Anxious thoughts

There are several things you can do to help with anxiety.

• Make sure you’re not battling by yourself – make sure trustworthy friends know about the struggle and ask for prayer.
• Pray. It’s amazing to know that God always listens to our prayers. He may not answer in exactly the way you want him to, but He does care and He promises to protect you and provide what you need (Col. 4:2; 1 Th. 5:16-18; James 5:13-18).
• Ready yourself each day by remembering the gospel and preparing for spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:14-19).
• Contact a pastor in your local church. If you don’t currently go to church, ask a Christian you trust about the good churches in your local area. We recommend carefully selecting a local church before seeking pastoral help.
• Use cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help reflect on your thoughts. CBT is a type of psychotherapy. The research behind CBT identified 17 distorted automatic thoughts noticed by psychologists during sessions. A helpful page that outlines how to do CBT is Appendix 1: How to Do CBT from The Coddling of the American Mind. While the assumptions behind the development of CBT aren’t Christian, the technique can be useful for Christians in taking thoughts captive (2 Cor. 10:5) and developing self-control (1 Tim. 1:7). A helpful Christian assessment of CBT can be found on a GotQuestions.org page: What is cognitive-behavior therapy, and is it biblical?.
• Seek professional Christian mental health support. There are many good Christian mental health services in NSW and ACT. It is best to contact a minister at a good local church to find a good option near you. If you’re not sure what good churches are near you, you can contact the Christian services listed below:
  • Centre For Effective Living (Gordon Centre, Suite 2H Level 2/802-808 Pacific Hwy, Gordon NSW 2072) https://www.effectiveliving.com.au/
  • Hope 103.2 Careline: 02 7227 5533. Free to call. Available every day of the week between 9 am – 11 pm, including Public Holidays. This is a non-denominational Christian service open to anyone who would like prayer, or simply someone to talk to and a listening ear. https://hope1032.com.au/community/helpful-counselling-and-community-services/

Good further reading:

• Growing Yourself Up by Jenny Brown.