The Lie: You Will Always Be Anxious

For much of my early life, anxiety felt like background noise I couldn't turn off. Constant worry. Worst-case scenarios playing on a loop. Fear creeping into decisions that shouldn't have been that hard.

Before I really met Jesus, I thought that was just how I was wired. Some people are anxious. I was one of them.

But here's what I've come to know: anxiety is not your identity. It's a battle, and battles can be won.

The Lie

The enemy isn't just trying to make you anxious. He's trying to make you believe that anxious is who you are. There's a difference.

Once you accept the lie that you'll always feel this way — that anxiety is just your personality, your lot, your cross to bear — you stop fighting it. You build your life around managing it instead of overcoming it. And that's exactly where he wants you.

But that's not what God says about you.

What the Word Says

Philippians 4:6–7 is one of the most powerful scriptures I've held onto through seasons of anxiety. Paul writes — "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say stop feeling anxious by trying harder. He says bring it to God — in prayer, with thanksgiving — and let His peace do the guarding.

That became my weapon. Every time anxious thoughts crept in, I didn't try to think my way out. I prayed my way through. I spoke the Word out loud. And the peace that followed wasn't something I manufactured — it was something I received.

Second Timothy 1:7 makes it plain — God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. That means anxiety is not from Him. It doesn't belong to you. And you have the authority to reject it.

Isaiah 41:10 adds the promise — "Do not fear, for I am with you. I will strengthen you and help you." His help isn't reserved for people who have it all together. It's for you, right now, in the middle of whatever you're carrying.

Your Feelings Are Real — But They Are Not Final

Anxiety thrives in tomorrow. In the what-ifs. In every worst-case scenario your mind can construct about things that haven't happened yet.

Jesus speaks directly to that in Matthew 6:34 — don't worry about tomorrow, because today has enough of its own. Your job is to seek Him now, trust Him now, bring it to Him now.

Your feelings are real. I'm not dismissing them. But real doesn't mean permanent, and real doesn't mean true. You are not an anxious person trying to get free. You are already free — because of what Jesus did — and anxiety is a lie that hasn't caught up to that truth yet.

Psalm 34:4 says — "I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears." That same deliverance is available to you.

Read the rest at: https://open.substack.com/pub/litwithprayer/p/the-lie-you-will-always-be-anxious?r=5sajy&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Transcript

