3 Prayerful Steps to Turn Anxiety to Peace
I share the story of an experience I had when I was completely overwhelmed thinking about the super-busy schedule I had the next day and how God taught me the exact steps to take to replace anxiety with peace.
Episode Discussion Points
Story of me feeling anxious when I looked at my busy, packed schedule.
3 steps I took during prayer which completely changed my anxiety to peace
3 Steps to Move Anxiety to Peace
Pray & Share how you are feeling, and ask God to help you change
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.” —Psalm 139:23
Ask God to help you see it through the lens of gratitude
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”—1 Thessalonians 5:18
Invite angels to be with you
“For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”—Psalm 91:11
#tamarakanderson #storiesofhopeinhardtimes #podcast #hope #God #hardtimes #anxiety #stress #worry #prayer #gratitude #angels #steps #lesson #story
Transcription
You can find the transcription of today's episode here:
Tamara Anderson 0:03
Have you ever felt anxious or stressed about an event that is looming in the future? How will play out what you're supposed to do? And the jumble of nerves just builds and builds and builds inside of you? What do you do to shift that anxiety and stress to PCED? Today we're going to talk about three steps. Stay tuned.
Tamara Anderson 0:30
Welcome to Stories of Hope in Hard Times, the show that explores how people endure and even thrive in difficult times, all with God's help. I'm your host Tamara K Anderson. Join me on a journey to find inspiring stories of hope and wisdom learned in life's hardest moments.
Tamara Anderson 0:55
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the stories of hope in hard times podcast. I'm your host, Tamara K Anderson. And on today's Tamara's takeaway, I want to take you to an event in my life that happened not very long ago. S
Tamara Anderson 1:12
So recently, it seems like somebody has pushed the fast forward button on my life, like everything seems to have gone from the kind of the slow down calm that we had during COVID, to pushing the fast forward button, I launched a booklet in the Fall-Winter, my son got married, I joined a new accountability group that is requiring more of my time and attention. And my days have gone from being semi flexible to Okay, you've got to fit these things in, and how are you going to do it? And there's been days where I'm literally going from one thing back to back to back to back. And I've still got to take care of my son Nathan with low functioning autism downstairs. And so it's juggling that.
Tamara Anderson 2:01
And my days have just been filled with good things. But some days, I look at the next day, and I start to have anxiety. And for those of you that don't know, Tamra has struggles with anxiety, okay? And I learned a really important thing, about a month or two ago, where I was looking at the next day, and it was it was one of those, you've got this at nine, you've got this at 10. You've got this at 11. You've got this at 12:30. And it was just back to back to back meetings and things that I need to do record this podcast be in this accountability group, do this do this. And I remember looking at that day, and it was kind of one of those moments where I looked at the next day, and I just thought I don't want to do tomorrow.
Tamara Anderson 2:59
And I remember just thinking, I'm feeling so stressed. And of course, this always happens for me, especially late at night, because I'm worn out from the current day's events.
Tamara Anderson 3:13
And I remember just pausing at that moment. And I bowed my head in prayer. And I kind of poured my heart out to God. And I said, I am feeling very stressed right now. I'm feeling like I don't want to do tomorrow. And I know that's not the outlook I need to have. And so I kind of vented all how I was feeling about everything that was going on in my life that it was getting more busy, and that they were good things. But right now I'm feeling really stressed. And I don't want to feel this way. And I need you to help me know what steps I need to take so that I can change this anxiety, and feel peace and feel excited about tomorrow.
Tamara Anderson 4:02
And so as I was pouring all this out to God, one of the thoughts that popped into my mind was to look at the next day through the lens of gratitude. And so even though I was still praying, I opened my eyes and I looked at my calendar, and I went meeting by meeting. And that first meeting, I am thankful for that meeting because I get to meet within my accountability group and what a blessing it is. I love those people. And here's why I'm really thankful for that. And then I looked at the next one, and this one, I'm doing some coaching. And I love meeting with this particular person because they're absolutely amazing. And I'm so excited to meet with them. And this one, I'm meeting with my business mentor, and here's why I'm thankful and excited for that. And then I went to the next meeting and here I'm getting this and doing this training. And here I'm doing a podcast interview and I'm so excited to do that podcasts interview. And I just went through the day. And I seriously looked at each and every individual thing that I had going on, and looked at it with that lens of gratitude.
Tamara Anderson 5:19
And then the next thought that came to me was now pray for angels to be with you. And I did. And all of a sudden, that anxious feeling that I had been feeling just moments before that was so overwhelming and so consuming. It had completely disappeared. And I was left just with this complete feeling of peace.
Tamara Anderson 5:53
And I remember closing the prayer and just being Wow, is that how that's supposed to work. And so it's like, Oh, my goodness, I need to share this, I need to share this with people because it was such a powerful learning experience. And I've repeated it since. And it has just changed the way I look at my busy schedule. From taking care of my son with autism, okay, I've got to make sure that I feed him breakfast and how grateful I am that I have food. And then I get to help him get showered and dressed for the day, and then get him set up with his book in his puzzle. And I just have started looking at every event in my day cooking dinner, doing laundry, through the lens of gratitude, and inviting angels to be with me.
