the most famous scriptures dealing with fear and anxiety and worry and doubt and everything. It's quite a large text. It's coming from the book of Philippians, and it is chapter four, verses six through seven, and Paul provides these practical guidelines. You know, there are many people on medication, there are many people that are really down, there are many people that turn to recreational drugs, many people turn to alcohol, many people turn to gambling, many people actually run away from the church. I'm not saying running away from Jesus because there is something different between Jesus and church and religion, you know, and we want to encourage you wherever you are at this moment in time. If you are struggling with fear and anxiety and doubt, we want to encourage you, and I'm going to use that word a lot today. Encourage. We want to encourage you to stand strong. There is a way forward, and it is known as the gospels of Jesus Christ. It is known as the word of God. And God knows that we're fearful. God knows that we're doubtful. You know, but there are many areas of church, there are many areas of what we call the Pentecostal movements, many areas of the evangelical movements that will really tell us loud and clear that as you are a Christian, you shouldn't fear, doubt, worry, or anxiety. Well, the Bible addresses that 365 times in the congestion, the conscription of the Word of God. So we want to encourage you, wherever you are, to grab yourself a Bible right now, grab yourself a cup of tea, grab yourself a coffee, whether you're reading this through through the author's way, you know, through the through the word of God, whether you're reading this with us right now, or whether you're listening to us. So you might be sitting down reading this book, you might be in the third chapter of this book, and and we pray that it will touch you. You might be listening to the third podcast in this series of fear. But I want to take us to Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7. Paul provides practical guidance for those that are dealing with anxiety. And the scripture says this do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ. That is taken from the NIV from the New Testament, the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verses 6 and 7. There is a practical guide in there. The Bible says, Do not be anxious about anything. Isn't it easy to read that? It's easy to say that, it's easy to preach that, it's easy to tell someone else, do not be anxious about anything. But the practicality of us as human beings, as Bible-believing believers, as human beings, not to be anxious is a different drumbeat completely. What

What Anxiety Feels Like In Real Life SPEAKER_01 7:00

is anxiety? Where does it come from? What is it made up from? How does it start? You know, what does the Bible say about anxiety? What does the world say about anxiety? The Bible describes anxiety as a human response to the pressures and the uncertainties of life, often stemming from fear and worry and doubt about the future, the present, or the past. But the Bible addresses this through scripture. The only way that we can deal with anxiety, yeah, we thank God for the doctors, the nurses, we thank God for the pharmaceuticals and the helps that are out there, but then we question now, I'm just going to backpedal a minute. Is anxiety a basic emotion that is of the flesh? Or does it come from a different part? Does it come from a spiritual world that we can't see? Does it come from the area of the dark side? And you look at that out there, where does anxiety come from? What does the Bible talk about? Does it say that it's a natural emotion? When you look at all this stuff, you know, anxiety, can it be controlled? Can it be measured? We can't measure it. You know, anxiety is really, really powerful. It can come in like a click of a finger, it can come in like a like a wind just blowing down from nowhere. You know, the sun is out, the sun is shining, but suddenly something happens in the drumbeat in the circle of life, and all of a sudden, our natural response is to go into fear. And that that might be a place where we where we rise and get away from trouble, or suddenly we freeze. Have you ever had anxiety where it makes you freeze? But what does the Bible say? I've read that very interesting scripture out. We've had that out coming from the book of Philippians, you know, chapter four, that you know, that famous text that we've had, you know, it's really, really important for me as a Bible-believing believer to understand that Jesus tells me through the apostle Paul, do not be anxious about anything. But Paul and Jesus, I want to let you know it's easy to say it, but to put it into a practical rhythm of my life, Lord, what do I do? Paul says, by and in every situation, by prayer and petition, what does he mean? By request, Lord, I pray because prayer is powerful, prayer is bringing me to the presence and into the throne room of Christ. Prayer takes what? My focus off of the situation. Worship will take my focus off of the situation. But the Bible says in Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7, do not be anxious about anything. Anything actually means anything and everything. Don't worry about children, don't worry about relationship, don't worry about life, don't worry about your health, don't worry about the lack of, don't worry about food, don't worry about all the life's situations that are before you. But it's easy to read this stuff, but the practicality of it as a believer, as a human being, is is really difficult. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get hit with extreme anxiety. It just suddenly comes out of nowhere, and I have to really focus, I have to really concentrate, and I have to really draw on these scriptures. You know, I say, Thank you, Lord, right now, Lord, Lord, will you remove the fear? Will you remove the doubt? Do you do you sleep well or do you bounce in and out of sleep? Do you wake up literally in a pool of sweat? Do you wake up in fear? You know, there are many ways that that fear just comes into our bodies, even though we're sleeping, even though we're trying to rest, you know, fear can keep you awake, fear can absolutely exhaust you. Fear presents itself in so many different skins that we walk in. The passage of that text is dealing with with fear, you know, just isn't in the bulk side of things. It says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, in every life situation, don't be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. So whatever is going on in my head, my heart, my mind, my psychological processing, you know, my cognitive thinking in my heart, my mind, in my life. Whatever is bringing trouble to me, I've got to present that to God. How do I do that? It is through speaking, because speech is powerful. So what do I do? I say, Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, I'm worried about the children, Lord, I'm worried about finances, Lord, I'm worried about my life. Lord, I'm worried about living, I'm worried about dying. Lord, I'm I'm worried, dear God, about this exam I've got. I'm worried about work. I'm worried about financial pressure, I'm worried about the house, I'm worried about this, I'm worried about that. Whatever the request is, according to the word of God, God says, bring it to me. The Bible says, Come to me, all of you that are weary and heavily laden, and I will give you rest. We will find complete rest, complete freedom from fear, doubt, and anxiety in Jesus Christ. What we are basically looking at is here is how do I deal with anxiety in the Bible? How do I deal with this? I've got to come to God as a just as a human being, as a believer in Christ, and I've got to say, Father, I am anxious, I am worried, I am worried about financial pressure, I'm worried about my life, I'm worried the way that I feel. You know, social anxiety is enormous, health anxiety is enormous. There are so many areas of anxiety out there, you know, there are so many