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Hello and welcome back to the Lit with Prayer Podcast. I'm your host, Dane Camella. Welcome to the second episode in our Lies We Believe series. We're going to tackle a really important lie today, which is something I believe a lot of believers deal with. I know I dealt with this a lot when I was young, and it was you will always be anxious. Before we dive in, remember you can check out this episode on Substack if you type in Overcomers on Substack. If you're listening on Apple or Spotify, thank you for being here. But you can see this fully written out that I'm going to read to you today from the next section of our Lies series. This Lies series is a part of my book that's coming out on April 7th. So if you want to dive into that book and pre-order it, you can on my Substack page. It's a way to support our ministry, and I really appreciate it. I'm just going to be releasing these lies as often as I can and just diving into them. These are shorter sections from the book that goes a little bit deeper. But we're going to tackle the lies we believe for day two. You will always be anxious. So let's jump on in. For most of my early life, anxiety felt like background noise I couldn't turn off. Constant worry, worst-case scenarios playing on a loop, fear creeping into decisions that shouldn't have been that hard. Before I really met Jesus, I thought that was just how I was wired. Some people are anxious. I was one of them. Here's what I've come to know: anxiety is not your identity. It's a battle, and battles can be won. The enemy isn't just trying to make you anxious. He's trying to make you believe that anxious is who you are. There's a difference. Once you accept the lie, you'll always feel this way. That anxiety is just your personality, your lot, your cross to bear. You'll stop fighting it. You'll build your life around managing it instead of overcoming it. And that's exactly where he wants you. But that's not what God says about you. Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 through 7 is one of the most powerful scriptures I've held on to during seasons of anxiety. Paul writes, 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 minds in Christ Jesus. Notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say, stop feeling anxious by trying harder. He says, Bring it to God in prayer with thanksgiving, and let his peace do the guarding. They became my weapon. Every time anxious thoughts crept in, I didn't think my way out. I prayed my way through. I spoke the word out loud, and that peace that followed wasn't something I manufactured. It was something I received. 2 Timothy 1, verse 7 makes it plain. That means anxiety is not from Him. It doesn't belong to you, and you have the authority to reject it. Isaiah 41, verse 10 adds, the promise, do not fear, for I am with you. I will strengthen you and help you. His help isn't reserved for people who have it all together. It's for you right now, in the middle of whatever you're carrying. Anxiety thrives in tomorrow, in the what-ifs, in every worst-case scenario your mind can construct about things that haven't happened yet. Jesus speaks directly to that in Matthew chapter 6, verses 34. Don't worry about tomorrow, because today has enough of its own. Your job is to seek him now, trust him now, bring it to him now. Your feelings are real. I'm not dismissing them, but real doesn't mean permanent, and real doesn't mean true. You are not an anxious person trying to get free. You are already free because of what Jesus has done for you. And anxiety is a lie that hasn't caught up with that truth yet. Psalms chapter 34, verses 4 says, I sought the Lord and he answered me and he delivered me from all my fears. That same deliverance is available to you today. Now, if you're listening to this podcast, we do a heart check every single episode where I just get to ask you a couple questions to think through some of these things that we're discussing. So you can answer one of these or all three of these, and you can share in the substack your answer. It's always cool to hear how you guys are processing different things and working with the Lord through them. So I'm going to ask you each question one at a time. You can pause this if you would like to, if you want some time to think about it. Question number one: have you accepted anxiety as a part of your identity, something you just are, rather than something you're going through? Number two, when anxious thoughts hit, what is your first response? Are you bringing them to God in prayer or trying to manage them on your own? Remember, we have to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, not lean on our own understanding. In all our ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct our steps. That's from Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5. Question number three, what would it look like today to trade one anxious thought for a prayer and a truth from God's Word? I highly encourage you to do that today and watch what it does because God's Word is alive and active. Now, what I want to do is I want to finish this podcast by just praying with you. I put a prayer in here for your anxiety, and there's a bunch of scripture reflections that you can reflect on after reading this. Go ahead and write the ones down that you want to hold on to because when we pray God's word, it has power. And this prayer is full of God's word. So let's go ahead and pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for not giving me a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and a sound mind. Anxiety is not my identity. It is not who you made me to be. I cast every anxious thought onto you right now, because your word says you care for me. I don't have to carry this. You are big enough to hold it. I bring my request before you today, not with worry, but with thanksgiving, and I receive the peace that transcends all understanding, the peace that guards my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. I reject the lie that I will always feel this way. I'm not an anxious person trying to get free. I am already free because if the sun sets you free, you are free indeed. Keep my mind stayed on you. I choose to trust you over fear, truth over feelings, peace over worry. In Jesus' name, Amen. I hope this message encouraged you today. And again, if you would like to support our upcoming book, The Devil Hates This Prayer, you can pre-order on Amazon now, here in the Substack, or you can just go to Amazon and check it out for yourself. Now, before you go, if you have never asked Jesus to be the leader of your life and forgive you of all your sins, this is the right time. And I would love to pray this with you. And you can rededicate your life to Christ too if you would like to. So we're going to go ahead and do that. You can pray this after me. Dear God, your word says that you loved me so much that you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross for me. I want to be saved and have all of my sins forgiven, past, present, and future. Forgive me now as I receive Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. You promise me salvation and an abundant life. I believe and receive your free gift. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me grow stronger in you each day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, I'm just so excited for you. It's the most important decision you'll ever make. We'd love to get in contact with you to just help you on your walk with the Lord and get you plugged into a local church. You can reach out to us at support at litwithprayer.com. And again, subscribe if you want to see further episodes to come. And I appreciate you guys. And I'll see you in the next lie that we dive into here on this podcast in Substack. God bless you.