Tamara Anderson 6:49
And so I want to submit those three steps to you, for you to consider in your life. When you're feeling stressed. Anxious, like, what do I do this, this next thing seems so overwhelming. I invite you first to pray and vent everything out to God. Tell him exactly how you're feeling. If you're feeling angry, if you're feeling upset, if you're feeling anxious, tell all those feelings to God. He knows them anyway. Right? So it's not going to be any big secret or surprise to him. I love the verse in Psalm 139:23, where he says, Search me O God and know my heart. try me and know my thoughts. Isn't that beautiful? I love that. He knows exactly what we're thinking exactly what we're feeling. But if we want his help to change it, we've got to talk to him. So open that discussion with him in prayer. Here's how I'm feeling. I don't want to feel this way anymore. Will you please help me? I've had this even work when I'm feeling angry. And I know I need to forgive and I don't feel like forgiving. But I asked him to help me do it anyway. So it works.
Tamara Anderson 8:07
Invite God in when you're feeling those emotions that are strong, and you need to get them out. He is a great person to vent to. And he can help you change those emotions and kind of bring you back to center. Bring you back to peace.
Tamara Anderson 8:27
Second step is looking at things through the lens of gratitude. Do exactly what I did look at those things that are stressing you out that are causing you anxiety, and ask God to help you look at each of those stressors through the lens of gratitude. A quick verse that goes along with gratitude. In First Thessalonians chapter five, verse 18, it says, In everything give thanks for this is the will of God and Jesus Christ concerning you. So be thankful. I had a really interesting experience a couple of years ago when I was reading a book called, I think it was Power in Praise. And it talked about being grateful for all things, even the things that are super hard, like trials and bad things that have happened to us. And I remember afterwards kneeling down after reading that book and kneeling down and I had one of the most heartfelt prayers to God that I have ever had. And it was thanking him for every hard thing that I had ever been through and thanking him for the hard things that those I love have ever been through. And I just wept and wept and wept and it was almost like God was just giving me this giant hug and it was the most hot heart warming experience I've had in a really long time.
Tamara Anderson 10:05
And it was almost like God was saying, I love you. And I know those things were hard for you. And I know you don't feel very grateful for them. But I'm thankful that you're thankful that they gave you the experiences in your life that have led you to this point, that those trials are part of your journey, and they have made you who you are. And so even the hard things in life that are looming that were like, I don't want to do that. Pray to look at it through the lens of gratitude, find something to be thankful for there. And if you can't be thankful for that particular event that's looming, ask God to help you to feel peace about it, at least until you get through it.
Tamara Anderson 10:53
And that brings us to that third step that inviting angels to be with you. Oh, it is such a miracle, to be able to invite angels to be with you and stand by you while you are going through difficult things in your life. I love the verse in Psalm 91:11, that says For he shall give His angels charge over the to keep the in all thy ways. And I love two things about that verse, He gives His angels charge over us. And they keep us in all our ways. So wherever we are, they can be with us. But I think sometimes we have to invite them to go with us into those hard things. They're not gonna like, stand in our way and barricade us from doing something stupid. Sometimes we just have to learn the hard way. But I have felt angels with me when I have invited angels to be with me. It's not that I see them. It's just that I feel more of a peace in my life. And so I invite you to invite angels into your life as well, especially when you're feeling stressed or worried or concerned. And they can be with you and stand by you, perhaps when you're feeling alone. And like nobody else can go with you through that particular trial or challenge or moment.
Tamara Anderson 12:26
So just to wrap it up really quick. I am thankful for the power prayer, I'm thankful to know that God cares about me and about you enough, that if we're feeling frustrated, or stressed or anxious about something, that He will teach us the process we need to go through to get through it. And hopefully that includes first talking to him about how you're feeling and what you want to do to change it. Second, looking at things through the lens of gratitude, and third, inviting God's angels to be with you. They are an amazing and powerful resource. You can call upon Him, you can call upon those angels to be with you so that you do not feel alone.
Tamara Anderson 13:11
All right, my friends, I hope that helps you today. And that you too can be able to move from anxiety to peace, in the difficult stages of your life, wherever you may be. Remember, you're not alone, and that God loves you. Hope on.
Tamara Anderson 13:27
Hey guys, have you started thinking about Mother's Day yet? Every Mother's Day I am looking for a card or something a gift to give my mom, my sisters, my friends. And it's hard for me to sometimes find those gifts. And so today I'm so excited to tell you about this booklet The mother's might it's a perfect simple, inexpensive gift you can give your friends, your family, your sisters, anyone that you want to share this story with. And it will be meaningful. It's not just a little piece of candy that they eat and forget. It's something they can read over and over again. Because so often we as women feel alone and overwhelmed and burdened and like there's so many things weighing upon our shoulders. And what I love about this story is that it points us to Jesus Christ in our times of trouble, that he understands us. He loves us. He knows what we're going through and he is more than willing to help us bear that burden. And I love that about this story that it gives not only me hope, but it will convey that sense of hope for all of you. So get your copy of it today. TamaraKAnderson.com.store, you can order one to 10,20 however many you want, and we will get those to you so you can get them distributed by Mother's Day.
Tamara Anderson 14:58
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's show. If you like what you heard, subscribe so you can get your weekly dose of powerful stories of hope. I know there are many of you out there who are going through a hard time, and I hope you found useful things that you can apply to your own life in today's podcast. If you'd like to access the shownotes of today's show, please visit my website stories of hope podcast.com. There you will find a summary of today's show, the transcript and one of my favorite takeaways. You know, if someone kept coming to mind during today's episode, perhaps that means that you should share this episode with them. Maybe there was a story shared or quote, or a scripture verse that they really, really need to hear. So go ahead and share this podcast. May God bless you, especially if you are struggling with hope to carry on and the strength to keep going when things get tough. Remember to walk with Christ and He will help you bear the burden. And above all else, remember, God loves you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai