Lori Dixon addresses her battle with anxiety and how she found relief by speaking the truth of God's Word aloud.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6 ESV)

One of the most common prayer requests I have received lately is from women suffering with anxiety attacks. These attacks are both crippling and terrifying. I know because the Lord has recently allowed me to have my own.

Never in a million years did I think I would fall victim. In fact, I used to secretly think to myself whenever I would hear from different sufferers, ‘Oh come on now, give it to God and let go!’ Of course I wouldn’t actually say that to them, but instead would remind them of Philippians 4:6.

Simple.

Well, it appears it’s not so simple. For some, they need intervention from their doctors to cope and to make it through each day. For others, they need a friend to talk to and pray with. But what is the root of anxiety? How do we break free?

I’m no doctor or therapist, but I do know that for me it wasn’t medical, it was emotional and spiritual. It took time on my knees and with some Christian elders who helped me to root out the stronghold that held me captive. Once I spoke out loud in front of these witnesses some of my thought processes, the victory came. It took a while as I had been held in a deceitful fearful pattern my whole life. But confession brings the hidden out of the darkness and exposes it to the Light. As we prayed together, speaking the truth of God’s Word aloud and into my life, I found relief.

Today, when my heart begins to race and I can’t breathe, I stop and take a moment to consider the fearful, lying thoughts that recently ran through my head . . . then I denounce them as rubbish and speak the Word of God over my mind. It’s a process, but victory is ours.

Father, so many of us are being held captive by anxious thoughts. Help us to find safe people to dig down with and to uproot the lies of the enemy. Thank You for your healing touch that restores what Satan has tried to steal from us and allows us to walk in victory and not fear. Amen