Would you agree that fear and powerlessness cause the greatest stress? For something to be stressful, it has to trigger an emotional response from the amygdala, the emotional part of your brain. When your amygdala is activated, it raises your cortisol levels, which is your stress hormone, and you have a physical reaction: either fight, flee, or freeze. The longer you remain in this stress reaction, the more adverse physical symptoms you will have. There are many articles about the effects of Cortisol and how to reduce stress, which I linked below. In this post, I want to share my experience on the best way to manage stress.
How to Overcome Stress – https://hopeforcompletehealing.com/2025/02/02/how-to-overcome-stress/
20 Ways to Relieve Stress – https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-relieve-stress
Trauma and Cortisol: Their Impact on Mental Health – https://integratingpulse.com/articles/trauma-and-cortisol-mental-health-implications/
Managing Stress With Prayer
Friday nights, I go to the County Jail to lead a Bible Study with a co-teacher, Sandy. An inmate, who never went to church or read the Bible, asked if overcoming her addiction was as simple as praying. I said, “Yes.” So I put together a Bible study on prayer —why and how it works. During the next Bible study, a stressful situation happened to one of the inmates. But before I tell you about it, I need to share some of my Bible study so you understand how I helped the woman overcome the overwhelming stress.
I knew something was wrong because she turned red, was breathing faster, and looked terrified. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, “The CO (Correction Officer) was carrying reds.” I asked her what “reds” meant. She said you are put in a red uniform when you are in lockdown, and everything is taken from you. She felt she was going to be put in reds because of a verbal altercation she had with another member of the Bible Study, who then refused to come. The fear that the red uniform was for her sent her into a panic. I was on the spot to prove that prayer works.
How Prayer Works: Outline.
What is prayer? – It is our power connection (find an electric outlet). It’s useless unless you plug into it, but it is available when you need it. Prayer is useless until you plug into God, but you must be connected to Him through believing. (1Cor. 2:5, Rom. 1:6, 1Cor. 1:18).
What is faith? – It is our connection to God as we trust Him. Faith is our power cord that connects our spirit to God, the Almighty Spirit. He is our power source that we access through faith (Heb. 11:1 & verse 6, Gal. 5:5).
What is submission? – To yield to the authority, control, and power of another, also called surrendering. Submission turns on the power and allows God’s power to work in your life. If you are prideful and want to stay in control, then your prayer does not turn the power on. Submitting to God’s will allows His power to flow in your life and make changes.
What is sin? – It is disobedience to God, and it separates us from God, so our prayers are not effective until we repent and submit to God’s will. Sin causes power outages that need to be fixed so power can flow again. Sin separates you from God (Is. 59:1-2 and Ps. 66:18). Repair the break through confessing and repenting (1John 1:9, Acts 3:19, 8:22).
To learn more about prayer, please see my page called “Posts about Prayer.”
Why Prayer Works: Outline
I then explained to the girls the four realities of the Spirit world to understand why prayer works. Read my post called “Four Realities of the Spirit World” for complete details.
Reality one: We are spiritual beings in a physical body living in a spirit world within a physical world. (Jm. 2:26, Lk 23:46, Acts 7:59).
Reality two: God is an eternal Spirit being, which means He has always existed. He is also an all-powerful Spirit-being that is present everywhere. (Rev. 1:8, 1Cor. 2:11, John 4:24, 2Cor 3:17).
God’s desire from the beginning of time is to be in a loving fellowship with mankind. Fellowship also means companionship, and some call it a relationship. (1Cor. 1:9, 1John 1:3, and Isaiah 41:10-13 tell us that God holds our hand through our spiritual being.
Reality three: The devil and demons are evil spirits who are fallen angels. These evil spirits want to keep us from being in fellowship with God. And they will deceive and tempt us to please our sinful, fleshly desires and live independently of God. (1Peter 5:8-9, Matt. 4:1-11). James 4:7-8; “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8) Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Reality four: God the Holy Spirit replaces our sin-corrupted spirits and gives us a new life, and we become born again spiritually (see 1Peter 1:3 & 1 Cor 6:17). We get this new life when we believe with our heart and confess out loud that Jesus Christ is God the Son, who died to pay the debt for sin, forgives our sins, and frees us from sin’s control (see John 1:29; 1John 4:15; 1Peter 1:18-19; Colossians 1:14; & Galatians 5:1).
Conclusion:
Because God is our power source, and prayer is how we access His power, this makes prayer the best way to manage our stress and also become free from addictions and habitual sin. So, when Amanda had the stress reaction, I had her practice praying and giving her fearful thoughts to God and to bring in His peace and joy, and if she were put into reds and locked down, that God had a purpose for it. Rather than letting Satan steal your peace and joy, take the fearful thoughts captive, command them to be gone, and then focus on praising God. She immediately calmed down. I told her that it is okay to be upset when something bad happens, but dwelling on it will give fear power over your emotions and behavior. Praying causes you to focus on God’s power to help you. Where you allow your mind to focus will be the direction you go. Do you want to live in fear and anxiety or in peace and joy? Prayer is the best way to manage stress.
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My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises that are relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.
If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.
Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and what the truths are. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles.
Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-Changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, the 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.
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