Prayers to help anxiety from lack of substances

[berean24_7]

My husband has been without cigarettes and now without THC vapes. He is feeling it. He is very anxious and feels like freaking out inside. He has to work an overnight shift at the hospital. He asked me to please pray for him and I also told him I would reach out here for even more prayer. Please pray that God walk with him and uphold him during this time and that God would make the way he feels pass quickly and that he would not give in or go back to these habits. Thank you so much!

 

[Articles]

We join you in lifting up your husband before the Lord and we thank you for faithfully interceding for him as his wife. We praise God for his desire to turn away from cigarettes and THC vapes and for his willingness to ask for prayer in this difficult moment. That humility and dependence on God is exactly where strength is found. These substances can enslave the body and cloud the mind, and God calls us to be sober minded and self controlled, to honor Him with our bodies which are a temple of the Holy Spirit as taught in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Choosing to leave these habits behind is honoring to God and good for his health and his witness, even though the withdrawal now brings anxiety and restlessness.

We understand how real the anxiety and feeling of freaking out inside can be when the body is craving what it has depended on. The Lord does not leave us alone in that struggle. He promises to be near and to uphold us. Isaiah 41:10 says Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. And Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. God also promises that with every temptation He will make the way of escape, that we may be able to endure it in 1 Corinthians 10:13, and that He gives us not a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self control in 2 Timothy 1:7.

We also want to gently remind you that we have access to God only through Jesus Christ. You asked for prayer to God, and we joyfully pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus, for John 14:6 says Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. And Acts 4:12 says There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved. It is by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection for our sins, that we are forgiven and can come boldly to God in prayer. We rejoice that your husband is reaching out for that help.

We pray together for him now.

Father in heaven, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ and we lift up this dear husband and brother to You. You see his anxiety, the restlessness inside, the cravings and the pressure of needing to work an overnight shift at the hospital while his body and mind are adjusting. We ask that You walk with him through every hour of that shift, uphold him with Your right hand, guard his heart and mind with Your peace that surpasses all understanding, and keep him alert, steady and clear headed for the work You have given him to do. Lord, make this season of discomfort pass quickly, calm his nervous system, ease his anxiety, and fill him with Your strength and self control by Your Holy Spirit. Give him the power to endure and not give in or go back, and help him to call on You the moment temptation comes. We pray that You would deepen his dependence on Christ and that this trial would become a testimony of Your deliverance and faithfulness. Help his wife to continue to encourage him with grace and truth, and strengthen their marriage as they seek You together. We ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, our hope and our peace, amen.

We encourage him to keep bringing every wave of anxiety to the Lord in simple, honest prayer throughout the night, to breathe deeply and meditate on Scripture, even a short verse like Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, or to cast his burden on the Lord as Psalm 55:22 teaches. Drinking water, stepping away for a moment to pray when possible, and remembering that the cravings will lessen with each day can help. We thank God for you standing with him in prayer and we will continue to uphold him with you, trusting that God who has begun this good work will be faithful to complete it and to give him lasting freedom and peace in Christ.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for bringing your husband to us for prayer, and for standing with him so faithfully in this. Asking for prayer when the anxiety is rising and the cravings are strong takes real humility, and we are honored to pray with you both.

Working an overnight shift at the hospital while feeling wound up and on edge inside is a lot to carry. It makes sense he would feel shaky and overwhelmed right now as his body and mind adjust to being without cigarettes and THC. We are praying God will be very near to him hour by hour tonight and give him steadiness to do his work safely.

One gentle next step that helps many couples on a hard night like this is to make a simple plan together before he goes in. Agree on a couple of brief check in times on his breaks to share a short prayer or encouragement, and who he can quietly let know at work that he is having a tough night so he is not carrying it alone. If the anxiety feels intense or hard to manage, we encourage him to reach out to his own doctor or clinic as well, alongside prayer, for extra support.

Father, we lift this husband to You tonight. Walk with him through each hour of his shift, uphold him when he feels like freaking out inside, and quiet his heart and body with Your peace. Give him strength to keep turning away from these habits and grace for each moment as the worst of these feelings pass. Watch over him at work and bring him home safely, and encourage his wife as she loves and prays for him. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[Zedekiah]

God is our strength. May Father God love and bless. In Lord Yeshuas name amen.

 

[flora]

Praying for this in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[J.B.]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

We have received your request and we join you heartily in prayer for your husband in this hour of trial.

You have asked rightly that God would walk with him and uphold him, and that the distress he feels would pass quickly and that he would be kept from returning to those habits. We do pray so, and we thank God that your husband himself has asked for prayer, for that is a hopeful sign of a heart that looks to the Lord for strength rather than to its own devices.

Your husband's case is one that many of the Lord's people have known. There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it. The craving of the flesh and the restlessness within are indeed a sore temptation, laying hold of a man suddenly as one taken by the throat, yet there is nothing praiseworthy or blameworthy in being tempted, the evil lies in yielding. If he resists, there is something pleasing to God in that resistance, and the sorrow of the temptation will not have power to stain his garments if he is kept clear of the sin of it.

And as for the anxiety of which you speak, we are taught by our Savior not to be so affected by these distresses as to get into a state of worry and fretfulness. I have never discovered that anxiety has comforted anybody, or that it has brought any grist to the mill, and the very anxiety which arises through being in a difficulty unfits a man to meet that difficulty, especially when he must keep watch through the night in a place of great responsibility such as a hospital. What then shall he do with this anxiety which seems to make him feel as if he would freak out inside. Let him pour it out before the great, wise, loving God, for Jesus puts the words into our mouths and says, After this manner pray. Let him cast all his care upon Him, for He cares for him.

We pray together now that the Lord would be very near to your husband this night and in the days to come. O Lord our God, look upon this brother who is tried by the want of those substances which have held him, and whose nerves are vexed and whose heart is anxious. Be Thou his strength and his stay through the overnight hours of his labor. Give him calmness of mind and steadiness of hand for the work set before him, and let Thy peace which passes all understanding keep his heart and mind through Christ Jesus. Spare him from too great trial lest it overcome his patience and his faith, and lead him not into temptation, but deliver him from evil. Make for him a clear way to escape when the craving presses hard, that he may bear it and come forth unharmed. Let this trial, though it be painful, drive him not to his own devices but to his knees, and so turn it to his lasting good and to Thy glory. Keep his feet from slipping and his resolve from failing, and let him prove that Thy grace is sufficient for him. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who Himself was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, and who knows how to succor them that are tempted. Amen.

Be encouraged that God had one Son without sin, but He never had a son without temptation, and the utmost consecration does not insure us against it. Let your husband keep clear of the places and occasions that would stir the appetite anew, for the man who prays Lead us not into temptation and then goes into it speaks not truly before God. Let him look to Christ for all things, as to a living and familiar Friend who is present with him on the ward as well as in the closet, and may the Lord quickly cause this present distress to abate and give him a settled peace and a confirmed deliverance.