Prayer when you are suffering from health anxiety
By: Jaime Hampton
Bible poems today: We capture every thought to destroy all the pretenses that set ourselves against argument and God’s knowledge, and to become obedient to Christ. -2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
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About eight years ago, I found myself owning anxiety and couldn’t get into the air.
I think it started when my daughter was diagnosed with a nut allergy. One night after she recovered from her allergic reaction, I noticed that my heart rate was very high even while I was resting. I didn’t think about it much, but the next day I began to notice symptoms that were wary of myself. When I did some web searches, everything pointed to cancer.
I reasonably knew this was probably not. There were many other explanations about what I was experiencing. I just went to the doctor and everything looked good. But I continue to “research” online and all the answers and anecdotes I find point to the same thing.
I started to get hooked on my daughter’s food allergies. I began to notice a surge in adrenaline in my chest many times a day.
I was embarrassed because I knew my thoughts were irrational, and I knew people with actual, seriously ill who were dealing with their lives with far more grace and courage than I did. So I didn’t share the struggle with anyone at first. I started to have panic attacks and felt like I couldn’t breathe. I felt tingling in my hands and feet, and sometimes my abdominal pain had doubled.
The turning point for me came when I compulsively “study” my symptoms and decided to stop putting some people in. I asked my husband and friends to pray for me. I made an appointment with my doctor and scheduled a few tests.
It took me a few months for my mind and body to start to feel somewhat normal from the fog of health anxiety. Tests revealed my hormones were severely unbalanced and I found myself under a few important vitamins.
I share my story because I know I’m not alone. If you are struggling with anxiety, you are not alone either. I still feel the health anxiety that lurks beneath the surface and struggles at times, but I have found a way to keep it at bay. My advice on starting points: study the symptoms and stop the downward spiral of unconfirmed thoughts and feelings, praise God, thank God even if you are not feeling it, and start your anxiety and war with the truth:
We will destroy all the arguments and every pretense that sets ourselves against God’s knowledge, and captivate all thoughts to make it obedient to Christ. -2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
The truth may be that you are sick. But what I have learned is that my anxiety was caused by worrying about a non-existent future, and that the imagined future was lacking in God. Satan works isolated through feelings of shame and worthlessness and through lies. When we destroy lies and open ourselves to God’s truth through prayer and the Bible, prayer of other believers, counselors and doctors, and even medical intervention, we place ourselves in the best possible position to receive healing of our bodies, minds and spirits.
Let’s pray:
Dear Father, we praise you for being the true God. We confess too often to exchange your truth for a lie. We exchange fellowships and light for isolation and darkness.
Today we choose the truth. We choose to mate with other followers, and we choose support and prayer when we are weak. We pray that your light exposes all that is hidden in the darkness and in the cracks and gaps in our hearts and spirits.
Destroy the pictures our worries and fear creates: a non-existent future. A future without your existence. I hope you are there and work it all for our good, even if our worst-case scenarios come to fruition. We accept the truth that you are Jehovah Gilles and no matter what the world throws at us, you provide all of our needs.
We pray that when we find ourselves struggling with anxiety about our health, we will know the wisdom to know the next step. We pray that we lead us to those, counselors and doctors who can serve our deepest physical and spiritual needs. We pray for freedom from the crippling burden of anxiety that overwhelms us and protects us from the richness of our lives you desire.
You can do anything – healing and waiting. Even in moments of uncertainty, you praise you for your good and loving father, not just about what you don’t do for us, but who you are.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Joice Kelly
Jaime Hampton is Christian author and co-host of the Christian Women’s Podcast of Prayer with Alana Terry. She camps with her family, drinks coffee, drinks coffee, and enjoys the crazy life that comes with being a hockey mom. You can find encouragement in a prayer life at PrayingchristianWomen.com or @prayingchristianwomen on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
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