I don't think I ask for much. Each day I ask God for the strength and courage to make it through the day, yet I'm still being beat up by my anxiety.

I have often felt the same way you do. During those times when it seems that God is not answering my prayers, I try to keep in mind that, although it's hard to see, there is some reason why I have anxiety. I really feel that the reason I have struggled with anxiety (particularly so in the last two years) is to bring me closer to God.

Often times, in the middle of the night when I cannot fall asleep, I get very frustrated and just give up and tell God, I have tried everything I know to relax, etc., and nothing has worked, so I'm just going to hand this over to you to deal with. Most of the time, when I "let go and let God" as Lucinda says, I feel an incredible feeling of peace that I can't describe. Sometimes the answer to your prayers is to stop struggling and just let go, just trust God to handle it in His own way and in His own time, which often doesn't match our way or time.

A Bible verse that has really helped me in times where I feel lost and confused is Romans 8:28
"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose". To me, this means when things look bleak and we don't understand what is happening in our lives, we trust God, because He ultimately has our best interest at heart. We don't have the whole picture, so to speak, of our lives. God does.

Another verse I like is Jeremiah 29:11
"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you future with hope"

Take care,
Kendra

kamaboko,
I too have felt like this, but ya know what. We are not on our own schedule. We are on God's schedule, which means that sometimes our prayers are answered in His time not ours. I too asked God for strength and courage when I was at my lowest point of existance...and ya know...looking back, He was right there. He was there giving me what I needed. A verse that helped me though is Hebrews 5:10. This is one of my favorite verses and helped me out of the "bad" times. Just remember that our time schedule and His time schedules may be different but know that He loves you so much more and will give you what you need when it is the right time. You will be answered...it just may not be in what you think is the "right" time frame.

I'm probably not the best person to answer this question, but know that God loves you so much and wants the best for you. He will give you answers when He thinks is right. God gave me an answer in a dream one night, another when I saw an Eagle... I guess it's just how you perceive things too... Anyway, take care, God loves you

Cindy

I just want you to know that God does love you and is always with you. It is so difficult sometimes to "feel" God's presence when we are hurting, but he has promised that he will never leave us.

One of my favorite verses is Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified...for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Another is - Jesus said, "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." Luke 6:21

God doesn't always take our painful circumstances or problems away. But he WILL be with us and help us to get through them.

If you go to www.intouch.org, you can find an online sermon by Dr. Charles Stanley called "Walking Through the Darkness with God." You can listen to it from your computer. He talks about suffering, God's purpose in suffering, and God's promises for those who suffer. It was very helpful to me.

I will keep you in my prayers, that this time of trial in your life will bring you closer to God and that you may find comfort in him and in his Son, Jesus Christ.

God helps those who help themselves

DEAR Kamaboko and Others,

First, I want to say that I think you recieved some excellant replies that I found encouragement from as I looked up some of the scriptures cited! I want to thank Kendra and the others for their spiritual insight.

Thank you for starting this new thread or post. I would like to share my two cents although it may be five cents worth when I'm done. LOL. However, although I know by heart the scriptural reply to your question, I found it important even for myself to reaserch prayer because I too came to a point where I was having a problem when praying. Therefore, by my researching for you this morning, I found out where I was lacking and therefore I am now doing much better. So, here is what I've found as a reminder and some new points.

"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that no matter what it is that we ask according to his will, he hears us. Further, if we know he hears us respecting whatever we are asking, we know we are to have the things asked since we have asked them of him." -- 1 John 5:14, 15

After reading that scripture I had to ask myself if I was asking in prayer things "according to his will." Keeping in mind 1Jo 3:22; Ps 10:17; Pr 15:8; and 1Pe 3:12, I had to ask myself if I was observing God's commandments and doing "the things that are pleasing in his eyes" so that I could have the assurance that his "ears" are open toward my prayers.

Conversely, I had to ascertain that my prayers would not be "detestable to him" by considering Pr 15:29; 28:9; Isa 1:15; Mic 3:4.

I know that the scriptures speak of God as the "Hearer of prayer: (Ps 65:2; 66:19) My research brought out that prayer involves devotion, trust, respect, and a sense of dependence on the one to whom the prayer is directed. I knew that recently I was lacking in one of those areas, "trust."

Although I know that I'm devoted to God whom I respect and love I was not fully trusting that he would take care of things if he chooses to.

This lack of trust on my part indicated that I was not approaching him in "the full assurance of faith." "let us approach with true hearts in the full assurance of faith. . .But my righteous one will live by reason of faith. . . but the sort that have faith to the preserving alive of the soul. -- Heb 10:22, 38, 39

"Moreover, without faith it is impossible to please [him] well, for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him."
--Heb 11:6

Kamaboko, you wrote regarding praying for God to give you the strength and courage to get thru each day and yet you are still being beat up by your own anxiety. I certainly understand what you are saying because I feel this way too at times. So, with regard to that, as I now write, I am reminded of two scriptures in particular.

