Defeating Anxiety: Moving from Panic to Power

This teaching is from the apostle Paul’s letter from prison to the church in Philippi. You’ll learn to defend against anxiety and depression utilizing both biblical and medical tools available to you.Digging into history, the message contrasts the positive power of words displayed by Winston Churchill with the abusive power of Hitler's rhetoric during the darkest hour of WW2. Their history provides a metaphor for the Spirit's words contrasted to the "fiery darts of the evil one," which Paul described in his Ephesian letter.Ralph describes his own dark hour and the tools that gave him victory, including the Spirit's work, his learned discipline to rejoice in his heavenly "bodyguard," and the blessing of modern medicine.

In part two of this teaching, Ralph speaks of the blessing of anti-anxiety medications and the many Christ-followers' fears concerning their use.For him, a prescription medicine calmed his extreme anxiety enough that he could review spiritual deficits in his life. This led to reading books about the Holy Spirit’s role in his life. He added journaling, praising God for small things and seeking reconciliation where he needed it.He touches on suppressed anger toward an individual with whom he could not find a resolution through numerous attempts. Learning to speak blessing over that person became a key to personal freedom from anger. This is just one of several practical tools you'll uncover in this session.If you struggle with anxiety and depression, you’ll find freedom in this session.

This teaching continues to echo Paul’s admonitions in Philippians chapter four.The problem that surfaces is that we are often more reactive, while scripture calls for proactive choices.The choices in this teaching can set you free from those things you worry about or the weight of other people’s negative attitudes and actions toward you.The primary choice in the face of problems is to reject worry in favor of prayer mixed with anticipatory thanksgiving.Ralph speaks of being challenged by God in the depths of his own despair. The challenge came as the Spirit whispered, “When have I ever let you down.” Hands raised to count on his fingers the times God had failed him, he came to see the real answer was, “Never!”This message is replete with choices to stand our ground in the spiritual warfare between Jesus and the enemy. BTW, it is no secret that people get shot at in a war, so please understand that you’re not alone.You may face downers like divorce, job loss, business failure, illness or someone else’s evil behavior. Each presents an opportunity to trust God to do the things outlined in this insightful passage of scripture.

One aspect of anxiety is that your mind won't stop long enough for you to fall asleep.You pry your thoughts off of one problem only to have it jump to another. And then another. Worse yet, is "catastrophic thinking" when you assume the worst possible outcome to every problem facing you.This short teaching bristles with practical, biblical advice for taking your mind, not to neutral but to those things God has done for you in your past and reasons to fill your heart and mind with hope.

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