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Reading plan · 7 days

A 7-Day Bible Reading Plan for Anxiety

For anyone whose mind will not switch off, who lies awake, or who carries a worry they cannot put down.

Anxiety rarely listens to "just stop worrying". What it does respond to, slowly, is being brought into the open and handed to someone bigger than itself. This week is not a cure, and it is not a substitute for the help a doctor or counsellor can give. It is a steady seven days of letting Scripture speak to the part of you that is afraid. Read the passage slowly, sit with the thought for the day, and pray, even if all you can manage is one honest sentence.

  1. Day 1: Philippians 4:6-7

    Start here. Paul does not say to feel calm; he says to pray instead of churning. Notice that the peace comes after the handing over, and that it guards you rather than being something you have to manufacture.

  2. Day 2: Matthew 11:28-30

    Jesus invites the worn out, not the impressive. Today, name what is wearing you down and picture actually handing it over rather than carrying it one more night alone.

  3. Day 3: 1 Peter 5:6-7

    Casting a burden is an active thing, like throwing something off your shoulders. The reason given is simple and worth resting on: he cares for you.

  4. Day 4: Isaiah 41:10

    Four times God answers fear, not with "be braver" but with "I am with you". The strength is his, lent to you, not something you have to dig up.

  5. Day 5: Matthew 6:25-34

    Jesus points to birds and flowers, ordinary things that are cared for without striving. Worry, he says gently, adds nothing. Read it outdoors if you can.

  6. Day 6: John 14:27

    The peace Jesus gives is not the world’s kind, which depends on everything going right. It is his own peace, left to you like a gift in a will.

  7. Day 7: Psalm 23

    End the week with the most loved of all psalms. A sheep is safe because of the shepherd, not because it is clever or strong. Let that be the thought you carry into the next week.

If the week has helped, do not rush off. Go round again, or stay on the day that spoke to you. Peace is not usually a single moment; it is a habit of handing the same worry over, again and again, until your hands learn to let go.

Carry on from here