Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast
Reverend Ben Coopers podcast, offers an inviting space for listeners to explore Christianity and spiritual growth with wisdom, humor, and a deep commitment to biblical truth. Through Rev. Ben's engaging conversations with guests, the podcast not only explores the timeless wisdom of the Bible but also tackles the pressing issues of life, faith, and hope in a way that is accessible, thought-provoking, and enriching. Whether you’re seeking spiritual nourishment, answers to life’s big questions, or simply a place to reflect on your faith, the Rev Ben podcast is a valuable resource on your journey.
In each episode, Rev. Ben guides listeners through profound theological reflections, personal stories, and practical insights drawn from the Bible and the broader Christian tradition.
Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast
3 - Anxiety in the Bible. - (PBC@03)
In an age where anxiety seems to be increasing at an alarming rate, Reverend Ben Cooper dives deep into this all-too-relevant issue in today’s episode. With biblical wisdom and compassionate guidance, he breaks down how fear and anxiety manifest in our daily lives and provides listeners with practical steps to combat them. Referencing powerful scriptures like Philippians 4:6-7, Ben explores how turning our worries over to God through prayer and thanksgiving can bring true peace and calm in the face of life’s challenges.
The episode highlights the rising prevalence of anxiety disorders in society, discussing how anxiety can affect not only our minds but our physical well-being as well. While the world often looks to external solutions, Ben emphasizes the importance of integrating both spiritual practices and professional support to effectively manage anxiety. This holistic approach is vital for anyone facing anxiety, offering a balanced solution that addresses both the emotional and mental aspects of the condition.
As Ben talks about the various ways anxiety can manifest, he encourages listeners to recognize its effects on their spiritual lives. One of the primary takeaways from this episode is the reminder that prayer, as outlined in Philippians 4:6-7, is not just a form of petition but a tool that brings peace beyond understanding. Ben shares that we are called to surrender our anxieties to God through prayer, trusting that He will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This divine intervention becomes a shield, providing us with the strength needed to face life's uncertainties.
This episode goes beyond addressing anxiety from a theological standpoint. Ben openly discusses the importance of mental health awareness and de-stigmatizing the struggles many people face. He offers insight into how faith and mental health are not opposing forces, but rather complementary allies. As a result, Ben encourages believers and non-believers alike to reach out for help when anxiety becomes overwhelming, emphasizing the importance of community and support networks.
The show also explores how anxiety, while incredibly common, does not define us. Through a blend of personal anecdotes and biblical wisdom, Ben shows that, regardless of the scale of our struggles, there is hope. He urges listeners to seek comfort in God’s promises, reminding them that they are never alone in their journey. Whether dealing with momentary worries or long-term anxiety disorders, the peace of God can provide the strength and clarity needed to persevere.
If you’ve ever found yourself overwhelmed by anxiety or fear, this episode is for you. It offers not just spiritual wisdom, but actionable steps that can lead to a healthier, more peaceful life. Tune in as Reverend Ben Cooper provides guidance on how to turn your worries over to God and find peace through prayer, community, and faith.
We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with us after listening. Don’t forget to subscribe, share, and join our growing community for more uplifting and insightful content.
https://www.pastorbencooper.co.uk/
Welcome to Reverend Ben Cooper's podcast. We are a radio and podcast ministry based here within the UK. Your support is vital through prayer and through sowing a seed of faith. We are so thankful to have so many people around the globe downloading and listening to our podcasts, whether you are on Spotify, apple Podcast, google, alexa, amazon Music and so many other platforms. For more information about our ministry, please find us on PastorBenCoopercouk. We would love to hear from you as you partner with us as we reach the world for Jesus Christ. Please send us an email through our contact form on pastorbencoopercouk. Also, you can find our latest books on Amazon under hashtag one, hashtag two and hashtag three under Christian Straight Talk hard-hitting, real-life conversations taken from our podcasts.