How Anxiety Works In The World SPEAKER_01 12:44

areas. What is anxiety in the world? Anxiety is a natural human emotion that every one of us experiences in different times of our lives. It is typically, it arises, it comes by the response of maybe in a stressful situation, uncertain situations, public speaking, exams, you know, it is the same whether we're in faith or we're out of faith. There is a correlation. Anxiety, it seems to sit in the psychological and the emotional reaction to the areas of life, the threat and the challenges of just being a human being. So whether I'm I'm a believer or I'm not a believer, whether I'm a churchgoer or not a churchgoer, whatever my life is, it doesn't matter if we're in faith or we're out of faith, it doesn't matter what culture I come from, it doesn't matter the colour of my skin. Anxiety attacks the human being in many, many ways. You know, it can manifest itself in many ways, you know, through through fear, through doubt, through through lots of different areas, becoming really tired, really weary, you know, exhausted and just stressed out and very snappy and and very argumentative, and all the stuff that goes along anxiety is a disorder. It can develop into an anxious disorder, and then suddenly me worrying and me being doubtful then leads to overthinking. Overthinking leads to stress, stress leads to fear, fear leads to more anxiety. It's triggers, it just triggers itself. So I've got to find a place of where I can deal with these typical areas of life because life itself is an anxious way. Life itself, you know, brings challenges as human beings, whether we're children, whether we're young adults, whether we're in school, out of school, whether we're retired, not retired, whether we're working, we're not working, whatever our situation, you know, it is it is a chronic uh way of being overwhelmed. Anxiety overwhelms us, it brings stress and it interferes with our everyday life. Is stress, worry, and fear, and especially anxiety at the top of the tree, is that messing around with daily life? What are the trigger points? Have you ever measured it to find out what are the trigger points? You know, it can be a temporary response to stress, you know, getting angry. You know, then there are many ways to look at anxiety, there are many ways trying to measure it, but can it be measured? What does the medical world say about it? The medical and the psychological communities, there's lots of ways that they look at it. There are a few areas of anxiety, you know, worry or fear can range from mild symptoms from severe to very mild attacks, you know. We we sometimes get so used to being anxious, it becomes our normal. Do you want to live like this or do you want freedom? The Bible says you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. When anxiety becomes a chronic activity in our lives, and it is an activity, when it becomes chronic or overwhelming, it is classified as an anxiety disorder. There are many people on planet Earth that have anxiety disorders. And how does that present itself? What are the key insights? What does the medical world recognize?

