Overcoming Anxiety With God’s Peace: How to Stand in Faith During a Crisis

If there is one single thing most people in the world desire to experience in their lives, it’s peace.

In fact, the apostle Paul so understood the human need for peace that he included the prayer for peace often in his writings such as this one in 2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NLT):

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.

Paul was in essence commanding the Lord’s peace and presence to be upon the reader of his letters. He knew that living in peace is key to the abundant life Jesus came to give us. For the masses who do not understand the Lord’s peace, they still try to experience peace, seeking all manners of methods to do so. They look to various therapies, relaxation methods, medications, and some-times even illicit drugs and alcohol or other substances that lead to addictions. Some will even tap into the counterfeit of the occult to seek some version of inner spiritual peace. The point is that one of people’s key goals is to search for peace within themselves and within their surroundings.

The problem is that a so-called peace, which doesn’t come from the Lord, really isn’t peace at all. It’s simply a fleeting feeling that can come and go with circumstances. It doesn’t really have the foundational substance that only the Lord, the true Giver of peace, can supply. In fact, if one’s search for peace does not include God Himself, it will eventually crumble into chaos. We see this as people who claim to want peace in their lives become the very perpetrators of violence, turmoil, and trauma. Without surrendering to God, there is no peace to be had. No amount of therapy, meditation, supplementation, or treatment that omits a life of faith in Jesus Christ can supply true inner peace.

We who know the Lord understand this. However, what many believers struggle with is the ability to tap into the Lord’s supply of divine peace during times of crisis. Like many promises of Scripture, they know God’s peace is available; but in the middle of adversity, they cannot seem to receive the fulfillment of that promise. Instead, they are filled with anxiety and fear.

This is not God’s best for us. We should not live our lives loving God but unable to attain the promises He has for us. I once heard a preacher say, “Most Christians live far below what God has provided them in His Holy Word.” My thought in hearing this was, What a travesty! While the walk of faith can at times present challenges and demonic resistance, we cannot relent to seeing it impossible to receive all that God has for us. The Lord would not dangle a carrot in front of us and make it unattainable to claim. To be content to live in less than God’s best is a mockery to His powerful written Word.

At the same time, we also realize that the promises of God are not always automatic, and we must trust and believe in them personally despite the circumstances that oppose us. They are called promises because they’re something we can depend on in times of our most desperate need, but we still must actively reach for them. The mere fact that God’s promises are not automatic and something we need to exert faith to enjoy, shows us that receiving His peace is no different. We must appropriate God’s promises of peace by faith. We cannot expect peace to always just fall on us or only be present when the good winds of life seem to be blowing. We can also experience His divine peace when our situation is adverse or painful. We need to command peace’s ability to govern us even in the midst of life’s storms when we are tempted with fear.

That is what my new book is about and why I have titled it Commanding Peace! In it you will learn the biblical principles for how to maintain your trust in the Lord when the world around you seems to be falling apart. Yes, even when your mind is racing or when stress and anxiety are trying to affect your entire being, you can keep your composure and find rest in the middle of the crisis!

You will learn that to have peace, it sometimes means that you have to command peace to take over while rejecting the temptation to be stressed and fearful. In fact, in this book we will talk a great deal about our authority in Christ and using the weapon of our words to command peace.

But it’s more than just understanding the power of speaking the right things. It’s using our words as a weapon to command our situation to come into order and tell the raging storm inside our minds to be still. In this book we will also talk about other ways of commanding peace such as waiting on the Lord, dealing with our thoughts and many other important elements that contribute to commanding peace until it takes root in our soul.

Jesus taught this principle in Mark chapter 4 when He and the disciples encountered the storm on the lake. In this account Jesus demonstrated commanding peace, but this same principle is also woven throughout Scripture, which we will break down in detail. In the account of the storm, Jesus was not just demonstrating His own divine power as the Son of God. He also expected His disciples to demonstrate faith in the power of God to intervene (Mark 4:40). This story is a lesson to us that amid life’s storms we must exert our faith and command peace to reign.

The key is knowing we can command peace using all the weapons given to us in God’s Word and then we can be assured that peace from the Lord is and always will be available. No situation is too hard for it and nothing satan tries can prevent it if we choose to walk in what God has promised. Yes, even the most tragic and despairing situations can be overshadowed by the peace of the Lord—and it’s important that we take time to reflect on this truth. We don’t always understand how this happens, because it’s truly divine, but we can position ourselves for that overshadowing to envelop us when we need it most.

Dear reader, while I may not know what you are facing today, whether some form of grief, trauma, or sim-ply a long road of constant worry and anxiety over many things, God knows your situation. Maybe you are seeking God for answers to what you have been through, but those answers seem far away, and it causes you to lack peace. I believe He wants to give you the foundational principles in this writing to help you develop a place for His peace to rule in your life and circumstances. Even in those times when you know what’s happening around you is beyond your control, and it seems virtually impossible for any-thing to change for the better, it’s still possible to let His peace rule within you.

This is where miracles happen!

My prayer for you is that as you read this book you will develop the skills for commanding peace, even while the enemy wants to rob your peace from you. Before you begin reading, I encourage you to start with the following prayer:

Father, I ask You to teach me how to walk in Your divine peace. I know You are working on my behalf. You are on my side and not against me; therefore, I can trust You. I choose to reject all temptations to be anxious, frustrated, and fearful. I know You answer my prayers and that Your all-powerful hand is moving in my situation. Comfort me, heal my heart, and strengthen my faith today. I command all demonic interference and thoughts of fear and distress coming against my thoughts to be cast out. I command everything that would attempt to rob me of peace to be rendered powerless and void! Let Your Word fill my heart and mind with truth, and I receive a super-natural impartation of peace now. In Jesus’ name. Amen!