Bible Verse for Anxiety: Finding Victory Through Thanksgiving

Many are searching for a Bible verse for anxiety, and general biblical wisdom on how to deal with this complex issue, as anxiety is on the rise among teens and kids. When it comes to the topic of anxiety, Christian parents want to help ground their teens and kids in God’s truth.

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The Cure: A Bible Verse for Anxiety in Philippians

I recently found a Bible verse for anxiety that contains an interesting “cure.”

Now, before I get hateful emails and comments, I want to assure you that I know full well that anxiety is not always simply a spiritual issue that can be cured solely through reading and meditating on Scripture. My own daughter has struggled with this issue for years, so I understand from personal experience.

We are complex beings and anxiety can have a spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical component…or all of the above! (In fact, usually it’s a combination.) So I am certainly not discouraging you from seeking biblical and professional help for those other areas.

But I want to address the spiritual component in this blog post and give you a Bible verse for anxiety that may at least give your child or teen a victory in this specific realm.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” Phil. 4:6-7.

The opposite of Anxiety: Thanksgiving

I want you to notice something special about this particular Bible verse for anxiety.

If I asked you what the opposite of thanksgiving is, you probably wouldn’t come up with the word, “anxiety.” But God’s remedy for anxiety is exactly that: thanksgiving.

Why? Because it is hard to remain in a place of fear and anxiousness when you are focused on thanking God for the specific ways he has demonstrated His faithfulness and love to you!

This is why it’s so important that we teach our children to “put off” anxiety by “putting on” thanksgiving. This is a way that they can “take every thought captive” and experience His peace!

Practical Tips for Using This Bible Verse for Anxiety

So how do they do this?

Here is a list to get them started on things they can pray and thank God for (even if they have struggles in these areas):

1. Their eternal salvation

If your child has confessed their sins and given their life to Jesus, placing their faith in Him as their Savior, then they have an eternity with no worries or fears to look forward to!

If they have not, this uncertainty about the meaning of life and their God-given purpose may be a major contributor to their anxiety. Have a heart-to-heart talk with them to see where they are in their spiritual walk with God.

2. Their family

If you are here reading this article, mom (or dad), then clearly they are very loved by their family! So many kids today have a terrible home life where they feel unloved and without direction.

Encourage your child by reminding them how much you (and the rest of the family) love them and want to see them happy and well.

3. Their friends

Even if they have one or two good friends, often friends are a very real source of anxiety for a teen, especially. But, since we are told to give thanks in everything, it’s important they to learn to give thanks for those areas of life that may be the very source of some of their troubles.

They can do this by focusing on thanking God for the good friendships they do have, or if they really don’t have friends at all, they can thank God for what He will do in the future in this area. This is an act of faith that pleases God!

And they can also thank Jesus for His friendship, as he tells us that He is “a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” What a comfort!

There are, of course, so many other areas of life they can be intentional to thank God for! You may want to help them develop this habit through a gratefulness journal where they can write out things they are thankful for.

Final Thoughts on the Philippians Bible Verse for Anxiety

Meditating on this Bible verse for anxiety (Phil. 4:6) and using these tips on giving thanks can help your child to fight anxiety. But if you sense there are physical or deeper emotional issues that need healing, seek the wisdom of Christian doctors, natural practitioners, and counselors.

Pray daily with your child and encourage them to meditate on this Bible verse for anxiety, as well as others. Be assured that God will be faithful to give His peace through the storms, even if they still need to seek help from others to completely fight the storm.

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Danielle Papageorgiou has been homeschooling, or “lifeschooling,” for 21 years (she counts birth as day 1!) and has blogged, spoken, and run her own conference for many of those years. She has a passion for helping other homeschoolers learn how to homeschool in a way that does not compete with family life, but actually enhances it…homeschooling done in a spirit of freedom, not legalism.