Speaker 1:Your financial gifts play a crucial role in supporting our radio ministry, helping us share the gospel through these podcasts and providing free copies of the Gospel of John and Bibles around the globe. Please pray for this ministry as we stretch out beyond the boundaries, as we walk by faith. If you'd like to support our mission, please consider clicking the support button on Spotify, apple Podcasts or Buzzsprout. You can give a one-time gift or set up a regular contribution of £3, £5, £8 or £10. You can also leave a legacy by clicking in the links within pastorbencoopercouk. Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry as we spread the message of hope far and wide through this radio ministry. So, whether you are on the daily commute or at home listening to our podcast, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, relax and enjoy.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for joining us this series of these podcasts. You know, as we're looking at fear, we're doing about 10 podcasts, 10 chapters of the book that's out there as well, and we just want to let you know that fear is a very, very common, a very common emotion. So it doesn't matter what part of the world we're birthed, it doesn't matter what our criteria is, it doesn't matter where we come from, it doesn't matter if we're in faith or out of faith, it doesn't matter how we look at life. Fear is extremely powerful and it is so encouraging to know that the Bible really speaks about it a lot 365 times. Jesus addresses it through the Old Testament, through the New Testament, but there's a really interesting part within the New Testament. You know, and thank you for joining us. You know, and the title of this podcast is Anxiety in the Bible. You know these are quick-fired 30-minute podcasts. You know quick chapter books that we're doing here and this is just throwing a blanket out. This is just throwing a blanket out on that word fear, the word just running around the world at the moment.
Speaker 2:When you look at the situations of the world, when you look at everything that's kicking off around the world, whether you're in church, out of church, whatever your belief system may be in the world. You're just having a look at that word fear. It is very prominent. It's very real in many areas. Many of us live with it. Many of us have experienced that. Many of us have it on a daily base. Many of us live with it. Many of us have experienced that. Many of us have it on a daily base. Many of us may just deal with it as it comes and when it goes, but you know, it doesn't matter the color of your skin, it doesn't matter your culture, it doesn't matter your background, it doesn't matter your education, it doesn't matter how much money you got, it doesn't matter where you are from in this world. Fear hits every one of us at some point in our life. You know, some people really experience most and the majority of their lives living in fear, living in fear of the history, living in fear of the present and living in fear of what may be.
Speaker 2:But what does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? Because that's what we're about on these podcasts and we thank you for joining us across the world as you revisit these podcasts time and time again, but this is a really interesting title, the third one in the series that we are doing Anxiety in the Bible. So we're going to press in, probably to one of the most famous scriptures dealing with fear and anxiety and worry and doubt and everything. It's quite a large text. It's coming from the book of Philippians and it is chapter 4, verses 6 through 7. And Paul provides these practical guidelines.
Speaker 2:You know, there are many people on medication. There are many people that are really down. There are many people that turn to recreational drugs. Many people turn to alcohol, many people turn to gambling. Many people actually run away from the church. I'm not saying running away from Jesus, because there is something different between Jesus and church and religion.
Speaker 2:You know, and we want to encourage you, wherever you are at this moment in time, if you are struggling with fear and anxiety and doubt, we want to encourage you and I'm going to use that word a lot today encourage. We want to encourage you to stand strong there, a way forward. And it is known as the gospels of jesus christ, it is known as the word of god, and god knows that we're fearful, god knows that we're doubtful, you know, but there are many areas of church, there are many areas of what we call the pentecostal movements, many areas of the evangelical movements that will really tell us loud and clear that, as you are a christian, you shouldn't fear, doubt, worry or anxiety. Well, the bible addresses that 365 times in uh, the congestion, the, the conscription of the word of god. So we want to encourage you, wherever you are, to grab yourself a bible right now. Grab yourself a cup of tea. Grab yourself a Bible right now. Grab yourself a cup of tea, grab yourself a coffee.
