Families Matter Most

They love Jesus. But they’re still anxious—now what? #

Offer real help to the anxious people in your pews (and maybe yourself, too).

As a leader, you’ve sat across from people—faithful, committed, Jesus-loving people—who are overwhelmed by anxiety. And you may have even whispered these verses to yourself in the quiet of your own struggle.

“Do not worry about tomorrow…”
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

Matthew 6:34; 1 Peter 5:7

They’re beautiful promises. But what happens when someone has cast their cares…and the anxiety is still there?

“I gave it to Jesus. Why am I still anxious? #

One woman in my church told me, “I prayed. I fasted. But I still have anxiety most days. What am I doing wrong?”

This is the heartbreak so many carry—and they carry it quietly, because they’re afraid of looking like they don’t trust God enough.

According to the National Church Life Survey in Australia, 39% of churchgoers who sought mental health treatment rated their church’s support as “excellent” or “good.” But 38% said their church didn’t even know they were struggling.

As a family coach, I believe we can do better—and here’s how.

What healing really looks like #

Licensed clinical social worker Adam Young says that true emotional healing requires engagement, not avoidance. When we leap too quickly into “giving it to God,” we might actually be skipping over the essential process of naming, feeling, and understanding the pain.

Instead of rushing to a prayer of release, ask: What exactly are they releasing? We can’t give to God what we haven’t fully acknowledged.

Here’s where your pastoral presence becomes so powerful—not because you fix it, but because you sit with them in it.

Try these kinds of questions:

• God isn’t in a hurry. What’s it like to sit in this moment with Him?
• When do you think this started?
• Besides anxiety, what else is here? Fear? Anger? Grief?
• Do you believe Jesus cares for you? Why or why not?
• What would it look like to trust Him just a little bit more? What’s stopping you?
  

“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”

Psalm 147:3

Sometimes, God does bring a miraculous end to anxiety. But often, healing is a process—not a punishment, not a failure of faith, but a prayerful walk with Jesus through layer after layer of unhealed hurt. 

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