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A Game Plan and a Playlist

So when I started having my anxiety problems back last Summer, I met with my Pastor. He helped me make a game plan for what to do when those moments of anxiety come.

1. Pray and rebuke the Spirit of Fear in Jesus' name.
 Jesus' name is the most powerful name in the entire universe! It is 100% impossible for any evil spirit to be within 100 yards of Jesus. As His children, we have the ability to call on Him anytime we need Him. And the Bible says the same power that rose Jesus from the grave, the same power that He used to calm the storm, to heal the sick, to walk on water, to _____________, lives within us. When you became a Christian God gave you His Holy Spirit. God lives in YOU! You have the power to tell those anxious thoughts to go right back where they came from.

Spirit of Fear, Doubt, Anxiety, Stress, Anger, (whichever or however many are specifically messing with you) I am a child of the Most High, the King of Kings. You have no power over me, you cannot harm me, I belong to King Jesus. So in His powerful name, the name of Jesus Christ of Nazereth I rebuke you, leave me alone. 
King Jesus, please come and fill me with your peace, your peace which passes all understanding. At the moment I don't know why you're allowing me to go through this, but I do know that one day it will be used to further your kingdom. And although I may not like it, I am thankful for the things you will be teaching me during this tough time. Give me your strength Jesus, help me through this. Protect me from the plans of the evil one.  
Now that may sound a little radical, and it will be somewhat uncomfortable at first. However, if you pray it and believe and trust that Jesus can handle all of your problems, no matter how big, it will work. One of the biggest downfalls for believers is that we get convinced that our problems are bigger than Jesus. After all, they're bigger than us, why wouldn't they be bigger than Him? We tend to forget just how big our Savior really is...which is exactly what the Evil One wants us to believe.

Also, remember you're ROYALTY!!! Royalty doesn't get pushed around! Stand up and be the Warrior Prince or Warrior Princess you are!

Side Note: There will be times when even though you're trusting and even though you've prayed, you may not FEEL like Jesus heard you. But one beautiful thing about Jesus, He isn't dependant on FEELINGS, He is constant and no matter how you feel from one day to the next He's still faithful :)

2. Read the Bible

This is an important one. The Bible is a giant love letter from the King. It was written just for you, God personalizes the Scriptures just for you. He knows what you're going through, He knows what you need to get through the day. He wants to comfort you, He wants to tell you how much He loves you. He wants you to know how important you are to Him. But you can't possibly know that if you don't read the letters He's written you. If you don't let His words fill you up, there is no way you'll be able to get rid of the emptiness. God knew that fear and doubt would be some of the biggest things we'd struggle with. Throughout the Bible, He is telling people to not be afraid. Throughout the Bible He gives us promises to protect us, to never leave us, to never abandon us. And guess what?! Jesus experienced every human emotion. He experienced fear, He had His doubts, but He didn't sin, He overcame them. So you see Jesus can identify with us on every level because He's been there. But He also showed us that we have the ability to overcome anything if we rely on Him. So don't be ashamed or afraid to bring your problems to Jesus. He knows!! Open your Bible and let Him show you how much He wants to wrap you in His loving arms and hold onto you.

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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 8:37-39 (NIV)

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] [a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (AMP)

This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
Jeremiah 29:10-11

Check out the post  God's Promises = Our Battle Plan  for a list of verses that helped me :) 

3. Phone a Friend

In the Christian life, it's very important that we surround ourselves with people who can come alongside us and help us during tough times. People who will encourage us and point us back to God's word. Also, it's good to have someone you can talk to who can not only encourage you but can help you do something to get your mind off of your problems. I have a circle of people around me that when I need prayer or encouragement I shoot them a text message. Sometimes they just respond to let me know they're praying, they'll send me an encouraging word, or sometimes they'll send a prayer right in the text message. And for those really hard moments when a text message just won't cover it, I know that I can pick up the phone any time day or night and they'll listen. Jesus didn't create us to be solitary creatures. He knows we can't do it all on our own. That's why He puts certain people in our lives to help us. For me I have friends who are all at different stages in their lives. I have those who have adult children and have had years of life experience. These are the friends I turn to when I need advice because they've been there done that. I also have friends who are at the same stage of life I am, they're experiencing a lot of the same things so we have the ability to talk about how we feel, and often we realize, we aren't the only ones feeling certain things. Then there are the friends that I am able to help. The ones that I'm able to look back on the things I've been through and can say, "Yeah, I went through that very thing. I know exactly how that feels, and this is what I did to cope." 

So if you don't have any of the people in your life like I talked about, ask God to bring some into your life. And if you do have some, talk to them, reach out, don't try to go it alone. Because you can't. Don't let pride get in the way. You may just help someone else if you allow yourself to be vulnerable before God. 

4. Music

Throughout the ages music has been important to the well-being of people everywhere. Music has the power to calm, inspire, empower. We can lose ourselves in a song we love that makes us happy. And when we're singing along to praise and worship songs the spirits of anxiety and fear and doubt etc have to flee cause they can't handle the praise of Jesus! So I'm gonna tell you what my Pastor has told me, keep a few songs on your phone or music player, and those moments when you feel like you're going to be overwhelmed blast the music. Sing along with it and let the words wash over you. Drown out the lies with declarations of truth!

Starter Playlist: 













There are a lot...lot....LOT more!! But these are just a few to get you started :) Rend Collective, MercyMe, Casting Crowns, Newsboys, Newsong, For King and Country, David Crowder, and many, many more! 

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