Speaker 2:Whether you're reading this through the author's way, you know through the Word of God, whether you're reading this with us right now or whether you're listening to us, so you might be sitting down reading this book. You might be in the third chapter of this book and we pray that it will touch you. You might be listening to the third podcast in this series of fear, but I want to take us to philippians, chapter 4, verses 6 and 7. Paul provides practical guidance for those that are dealing with anxiety, and the scripture says this do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to god, and the peace of god, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in christ. That is taken from the niv, from the new testament, the book of philippians, chapter 4, verses 6 and 7. There is a practical guide in there. The bible says do not be anxious about anything. Isn Isn't it easy to read that, it's easy to say, that, it's easy to preach, that, it's easy to tell someone else do not be anxious about anything. But the practicality of us as human beings, as Bible-believing believers, as human beings, not to be anxious is a different drumbeat completely.
Speaker 2:What is anxiety? Where does it come from? What is it made up from? How does it start? You know what does the Bible say about anxiety. What does the world say about anxiety?
Speaker 2:The Bible describes anxiety as a human response to the pressures and the uncertainties of life, often stemming from fear and worry and doubt about the future, the present or the past. But the bible addresses this through scripture, the only way that we can deal with anxiety. Yeah, we thank god for the doctors, the nurses, we thank god for the pharmaceuticals and the helps that are out there. But then we question now I'm just going to backpedal a minute Is anxiety a basic emotion that is of the flesh, or does it come from a different part? Does it come from a spiritual world that we can't see? Does it come from the area of the dark side? You look at that out there. Where does anxiety come from? What does the Bible talk about? Does it say that it's a natural emotion?
Speaker 2:When you look at all this stuff, you know anxiety can it be controlled, can it be measured? We can't measure it. You know anxiety is really, really powerful. It can come in like a click of a finger. It can come in like a wind just blowing down from nowhere. You know the sun is out, the sun is shining, but suddenly something happens in the drumbeat in the circle of life and all of a sudden our natural response is to go into fear. Now that might be a place where we rise and get away from trouble, or suddenly we freeze. Have you ever had anxiety where it makes you freeze? But what does the Bible say?
Speaker 2:I've read that very interesting scripture out. We've had that out coming from the book of Philippians. You know chapter four, that you know that famous text that we've had. You know it's really, really important for me, as a Bible believing believer, to understand that Jesus tells me through the apostle Paul do not be anxious about anything but Paul and Jesus. I want to let you know.
Speaker 2:It's easy to say it, but to put it into a practical rhythm of my life Lord, what do I do? Paul says in every situation, by prayer and petition. What does he mean by request, lord, I pray because prayer is powerful. Prayer is bringing me to the presence and into the throne room of Christ. Prayer takes what my focus off of the situation. Worship will take my focus off of the situation.
Speaker 2:But the Bible says in Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7, do not be anxious about anything. Anything actually means anything and everything. Don't worry about children, don't worry about relationship, don't worry about life, don't worry about your health, don't worry about the lack of, don't worry about food, don't worry about all the life's situations that are before you. But it's easy to read this stuff, but the practicality of it as a believer, as a human being, is really difficult. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get hit with extreme anxiety. It just suddenly comes out of nowhere and I have to really focus, I have to really concentrate and I have to really draw on these scriptures. You know, I say thank you, lord right now. Lord, will you remove the fear? Will you remove the doubt? Do you sleep well or do you bounce in and out of sleep? Do you wake up literally in a pool of sweat? Do you wake up in fear? You know there are many ways that fear just comes into our bodies. Even though we're sleeping, even though we're trying to rest, you know, fear can keep you awake, fear can absolutely exhaust you. Fear presents itself in so many different skins that we walk in.
Speaker 2:The passage of that text is dealing with fear. You know, just in the bulk side of things it says do not be anxious about anything. But in every situation, in every life situation, don't be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. So whatever is going on in my head, my heart, my mind, my psychological processing you know my cognitive thinking in my heart, my mind, in my life, whatever is bringing trouble to me, I've got to present that to God. How do I do that? It is through speaking, because speech is powerful. So what do I do? I say, father, in the name of Jesus. Lord, I'm worried about the children. Lord, I'm worried about finances. Lord, I'm worried about my life. Lord, I'm worried about living. I'm worried about dying, lord, I'm worried, dear God, about this exam I've got. I'm worried about work. I'm worried about financial pressure. I'm worried about the house. I'm worried about this. I'm worried about that.
Speaker 2:Whatever the request is, according to the word of God, god says bring it to me. The Bible says come to me, all of you that are weary and heavily laden, and I will give you rest. We will find complete rest, complete freedom from fear, doubt and anxiety in Jesus Christ. What we are basically looking at here is how do I deal with anxiety in the Bible? How do I deal with this? I've got to come to God as as just, as a human being, as a believer in Christ, and I've got to say father, I am anxious, I am worried, I am worried about financial pressure, I'm worried about my life, I'm worried the way that I feel. You know social anxiety is enormous. Health anxiety is enormous. There are so many areas of anxiety out there. You know there are so many areas. What is anxiety in the world?
Speaker 2:Anxiety is a natural human emotion that every one of us experiences in different times of our lives. It is typically it arises, it comes by the response of, maybe in a stressful situation, uncertain situations, public speaking, exams. You know it is the same whether we're in faith or we're out of faith. There is a correlation Anxiety it seems to sit in the psychological and the emotion reaction to the areas of life, the threat and the challenges of just being a human being. So whether I'm a believer or I'm not a believer, whether I'm a churchgoer or not a churchgoer, whatever my life is, it doesn't matter if we're in faith or we're out of faith, it doesn't matter what culture I come from, it doesn't matter the color of my skin.
Speaker 2:Anxiety attacks the human being in many, many ways. You know it can manifest itself in many ways, you know, through fear, through doubt, through lots of different areas becoming really tired, really weary, you know, exhausted and just stressed out and very snappy and very argumentative and all the stuff that goes along with anxiety is a disorder. It can develop into an anxious disorder and then suddenly me worrying and me being doubtful then leads to overthinking. Overthinking leads to stress. Stress leads to fear. Fear leads to more anxiety. It triggers, it just triggers itself. So I've got to find a place of where I can deal with these typical areas of life, because life itself is an anxious way.
Speaker 2:Life itself, you know, brings challenges. As human beings, whether we're children, whether we're young adults, whether we're in school, out of school, whether we're retired, not retired, whether we're working, we're not working, whatever our situation, you know, it is a chronic way of being overwhelmed. Anxiety overwhelms us, it brings stress and it interferes with our everyday life. Is stress, worry and fear, and especially anxiety, at the top of the tree? Is that messing around with daily life? What are the trigger points? Have you ever measured it to find out what are the trigger points? You know it can be a temporary response to stress. You know, getting angry.
Speaker 2:You know, then, there are many ways to look at anxiety. There are many ways trying to measure it. But can it be measured? What does the medical world say about it? The medical and the psychological communities? There's lots of ways that they look at it. There are a few areas of anxiety, you know.
Speaker 2:Worry or fear can range from mild symptoms, from severe to very mild attacks. You know we sometimes get so used to being anxious it becomes our normal. Do you want to live like this or do you want freedom? The Bible says you will know the truth and the truth will set you free when anxiety becomes a chronic activity in our lives and it is an activity when it becomes chronic or overwhelming it is classified as an anxiety disorder. There are many people on planet Earth that have anxiety disorders. And how does that present itself? What are the key insights? What does the medical world recognize? How does it recognize these traits of anxiety?
Speaker 2:You know we've got generalized anxiety disorder. You know GAD, you know that wide label that goes across all cultures, all colors, all tribes, all tongues. This is one of the most common anxiety disorders. People suffering with this general anxiety disorders, you know, experience extensive, uncontrollable worry about everyday situation when there's little or no need to worry because we get in a cycle. It might be work, it might be health, it might be family issues, it might be just anxiety about being anxious within itself. You know it can last a moment, it can last months, it can last a moment, it can last months, it can last days, it can last hours and it is accompanied by physical symptoms. What is general anxiety disorder? What are the physical symptoms to this? We become restless, we get a lot of fatigue, difficult concentrating and one of the real big things I think that we, uh, don't take much attention of is muscle tension, you know.
Speaker 2:And what about panic disorder? Have you ever had panic disorder where you're panicking, something is happening in life? When panic actually comes into your bones, there is an attack of sudden, intense episodes of fear and discomfort and pain. It includes physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat. Have you ever had a rapid heartbeat, when suddenly, out of nowhere, your heart is really beating, there's a shortness of breath, you're sweating and you ever felt dizzy through them sort of attacks and you almost feel like you're having an outer body experience. These attacks can occur uncontrollably and they just come out of nowhere. They lead people to avoid situations. You know, fear and anxiety is so, so dangerous. You know.
Speaker 2:You've got panic disorders, you've got general anxiety disorders, gad, and then you've got that other one. Do you suffer with social anxiety disorders? You know. Do you suffer with people around you? Are you worried? Is there a social anxiousness about your life? An anxiety disorder which involves being around people, being judged, being embarrassed, being eliminated, you know.
Speaker 2:And in certain areas of life, you know. And social networks and all that sort of stuff, people with these disorders may avoid social events and all that. Even church, you know. Have you ever had that feeling of church. I don't want to go to church and there's too many people here and I can't face the commute. I don't want to go to school. I don't want to go to the lecture hall. There's too many people avoid public speaking sorry or meetings, even meeting new people, or just trying to avoid certain social areas of life.
Speaker 2:You know certain phobias as well. You know fear and anxiety, doubt, worry, all this sort of stuff. It opens up the door. It opens up so much of a door to so much stuff. And when you study this and you look at this and I know we're looking at this through the eyes of faith, we're looking at this through eyes of the word of God, you know, but as we look at it as spirit filled believers of the John 3, god, you know, but as we look at it as spirit-filled believers of the John 3, 3, you know brothers and sisters of faith, you know it affects people that don't even have a faith, cause when you look at all these traits that anxiety has, it hits the believer and also it hits the non-believer. It is really powerful. Anxiety is extremely strong and it is dangerous. It affects our body, it affects our mind, it changes our vision and our perception of life.
Speaker 2:You know, what about phobias? Do you have any phobias? Is there anything in your life that you are irritated with? Fears, objects, situations, heights, spiders, flying. You know, people with phob, people with phobias, go to great lengths to avoid certain areas of life, to avoid the fear and all that stuff that goes along with it. These are just a few areas that we're just touching on, these 30-minute podcasts.
Speaker 2:But fear, we could talk forever and a day. Anxiety, we could talk forever and a day. We could podcast forever and a day. We could write forever and a day. You know we could write chapters and chapters and chapters of books and literature. But this is just a quick fight and overview. You know we're not going deep. We're just throwing open the envelope of the word fear and anxiety and worry. And what does God say? What does the Bible say? What is fear and what is anxiety, whether you look at it through the eyes of the world or through the eyes of a Bible-believing believer? And then we hit another really big word that is trending around the world at this moment.
Speaker 2:You know post-traumatic stress disorder, ptsd. You know we're pretty familiar with that. There is a lot of that that is going on and that can develop in a person for experience of witness, traumatic events, combat. You know someone that's been in a war time. You know situations, natural disasters or assault, sexual situations. You know, through family, through life, through abuse, all this sort of stuff, symptoms, you know you can have flashbacks, nightmares, hyper-tensitivity, all that sort of stuff that will lead to anxiety related to the trauma, the flashbacks. You know. Are you in a toxic relationship as well? You know we avoid this sort of conversation in the world of the church. Toxic people, toxic relationships. You know all that sort of stuff. And culture as well. Culture is a very interesting thing. You know culture brings a lot of stress and culture brings a lot of pressure, you know, on human beings to perform, to act, to do and to be. You know, and this is a big area where we see a lot of people that are caught in very highly strung cultural traits, suffer with a lot of post-traumatic stress disorder. That really stirs that up. And there's so many other areas.
Speaker 2:And what about OCD? Do you have OCD, compulsive disorder? You know, when you look at that OCD, one of the big things that is very characterized in that is being obsessed, the behavior of cleaning, of the continuation of cleaning and hygiene and everything like that. Tins in the cupboard are perfect. This is placed this way. You know, compulsive disorder, ocd.
Speaker 2:There's so many ways that we can look at this. You know the behaviors, the mental activity, the compulsions in the mind. Have I locked the back door? Are the windows shut? You know you get in the car. I've got to go back indoors. I've got to do this. I've got to check the door five times. I've got to check the window eight times. Have I got my phone in my pocket? Have I got? Have I got that? There are so many ways, but this is just really quick-fired stuff, you know.
Speaker 2:Then we can look at the factors of what. What are the trigger points? Is it genetic? Is it the chemistry in the brain and the structure of that? Is it the environmental stress around us? Is it personal factors? So there are a few areas. They're like personal factors, the environment or stress that is around us. You know brain chemistry and structure. Are there imbalances in my mind? You know the way that the chemistry that transmits signals to the brain, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2:Genetics as well. Is there a family history that plays a significant role in the development of my anxiety disorder. You know, anxiety, you know, runs through the thread of many, many human beings, you know, in families, you know, we can look, maybe, at our families now and just reflect over you know history and say, yeah, my family, I can see that certain areas and certain people within my family have had this. But what does the Bible say? I've got to come back to the Word of God, I've got to come back to the book of Philippians. God says, through that great apostle, in Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7, do not be anxious about anything. So the Bible is telling us don't be anxious about the environment that is around you, don't be anxious about your personal factors, don't be anxious about your chemistry and your brain and your structure and your health. Don't worry about the genetics you know.
Speaker 2:So then the question we ask to ourselves you know, what are these symptoms? What are these symptoms of being anxious? Anxiety disorders? What are they? What do they carry? You know, is it a constant worry of fear, often, uh, worrying about the situation that is around us? That is a trigger point figure. Uh, we got, we got psychological and we got physical symptoms such as a racing heart, you know, you got shortage of breath. You're sweating, dizziness, trembling. You ever experienced all that sort of stuff where you've been dizzy, you've been trembling and you're sweating, dizziness, trembling. You ever experienced all that sort of stuff where you've been dizzy, you've been trembling and you're sweating. Your palms are sweating, your body is hot. Your shortness of breath, your heart suddenly, out of nowhere, suddenly accelerates and you can feel that beat in your chest and then suddenly you go. Am I going to have an heart attack? Is there something wrong with me? Have I got a brain tumor? Am I unwell? You know there are so many things in life that trigger anxiety Restlessness.
Speaker 2:Are you restless?
Speaker 2:Are you irritable? Do you have a lot of fatigue? Are you really tired? Do you avoid situations, heavily placed shopping centers? Are there areas in your life where human beings bring stress to you? And what about sleep? That's an area. You know sleep disorders. You know sleep disturbance. How many hours are we sleeping through the night? Do we keep waking up every hour, every two hours, three hours? Are we waking up alert? Are we waking up fearful? Are we waking up sweating and worrying about what the day holds for us? You know our life activity needs to change. There are many of us across the world, whether we're in faith, we're out of faith. Whatever life looks like that, we need to change the activity. And when we change the activity and the environment around us, what does it mean? It means looking at people in our lives. Are people bringing us to stress and anxiety? Does our life reflect stress and anxiety? What do the people in our lives actually do? What do they actually do? Are they bringing peace or are they bringing issues? If we've got people in our lives that are bringing us issues, what do we do about that? We've got to change the circles in which we walk in.
Speaker 2:Now I've just thrown open there the envelope. Just so much stuff. We've looked at the causes and the factors of anxiety genetics, brain chemistry, the structure, the environmental stress around us in just major life events, families, life, financial difficulties, traumas, experiences, all that sort of stuff, chronic stress, ongoing worries, personal factors in our lives and that sort of situation. Then we have to look at the traits that are out there, the different areas of life. You know OCD. Have I got OCD? Have I got PTSD? You know post-traumatic stress disorder. Was there an event in my life? Abuse, fear, doubt, a traumatic marriage, a traumatic childhood was there areas of my life that have triggered certain things. You know, have I got a phobia to certain areas of life? Have I got social anxiety disorder? Have I got panic disorder? There is so much to look out there and that that one that we mentioned very, very briefly at the top of the hour was general generalized anxiety disorder. Gad, you know that is the one that is across the board. That can go from work to health to family issues. You know all types of areas of life.
Speaker 2:You know anxiety is very, very powerful. It is psychological, it is spiritual and it is an emotion. So how do I deal with it? What is the correct way? What is the way that the Bible says? The Bible is very, very clear. The way that the Bible says. The Bible is very, very clear. It says in 1 Peter, chapter 5, verse 7, cast all your anxieties onto him because he cares for you. Isn't it easy reading these scriptures? You know we've just looked at so many areas of anxiety, just very fast and quick and fired. You know you might need to read this chapter again, you might need to go back through this podcast again, but it comes down to faith and trust and prayer. It comes down to those three key areas of the word of God prayer, trust and faith.
Speaker 2:The Bible says be anxious for nothing. The Bible deals with these natural responses that we have built in to the chemistry of our life, but the majority of the stress and the anxiety and the fear that we experience is triggered from an outside experience. So the outside experience of life have the people that I've got around me, are they encouragers or are they very toxic? Are they feeding me good stuff positivity, joy, hope or are they pulling me down? You, you know people are critical to our emotions. Anxiety is fueled by the outside environment. So how do I deal with this?
Speaker 2:The bible is extremely clear do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation. Have you got people in your life that are causing you trouble? God's provision. God promises that he will provide for you. God tells us very clearly in Psalm 55, 22. David shares something very powerful. Read Psalm 52, you know 22. 52, you know 22,. Cast your cares onto the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken. David was a man. David was a king. David was a shepherd boy. David was a Psalmist. David was a warrior. David was a fighter, david was a survivor, but david also experienced extreme anxiety, extreme levels of anxiety in his life, and god got him through in the close of this podcast.
Speaker 2:As we duck out of this last part of this, whether you're reading this through right now, whether you're listening to this on the other side of the world, we pray here that God will lead you in paths of righteousness. But there's a beautiful scripture. There's a lovely scripture as we come to the close, in John 14, verse 27. Peace I leave you, my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, do not be afraid. You know being afraid triggers fear. Fear triggers doubt. Doubt runs beside anxiety, anxiety, doubt and fear Extremely powerful emotions. God's peace with you. Cast all your cares onto God.
Speaker 2:It is about reading the word of God. It is about trusting, is about walking in the scripture, prayer and supplication. The scripture that we started off in this podcast and in this chapter that we have within this book is Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus. Wherever you are across the world, may the hand of God lead you, you know. Thank you for joining us for this podcast. You know anxiety in the Bible. God bless you wherever you are, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Mighty name of.
Speaker 1:Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening to us today on Reverend Ben Cooper's podcast. We hope you found inspiration and guidance in today's audio. Remember the journey of faith is a continuous one and your questions and thoughts are important. You can send us a text or an email and we will get back to you. So, wherever you are around the world, thank you for listening to our podcasts and radio ministry. For more information about our ministry, please find us on pastorbencoopercouk. Please support us with prayer. Also, you can sow a financial seed into this ministry. You can also leave us a legacy to support and continue the work of this radio ministry. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with others who might benefit. Until next time, stay blessed.
