When anxiety will not let go

Anxious and want someone to pray for you? Ask here

If anxiety is wearing you down and you want someone to pray for you, you can ask the family at The Living Bread, free and with no account. Write what is weighing on you, and believers who agreed to pray for strangers can take your chair. It sits beside good care, not in place of it, and if you are in danger, the first thing to do is call for help.

What the Bible says to an anxious person

The Bible does not scold anxious people. It speaks to them kindly, and it gives them something to do with the weight. These verses are read from the stored King James Version.

Anxiety and faith, said honestly

Anxiety is not a sin and it is not proof that your faith is weak. It can come from circumstances, from a body that has been under strain for too long, from grief, from a medical condition, or from nothing you can name. Christians who are kind do not tell you to pray harder and stop. They pray with you, and they also tell you to see a doctor when it is more than a season.

If your anxiety has lasted for weeks, keeps you from sleeping or working, brings panic attacks, or is mixed with thoughts of hurting yourself, please speak to a doctor or a counsellor as well as asking for prayer. That is not in competition with prayer. Many believers pray for the very people who treat them.

When you do not know how to pray about it

A prayer for anxiety does not have to be beautiful. It can be a list. It can be one word. It can be "I do not know what to say, and I am here." The believers who pray for you will use their own words, and you may read a line from each if they leave one.

What to write when you ask

• What the worry is about, in plain words: money, health, a person, the future, or nothing you can name.
• What it is doing to you: sleep, appetite, work, your temper, your prayers.
• What you would like: peace tonight, wisdom for a decision, help sleeping, courage for a conversation.
• If you want to, say how long this has been going on. The believers who pray will be gentler when they know it has been long.

Small things that help while you wait

• Say your prayer slowly with your breathing: one line on the in breath, one on the out breath.
• Write the worry down on paper, and next to it, one thing you can do tomorrow. Leave the rest on the page.
• Tell one person today, even if only "I am not okay." A sentence is enough.
• Step outside for ten minutes. Light, air and movement are not trivial for a body that is braced.

What happens after you ask

1. A chair opens. The family offers it to up to six believers who chose, in their settings, to pray for a stranger this week. The first three who say "I will pray" take it. If it is not taken within 45 minutes it is offered to six more, and never beyond that.
2. You get a private link. It is the only key to your page. It is stored only as a one way hash, so we cannot read it back to you, and nobody else has it. Keep it, or save the page.
3. Your page tells you the truth. It says waiting, or it says how many are praying (first names only if each believer allowed theirs), and it shows any short line they left. If nobody has taken your chair in 20 minutes, a person who looks after this is told, and your page says so.
4. We come back to ask how you are. On day 3 and on day 7 your page holds one gentle question. If you gave an account or an email and letters are switched on, we tell you it is waiting. It never asks more than twice, and then it is silent.

Questions people ask

Is anxiety a lack of faith?

No. The Bible speaks to anxious people with tenderness, and many who love Christ the most struggle with it. Faith and treatment are not opposites. Pray, and also see a doctor if it is more than a season.

Will asking for prayer make the anxiety go away?

We cannot promise that, and we will not pretend. What often changes when someone prays with and for you is that you are no longer carrying it alone. We will ask how you are on day 3 and day 7, honestly.

Should I ask for prayer, or see a professional?

Both. They do different things. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, or you cannot function, please contact a doctor or a crisis line first, and ask for prayer as well.

What if I do not believe in God?

You may still ask. You are not asked to believe anything, and you will not be pressured. The believers pray in their own way, and your page will only show what they chose to leave.

Do I need an account to ask?

No. You can ask with no account and no email. You are given a private link, and the page at that link is where you see who is praying and where the two gentle questions wait for you.

Is it free?

Yes. It is free to ask and free to pray, and there are no ads. The Living Bread does not sell your words or your attention.