Bible Verses for Anxiety, Through the Six Steps

Maybe someone has handed you a verse about anxiety in a way that made you feel like you were the problem. Here are seven verses, and a bonus from Jesus, each read in its whole passage and walked through all six steps. The part that usually gets left off often changes how the line reads. Take one verse if that is all you have room for today. There is no way to fail it.

Download the full set (PDF, 48 pages)

Watch the video this goes with

7 Bible Verses for Anxiety (What They Really Say)
Seven verses read in context · 24 min

Each study also stands on its own, so you can print or share any one of them by itself. Keep your own Bible open; the sheets quote only a short line where a point turns on the wording, and leave the rest to you.

The verses

Before you start: which of these verses do you already know, or has someone handed you? Write down what you were told it meant. Then start with the one you were handed, or the one you need today. If none comes to mind, start with the first.

Philippians 4:6–7 (read in 4:1–9) — usually quoted as verse 6 alone; verse 7 is where the real promise is
2 Timothy 1:7–8 (read in 1:3–18) — not a promise that fear will go, and verse 8 begins with “So”
1 Peter 5:7 (read in 5:1–11) — it finishes the sentence verse 6 starts
Joshua 1:9 (read in 1:1–9) — what carries over to us from a speech to Joshua, and how we know
Proverbs 3:5–6 (read in 3:1–12) — verse 5 is the how
Psalm 94:19 (read in the whole psalm) — a cry to the God who sees and judges, and who comforts
Hebrews 13:5–6 (read in 13:1–8) — because God will never leave you, you can be content and unafraid
Matthew 6:25–33 (read in 6:19–34), the bonus from Jesus — it begins with “Therefore”

What the video says about anxiety

The video reads seven verses with the sentence around each one, and puts together what the Bible really says about anxiety: God is with you in it, His peace stands guard over you, and He gives you every reason to trust Him. So pray, and bring your anxiety to Him. The real promise is a relationship with Him, being joined to Jesus, where God’s peace guards you.

The video skims the verses around each one to stay with what it says about anxiety. These pages do not skim: each one reads the verse in its whole passage, the full thought it belongs to, and walks that passage through all six steps.

The six steps

Read It, Cross Over, Stand in Their World, Verify It, Come Back, Carry It Home. If the method is new to you, start with The Six Steps, also free.

Before you begin

These pages will not give you every answer to what you are walking through. If it is heavy, pray about it and take it to the Lord, and talk to someone: a pastor, a teacher, a mentor, someone you trust. If you do not have anyone yet, a local church is a good place to ask. A printed page is not a substitute for a person. In Acts 8:27–31 a high official from Ethiopia had the Scripture in his hands and still said he could not understand it “unless someone guides me.”

These studies are written to people who trust Jesus. If you are not there yet, you are welcome here: the passages show who He is. Bring your questions to Him, and to someone you trust.