A God-Centered Life: 10 Faith-based Practices When You’re Feeling Anxious, Grumpy, Or Stressed

I’m not sure I’ve met anyone who truly has it all together. The perfect life? Ha! Most people I know struggle with a multitude of woes, from low self-esteem to money troubles to relationship issues to poor health—myself included. For a long time, I was consumed by anxiety. There was a period when my worries grew so large they began interfering with my ability to enjoy life and fully worship God. At the time I didn’t realize it was called “anxiety,” thought I was just going through a rough time in life, but looking back now, I see it for what it was.

I’ve seen anxiety hurt people I love. I’ve seen anxiety stop a wonderful love relationship from blossoming because one friend was worried she might look foolish or appear too vulnerable and needy if she admitted to the man in question how she truly felt. The budding relationship fizzled, then faded away all together. I’ve seen anxiety turn a relaxed and healthy individual into a person knotted up in tight balls of tension. I’ve even seen anxiety stop a person from pursuing a long-held professional dream. It’s like a paralysis sets in.

It’s not just anxiety. Stress, general worries, self-absorption, general grumpiness—it’s all a problem. When we let negative mindsets fester for too long, they affect not only our human life but also our eternal life. We spend so much of our energies dealing with or trying to overcome (or ignore!) these mindsets that they start to come between us and God.

I see this most apparently in our prayer life, and that’s a biggie. Prayer is our language with God, our communication system. It’s a way to worship God and love God. It’s supposed to be an unceasing dialogue, open and transparent. But when we are consumed with our own worries, then that open dialogue is hindered. So is placing our focus and priority on God and doing God’s will.

Poor attitudes, worries, and negative mindsets do not amount to a victimless crime. They hurt ourselves, those we love, and our ability to serve our Creator God in the way God intended.

I used to think anxiety was my own dirty little secret, but I’ve had to come clean about it as a way to make myself stay accountable in my personal faith walk. And while I think I might never perfect my work-in-progress of mastering anxiety, I have learned a few very helpful tips along the way.

This mini-book contains 10 tips I personally use to push my worries, stresses, and grumpies aside so I can focus entirely on my Lord.