Types Of Anxiety And Their Signs SPEAKER_01 16:08

How does it recognize these traits of anxiety? You know, we got generalized anxiety disorder, you know, GAD, you know, that that that wide label that goes across all cultures, all colours, all tribes, all tongues. This is one of the most common anxiety disorders. People suffering with this general anxiety disorders, you know, experience extensive, uncontrollable worry about everyday situation when there's little or no need to worry because we get in a cycle. It might be work, it might be health, it might be family issues, it might be just anxiety about being anxious within itself, you know. It can last a moment, it can last months, it can last days, it can last hours, and it is accomplished by physical symptoms. What is general anxiety disorder? What are the physical symptoms to this? We become restless, we get a lot of fatigue, difficult concentrating. And one of the real big things I think that we don't take much attention to is muscle tension. You know, and what about panic disorder? Have you ever had panic disorder where you're panicking, something is happening in life when panic actually comes into your bones? There is an attack of sudden, intense episodes of fear and discomfort and pain. It includes physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat. Have you ever had a rapid heartbeat when suddenly out of nowhere your heart is really beating, there's a shortness of breath, you're sweating, and have you ever felt dizzy through them sort of attacks? And you you almost feel like you're having an out-of-body experience. These attacks, these attacks, sorry, can occur uncontrollably and they just come out of nowhere. They lead people to avoid situations, you know. Fear and anxiety is so, so dangerous. You know, you've got panic disorders, you've got general anxiety disorders, GAD, and then you've got that other one. Have you do suffer with social anxiety disorders? You know, do you suffer with people around you? Are you worried? Is there a social anxiousness about your life, an anxiety disorder which involves being around people, being judged, being embarrassed, being illuminated, you know, and in certain areas of life, you know, and uh social networks and all that sort of stuff. People with these disorders may avoid social events and all that, even church, you know. Have you ever had that feeling of church? I don't want to go to church and there's too many people here, and I I can't face the commute, I don't want to go to school, I don't want to go to the lecture hall, there's too many people. Avoid public speeding, speaking, sorry, or meetings, even meeting new people or or or just trying to avoid certain social areas of life, you know, certain phobias as well, you know, fear and anxiety, doubt, worry, all this sort of stuff, it opens up the door, it opens up so much of a door to so much stuff. And when you study this and you look at this, and I know we're looking at this through the eyes of faith, we're looking at this through eyes of the word of God, you know. But as we look at it as spirit-filled believers as the John 3 3, you know, brothers and sisters of faith, you know, it affects people that don't even have a faith. Because when you look at all these traits that anxiety has, it hits the believer and also it hits the non-believer. It is really powerful. Anxiety is extremely strong and it is dangerous, it affects our body, it affects our mind, it it changes our vision and our perception of life. You know, what about phobias? Do you have any phobias? Is there anything in your life that you are irritated with? Fears, objects, situations, heights, spiders, flying. You know, people with phobias, you know, go to great lengths to avoid certain areas of life, to avoid the fear and all that stuff that goes along with it. These are just a few areas that we're just touching on these 30-minute podcasts, but fear we could talk forever and a day. Anxiety we could talk forever and a day. We could podcast forever and a day, you know, we could write chapters and chapters and chapters of of books and literature, but this is just a quick fire and overview. You know, we're not going deep, we're just throwing open the envelope of the word fear and anxiety and worry. And what does God say? What does the Bible say? What is what is fear and what is anxiety, whether you look at it through the eyes of the world or through the eyes of a Bible-believing believer. And then we then we hit another really big word

