Bible Verses for Anxiety and Worry | Read, Pray, Print

Be anxious for nothing

If you are looking for scripture for anxiety, this is where most people start, and for good reason. Older translations put it as “be anxious for nothing.” The NIV says it this way:

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.
Philippians 4:6–7 · NIV

This verse is not a scolding for feeling anxious, and it is not a promise that the feeling will vanish the moment you pray. Paul wrote it from prison. It is an invitation: take the thing you are anxious about and turn it into a request, with thanks for what God has already done.

And the promise is not that every situation changes. It is that God’s peace will stand guard over your heart and mind, like a sentry at the door, often before anything around you has changed at all.

Bible verses about worry

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34 · NIV

Worry borrows tomorrow’s trouble and spends today’s strength on it. Jesus gives you permission to carry only today.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7 · NIV

Cast is a strong word. It means to throw something off, not to set it down gently and keep one hand on it.

Psalm 55:22Hand your burdens to the Lord and He will hold you up. He will not let the righteous be shaken.

When your mind won’t stop: Bible verses for overthinking

Overthinking is anxiety that has learned to sound reasonable. These verses help when the same thoughts go round and round.

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Isaiah 26:3 · NIV

A steadfast mind is not an empty one. It is a mind that keeps coming back to rest on God, again and again.

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.
Psalm 94:19 · NIV

The psalmist does not deny the anxiety. He names how great it was, and then names what met him there.

2 Corinthians 10:5We take every thought captive and bring it under Christ.

You do not have to follow every thought where it wants to go. You can stop one, look at it, and ask whether it is true.

Scriptures about fear: Bible verses about not being afraid

For nervousness before a hard day, fear that has no clear reason, or fear that has a very clear one.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 · NIV

God gives the reason before He gives the instruction: do not fear, for I am with you.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 56:3 · NIV

Not if I am afraid, but when. Fear is expected. What you do with it is the choice.

2 Timothy 1:7God did not give us a spirit of fear. His Spirit brings power, love and a steady, disciplined mind.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 · NIV

All of them. Even the ones you have never said out loud.

Bible verses for calm

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27 · NIV

The peace Jesus gives is not the absence of trouble. It is His own peace, the kind He had in the boat during the storm.

Be still, and know that I am God;
Psalm 46:10 · NIV

Try it slowly, one breath at a time, dropping a word each time: be still and know that I am God. Be still and know. Be still. Be.

Matthew 11:28–30Jesus invites everyone who is weary and burdened to come to Him for rest. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Bible verses for anxiety and depression

Anxiety and depression often come together, and Scripture does not shy away from either.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:11 · NIV

The psalmist talks to his own soul. Sometimes faith sounds exactly like that: not feeling better yet, but deciding to hope anyway.

Psalm 34:18When your heart is broken and your spirit crushed, God draws near and rescues you.

If the heaviness has lasted for weeks, or it is getting in the way of eating, sleeping or getting through the day, please talk to a counselor or your doctor as well. Asking for that help is not a failure of faith. God works through good care, and you deserve to have it. If you are in crisis in the US, you can call or text 988 at any time.

Pray it

This is how Sheila Renae’s Prayer Against Fear and Anxiety begins. Press play at the top of the page to hear her pray all of it over you.

Lord Jesus, thank You. Thank You for Your presence in my life, and for the ability that I even have to know You. Thank You that You died on the cross for me, and that You paved a way for me to live without fear and anxiety. Father, I claim that today for myself.

And I ask that You would teach me — teach me to walk in Your ways, teach me to know Your path, teach me to know how to lay down anything that was never mine to carry. Shine Your light on it, Lord, and show me how to put it down. Show me how to let it go. Show me how to move forward in the strength and confidence that You died for us to have.

Read the whole prayer, or download the prayer as a free one-page PDF (free PDF download).

The printed prayer page resting on linen

The full prayer

Free to print, share, and pray as often as you need. No email required.

When anxiety wakes you in the night

You already know the noise was nothing, but your body has not caught up. That gap between what you know and what you feel is where most anxiety lives at two in the morning, and you cannot close it by arguing with yourself.

Read: When Fear Wakes You in the Night

Bible Verses for Anxiety