Here game plan when you start to worry and obsess: 1. Name the pressures. You always worry about something. What things tend to hook you?… Anxieties feel endless and infinite – but they’re finite and specific. 2. Identify how you express anxiety. How does anxiety show up in your life? 3. Ask yourself, Why am I anxious? Worry always has its inner logic… What do I want, need, crave, expect, demand, and lust after? Or what do I fear either losing or never getting? Identify the specific lust of the flesh. Anxious people “eagerly seek” the gifts more than the Giver. They bank treasure in the wrong place. What is preoccupying me, so that I pursue it with all my heart? 4. Which promise of Jesus [from the Bible] speaks to you most? Grab one promise and work with it. 5. Go to your Father. Talk to Him. Your Father cares about the things you worry about. Your Father knows what you need. Cast your cares upon Him, because He cares for you. 6. Give. Do and say something constructive. Care for someone else. Give to meet human need. In the darkest hole, when life is toughest, there’s always some way to give yourself away.

— David Powlison (1949–2019), Seelsorger, Theologe, Dozent und Autor der biblischen Seelsorgebewegung (CCEF)

Topics: Fear & Anxiety, Prayer & Silence

David Powlison

David Powlison (1949–2019) war ein US-amerikanischer evangelikal-reformierter Seelsorger, Theologe und langjähriger Leiter der Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF). Er prägte die Weiterentwicklung der biblischen Seelsorgebewegung hin zu einem gnadenorientierten Ansatz, stieß mit seiner Abgrenzung von säkularer Psychotherapie und Psychiatrie jedoch auch auf fachliche Kritik. Für Bibelleser veranschaulicht sein Werk, wie theologische Aussagen der Schrift auf persönliche Lebenskrisen, seelische Nöte und zwischenmenschliche Konflikte bezogen werden können.

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David Powlison

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