Triggers, Trauma And The People Around Us SPEAKER_01 20:49

that is trending around the the world at this moment, you know, post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, you know, we're pretty familiar with that. There is a lot of that that is going on, and that can develop in a person for experience of witnessed traumatic traumatic events, combat, you know, someone that's been in the wartime, you know, situations, natural disasters or assault, sexual situations, you know, through through family, through life, through abuse, all this sort of stuff. Symptoms, you know, you can have flashbacks, nightmares, hypertensitivity, all that sort of stuff. That will lead to anxiety related to the trauma, the flashbacks. You know, are you in a toxic relationship as well? You know, we avoid this sort of conversation in the in the world of the church. Toxic people, toxic relationships, you know, all that sort of stuff, and culture as well. Culture is a very interesting thing. You know, culture brings a lot of stress, and culture brings a lot of pressure, you know, on human beings to perform, to act, to do, and to be. You know, and this is a big area where we see a lot of people that are caught in very high. Highly strong cultural traits suffer with a lot of post-traumatic stress disorder. You know, that that that really stirs that up. And there's so many other areas, you know. And what about OCD? Do you have OCD? You know, compulsive disorder. You, you know, when you look at that OCD, one of the big things that is very characterized in that is being obsessed, the behavior of cleaning, of the continuation of cleaning and and hygiene and and everything like that. Tins in the cupboard are perfect. This is placed this way. You know, compulsive disorder, OCD. There's so many ways that we can look at this. You know, the behaviors, the the mental activity, the compulsions in the mind. Have I locked the back door? Are the windows shut? You know, you get in the car, I've got to go back indoors, I've got to do this, I've got to check the door five times, I've got to check the window eight times. Uh, have I got my phone in my pocket? Have I got this? Have I got that? There are so many ways, but this is just really quick-fired stuff, you know. Then we can look at the factors of what are the trigger points. Is it genetic? Is it the chemistry in the brain and the structure of that? Is it the environmental stress around us? Is it personal factors? So there are a few areas. There are like personal factors, the environmental stress that is around us, you know, brain chemistry and structure. It are there imbalances in my mind, you know, the way that the chemistry that transmits signals to the brain, all that sort of stuff. Genetics as well. Is there a family history that plays a significant role in the development of my anxiety disorder? You know, anxiety, you know, runs through the thread of many, many human beings. You know, in in families, you know, we can look maybe at our families now and just reflect over, you know, history and say, yeah, my family, I can see that that certain areas and certain people within my family have had this. But what does the Bible say? I've got to come back to the Word of God. I've got to come back to the book of Philippians. God says through that great apostle in Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7, do not be anxious about anything. So the Bible is telling us, don't be anxious about the environment that is around you. Don't be anxious about your personal factors, don't be anxious about your chemistry and your brain and your structure and your health. Don't don't worry about the genetics, you know. So then the question we ask to ourselves, you know, what are these symptoms? What are these symptoms of being anxious? Anxiety disorders? What are they? What do they carry? You know, is it a constant worry of fear? Often worrying about the situation that is around us that is a trigger point. Figure f we got we got psychological and we got physical symptoms, such as a racing heart, you know, you've got shortage of breath, you're sweating, dizziness, trembling. You ever experience all that sort of stuff where you've been dizzy, you've been trembling, and you're you're you're sweating, your palms are sweating, your body is hot, your shortness of breath, your heart suddenly out of nowhere, suddenly accelerates, and you can feel that beat in your chest, and then suddenly you go, Am I gonna have an heart attack? Is there something wrong with me? Have I got a brain tumor? Am I unwell? You know, there are so many things in life that trigger anxiety, restlessness. Are you restless? Are you irritable? Do you have a lot of fatigue? Are you really tired? Do you avoid situations heavily placed, shopping centers? Are there areas in your life where human beings bring stress to you? And what about sleep? That's an area, you know, sleep disorders, you know, sleep disturbance. How many hours are we sleeping through the night? Do we keep waking up every hour, every two hours, three hours? Are we waking up alert? Are we waking up fearful? Are we waking up sweating and worrying about what the day holds for us? You know, our life activity needs to change. There are many of us across the world, whether we're in faith, we're out of faith, whatever life looks like, that we need to change the activity. And when we change the activity and the environment around us, what does it mean? It means looking at people in our lives. Are people bringing us to stress and anxiety? Does our life reflect stress and anxiety? What do the people in our lives actually do? What do they actually do? Are they bringing peace or are they bringing issues? If we've got people in our lives that are bringing us issues, what do we do about that? We've got to change the circles in which we walk in. Now I've just thrown open there the envelope, just so much stuff we've looked at, the causes and the factors of anxiety, genetics, brain chemistry, the structure, the environmental stress around us in just major life events, families, life, financial difficulties, traumas, experiences, all that sort of stuff, chronic stress, ongoing worries, personal factors in our lives and that sort of situation. Then we have to look at the the traits that are out there, the different areas of life. You know, OCD, have I got OCD? Have I got PTSD? You know, post-traumatic stress disorder. Was there an event in my life? Abuse, fear, doubt, a traumatic marriage, a traumatic childhood? Was there areas of my life that have triggered certain things? You know, have I got a phobia to certain areas of life? Have I got social anxiety disorder? Have I got panic disorder? There is so much to look out there, and that that one that we mentioned very, very briefly at the top of the hour was generalized anxiety disorder, GAD. You know, that is the one that is across the board. That can go from work to health to family issues, you know, all types of areas of life. You know, anxiety is very, very powerful. It is psychological, it is spiritual, and it is an emotion. So how do I