"On this account I say to you: Stop being anxious about YOUR souls as to what you will eat or what you will drink.. . [vs. 25] Keep on, then seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these [other] things will be added to YOU. So, never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Suffcient for each day is its own badness [vs. 33, 34]."
--Matthew chaper 6 verses 25-34
Jesus here provides us with the wonderful reminder to take each day as it comes and not let the anxieties of this life overwhelm us and distract from putting first spiritual things.

And lastly I would like to share a familiar text to many of us from Philippians 4:6-7 which says: "Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let YOUR petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard YOUR hearts and YOUR mental powers by means of Christ Jesus."

I have numerous other scriptures on this topic that you or another are welcome to E-mail me if you wish to further this discussion or if you wish to have someone whom you would like to share your anxiety with.

I wish you well.
Regards,
Victoria

Thanks again by sharing a post that has actually helped me to look into myself. And please understand that I don't know you so some of the scriptures I shared were regarding my personal self-examination as they were inspired for all of us. -- 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

hi ya'll,

thanks for your responses. each day is a struggle, as you know. all i can do is wait for answers.

k

You stated that you ask God to give you strength and courage to make it through the day. What makes you think you have not received that strength and courage? It takes strength and courage to feel anxiety. I'd say, even tho this is not what you want to hear, that your prayer has been answered.

You say you are struggling. What is your response to your struggling? Are you resisting what you are going through? It sounds like it. Turn it around and begin to welcome what you are experiencing. Difficult at first, I know, but the more you welcome it in, the less you will experience it. Wanting it to go away is what keeps it alive. Allow it, Feel it - take yourself away from your thinking and focus on where you feel the discomfort in your body. No matter how many times your mind drags you back into thought, gently bring your attention back to the sensations in your body. Stay with those sensations until you feel them dissolved.

A great book to read is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

God answered you. You have been given the strength and couraged that you have asked for.

Many blessings and support,
Bon

I don't know if I am talking too much or whatever, but tonight I read over the scripture that Victoria gave. I totally forgot that I have a book with a section on a good way to pray, so I thought I would share it. You may or may not want to try this, but I thought it was pretty good, so I will go ahead and share. This is a little book for new Christians called "Totally True: Exciting Lessons on the Basics of the Christian Life" by Bill Muir.

God was under no obligation to provide a way for you to communicate with Him. However, God loves you and created you with the capacity to talk to Him. God can understand the language you use. As your friend, He wants you to confide in Him. That means talking to Him about anything in any language you are comfortable with--you don't have to use words like "Thee" and "Thou". Simply be yourself!

HOW SHOULD I PRAY?

Usually when you talk to someone, you keep in mind who the person is and the nature of your relationship. You might talk one way to your parents, another way to your best friend, and yet another way to the President.

When you talk to God, even though He is Creator, He is now your Father. You don't need to be scared--He has invited you to come into His presence and welcomes you as His child.

Some people never ask God for anything. Maybe they are afraid of apprearing to be selfish. Others treat Him like a genie in a bottle, existing only to do as they command. Neither extreme makes any sense.

Sometimes prayer takes only two seconds, such as "Help, Father!" Sometimes prayer is longer...like a conversation.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gave us an example of how to pray.

Pray along these lines. "Our Father in heaven, we honor your holy name. (Call God your Father.) We ask that your kingdom will come now. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven. (Ask for God's will to be done.) Give us our food again today, as usual,(Ask God to meet your needs.) and forgive us our sins just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. (Ask for forgiveness.) Don't bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One. (Ask to be kept from evil.) Amen."

Praise (Thank Him.) Dear Father, I thank you that you are _____.
Repent (Confess your sins.) I'm sorry for these sins and I want to confess them to you.
Ask (Ask for the things you need as well as for the needs of others.)
Yield (Tell God you only want what He knows is best for you.)
--In Jesus' name. Amen.

WHAT ARE SOME REASONS GOD DOESN'T ALWAYS ANSWER OUR PRAYERS?

James 4:3 We ask with wrong motives.
1 John 3:22 & John 15:7 We are disobedient to Him.
Matthew 6:15 We haven't forgiven others.
Matthew 7:7-8 & James 4:2 We are simply not asking.

CONCLUSION
God may not always do what you or I want Him to do, but that's because He knows what's really best for us. Can you think back to times when you have desperately wished for something--maybe even prayed for it--and then realized later what a terrible mistake it would have been if you had received what you wanted? There may have been times when you were angry and wished bad things on someone. Would God have been caring and wise to have granted your wish?

God's design is always for the best. Sometimes it's simply a matter of timing. That's why we are promised that our prayers will be answered when we pray according to God's will, or as it was stated in John 15:7, when we remain in Him and are motivated by His words.

They also tell us to keep a journal of our prayer requests and the dates we received answers.

Anyway, I hope that has helped someone...LOL! (After typing all of that!) Anyway, sorry for babbling, just wanted to help!

Take care,
Cindy

Hi Cindy,
You shared some excellant information on Prayer for all of us with good scriptures.
Thank You.
Victoria