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Anxiety is a tearing of the mind.

Do Not Be Anxious

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The Greek word for "anxious" is merimnao, and it has two parts: One part means "tear," and the other part means "mind." So, literally, "anxious" means a "tearing of the mind." Paul says, “Do not be anxious.” Anxiety is unhealthy; it is unbecoming to a believer; it is unproductive. But how does one stop being anxious? It is like saying, Don’t think about the blue elephant in the room. All you can think about is the blue elephant! Paul says, instead, bring your petitions to God. It is replacement therapy. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” We are to learn to lay them down at Jesus’ feet. It is an act of worship to give it to God.

The Lord’s prayer starts with recognizing who God is. We don’t start with saying, “give us this day our daily bread.” We start with “Our Father who is in heaven.” We can name the anxiety and give it to God. Imagine a business person driving home from work, rolling down the window and throwing a briefcase out the window. All the anxiety of work, out the window! Like the hymn says, “What a privilege to carry Ev'rything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!”

We need to trust God with our worries and leave them in His hands.

-  Dr. Kenneth Mills is a retired Church of the Nazarene pastor and district superintendent and currently serves as an adjunct professor at NBC.