Scriptures For Peace And Closing Prayer SPEAKER_01 28:10

deal with it? What is the correct way? What is the way that the Bible says? The Bible is very, very clear. It says in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 7, cast all your anxieties onto him because he cares for you. Isn't it easy reading these scriptures? You know, we've just looked at so many areas of anxiety, just very fast and quick and fired. You know, you might need to read this chapter again, you might need to go back through this podcast again, but it comes down to faith and trust and prayer. It comes down to those three key areas of the word of God prayer, trust, and faith. The Bible says, be anxious for nothing. The Bible deals with these natural responses that we have built in to the chemistry of our life, but the majority of the stress and the anxiety and the fear that we experience is triggered from an outside experience. So the outside experience of life, have the people that I've got around me, are they encouragers or are they very toxic? Are they feeding me good stuff, positivity, joy, hope, or are they pulling me down? You know, people are critical to our emotions, anxiety is fueled by the outside environment. So how do I deal with this? The Bible is extremely clear. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, have you got people in your life that are causing you trouble? God's provision, God promises that he will provide for you. God tells us very clearly in Psalm 55, 22, David shares something very powerful. Read Psalm 52, you know, 22. Cast your cares onto the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken. David was a man, David was a king, David was a shepherd boy, David was a psalmist, David was a warrior, David was a fighter, David was a survivor, but David also experienced extreme anxiety, extreme levels of anxiety in his life, and God got him through. In the close of this podcast, as we duck out of this last part of this, whether you're reading this through right now, whether you're listening to this on the other side of the world, we pray here that God will lead you in paths of righteousness. But there's a beautiful scripture, there's a lovely scripture as we come to the close in John 14, verse 27. Peace I leave you. My peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, do not be afraid. You know, being afraid triggers fear. Fear triggers doubt. Doubt runs runs beside anxiety. Anxiety, doubt, and fear. Extremely powerful emotions. God's peace with you. Cast all your cares onto God. It is about reading the word of God, it is about trusting, it is about walking in the scripture, prayer and supplication. The scripture that we started off in this podcast and in this chapter that we have within this book is Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus. Wherever you are across the world, may the hand of God lead you. You know, thank you for joining us for this podcast. You know, Anxiety in the Bible. God bless you wherever you are in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Thank you for listening to us today on Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast. We hope you found inspiration and guidance in today's audio. Remember, the journey of faith is a continuous one, and your questions and thoughts are important. You can send us a text or an email, and we will get back to you. So wherever you are around the world, thank you for listening to our podcasts and radio ministry. For more information about our ministry, please find us on pastorbencooper.co.uk. Please support us with prayer. Also, you can sow a financial seed into this ministry. You can also leave us a legacy to support and continue the work of this radio ministry. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with others who might benefit. Until next time, stay blessed.