What does the Bible say about Anxiety/Stress and how to cope?

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). Norman Vincent Peale said it this way, "Change your thoughts and you change your world."

"And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," Romans 12:2.

There are four "scriptural prescriptions" that can change your life, give you a better understanding of your Christian experience, and help you to lead a happier, healthier life.

The Twenty-third Psalm
This Psalm is a pattern of thinking, and when a mind becomes saturated with it, a new way of thinking and a new life are the result. It contains only 118 words. Most Christians probably have it memorized. But its power is not in memorizing the words, but rather in thinking the thoughts. The power of this Psalm lies in the fact that it represents a positive, hopeful, faith approach to life.

The Ten Commandments
These rules for living are not only the basis of conduct, both moral and spiritual, but also the basis of peace and prosperity for the individual and for the world. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God," Psalm 14:1. And it is only a fool who thinks he is big enough or smart enough to violate the unchangeable laws of the eternal God and get by with it. The first four deal with man's relationship with God, the last six with man's relationship with man. Before man can live rightly with each other, he must first get right with God. As H.G. Wells put it, "Until a man has found God he begins at no beginning; he works to no end."

The Lord's Prayer
This prayer was given to the disciples by Jesus in response to their request, "Lord, teach us to pray" Luke 11:1. This prayer takes just seconds to recite. But praying is not just saying the words. The power in the prayer is the pattern of thinking in which our minds are formed. When our thoughts begin to flow in the channels of the Lord's Prayer our minds become new and we are transformed. The king in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" miserably fails in prayer as seen in this line, "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go."

The Beatitudes
Jesus gave us eight keys to God's kingdom. To be poor in spirit means to give up our pride; to mourn means to be penitent to the point of surrendering our sins; meekness means that we must surrender our very selves to the plans and purposes of God; our hunger for God means turning away from our ambitions for all things else; to be merciful means to pay good for the evil we have received; for purity we must give up all things impure; to make peace is wholly to choose God. Those are the seven ingredients of righteousness. Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, "theirs is the kingdom of heaven."