For anxiety

This plan is for people who wake up with a head already full of what has not happened yet. The six passages come from different periods and authors, and all of them face the same question: what to do with worry when it will not pass by itself.

Philippians 4:6-7 was written by Paul in prison, and in Philippians 1:13 he mentions his own chains. Even so he asks the church to turn every worry into a request to God, with thanksgiving. Matthew 6:34 belongs to the Sermon on the Mount: after the birds and the lilies, Jesus concludes that each day already has its own weight. Psalm 94:19 is a first-person sentence from someone who admits to having too many thoughts, and the Bible does not treat that as lack of faith. 1 Peter 5:7 takes up Psalm 55:22 almost word for word, about casting worry on God. John 14:27 comes from the Last Supper, when Jesus gives the disciples a peace that he says is not like the world's.

Read one verse a day, in the morning, and then the chapter it sits in: context changes the meaning. Write beside it the concrete worry of that day. In six days the plan is finished and can be repeated.

This plan is reading and reflection and does not replace medical or psychological help. If anxiety gets in the way of your sleep, your work or your routine, see a health professional.