Stress, Anxiety, and Our Health

 Members of the Kingdom of God,

I pray you are doing well.  The below is a teaching on stress, anxiety, fear, and how it affects our health.  Everyone suffers with fear at one level or another.  Fear can be passed down the generation line, it can be a trauma which has a stressor (fear) tied to it, fear of being hurt, fear of being abused, fear of not being loved or worthy to be loved, fear of verbal attack, fear of getting sick and many more.  Our biggest fear we have is fearing into the future.

I pray you get something out of this teaching and I encourage you to share.  It is knowledge that is very useful.

Lastly, I know this is rather long (4 pages) compared to other teachings, but it only takes 10 minutes to read.  Quite a bit more if you really study this and apply it to your life.  Reponses, questions, or prayer requests welcomed.

Blessings to you all,

Tony

Stress, Anxiety, And Our Health

I was led to write this teaching based on a lady we prayed for this past Tuesday at a church prayer gathering.  She was in the hospital with several issues.  Just mentioning and going to the hospital causes stress and anxiety.  One symptom she had was difficulty breathing. Stress and anxiety caused the millions of air sacs to constrict or narrow in her lungs making it difficult to breathe.  Stress and anxiety are fear in the Bible.

Would you pray away this women’s symptoms or would you pray away what caused the symptoms?  We prayed away the causes which is stress/anxiety/fear in the name of Jesus.  James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins) to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, NIV.  Praying away the symptoms is not effective prayer,

The following stress and anxiety information is from WebMD, Mayor Clinic, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, and others on the effects of stress and anxiety from a science and medical perspective.  Interesting to note is fear is not mentioned by science and the medical field.  Yet, fear is mentioned 353 times in the Old Testament and 104 time in the New Testament (Bible Gateway NKJV). Even Christians seldom say “I’m in fear” or “I am fearful.” They don’t want to be judged as flawed.  Yet, we don’t have a problem saying “I am stressed. Why would any Christians declare stress or anxiety over their selves?  It is a spoken curse. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so, James 3:10.  We can be programmed by our own spoken curses making our sickness and disease worse!  How many times have you heard a person listing their sicknesses and diseases.  God is trying to tells us about fear and we ignore His warnings.  God says “do not fear” throughout the Bible.  Why do we disobey God?  Disobedience (sin) leads to sickness and disease according to the Bible in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.

Stress and Anxiety

Chronic stress and anxiety triggers prolonged releases of cortisol and adrenaline, which take a severe physical toll on the body. This continuous "fight-or-flight" state significantly increases the risk of developing, or exacerbating a variety of serious sicknesses and diseases.

Excessive Cortisol Drip – An excessive cortisol "drip" typically refers to either long-term exposure to excess cortisol or hypercortisolism.  Because the body relies on cortisol for metabolism, immune function, and stress (fear) response, too much of it triggers widespread physical and mental health issues. 

Stress and anxiety play a role in cortisol drip, but it is not the cause as I have written in a previous teachings. Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit (bitterness, envy, jealousy, and anger) dries the bones (bone marrow and white T cells that fight off immune disease).  Excessive cortisol destroys the white T cells that are critical in destroying infected or cancerous cells and to coordinate the overall immune response against foreign pathogens (infections, viruses, parasites, and bacteria).  Proverbs 14:30 A heart that has peace is life to the body, but wrong desires are like the wasting away of the bones, NLV.

Science says excessive cortisol drip can lead to the following physical and mental symptoms:                                                                                                                                                                                  

Weight Gain: Cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone, causes weight gain by driving the body to store visceral fat—deep belly fat surrounding internal organs. It does this through a combination of increased appetite, altered fat distribution, hormonal disruption, and metabolic slow down.

Skin Issues: Thinning skin that bruises easily, slow wound healing, and purple stretch marks on the abdomen and hips.

Hormonal & Reproductive Impacts: Irregular periods and excessive body hair in women, and a low sex drive or erectile dysfunction in men.

Metabolic & Bone Issues: High blood pressure, elevated blood sugar (potentially leading to Type 2 diabetes), and weakened bones (osteoporosis).

Mental & Cognitive Effects: Heightened anxiety, depression (fear), irritability, and issues with focus and memory (forgetfulness, brain fog, dementia, and a whirlwind of thoughts causing confusion).        Inflammation: Constant exposure to high cortisol blunts your immune cells' receptors. Cortisol can no longer suppress the immune system, leading to unchecked inflammation of muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Key Science and medical point – Cortisol can destroy soft tissues. As a catabolic hormone, chronic high levels—whether from long-term—force your body to break down proteins in your muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joint and, knee/shoulder cartilage, and connective tissues (cells, fibers and ground substances).

The top most common sicknesses and diseases linked to stress and anxiety include:

Cardiovascular Disease: Chronic stress elevates blood pressure, increases heart rate, and causes long-term strain on arteries, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Tony’s notes: 120 million people have high blood pressure.  Most stress issues are fearing into the future.

Gastrointestinal Disorders: The brain-gut connection means stress can cause or worsen conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastritis, and peptic ulcers.  Tony’s notes: IBS is mostly specific to women.

Type II Diabetes: High levels of stress hormones interfere with insulin production and blood sugar regulation, increasing the risk of developing diabetes. Tony, notes: More than 36 million people have Type 2 diabetes.

Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome: Anxiety often leads to emotional eating and high cortisol levels promote the storage of fat, particularly around the abdomen.  Tony’s notes: Approximately 74% of Americans are overweight.    

Chronic Insomnia: A hyperactive nervous system and racing thoughts severely disrupt sleep architecture, creating a vicious cycle of fatigue and heightened anxiety. Tony’s notes: 30% to 40% of U.S. adults experience occasional or short-term insomnia symptoms, while about 10% to 15% suffer from chronic insomnia

Weakened Immune System: Elevated cortisol suppresses the immune response, leaving the body more susceptible to frequent colds, flu, and infections. Tony’s notes: 24 to 30 million people Have some form of autoimmune disease. Additionally, about 6.2% of adults and 2.6% of children are considered immunocompromised

Autoimmune Flare-ups: The inflammation caused by unmanaged stress can trigger or worsen autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. Tony’s notes: Cortisol causes inflammation.

Skin and Hair Conditions: Stress-related inflammation and hormonal changes can exacerbate or trigger skin disorders like eczema, psoriasis, and acne, and may lead to hair loss. Tony’s notes: Elevated cortisol levels trigger excessive oil production, break down collagen and elastin, weaken the skin's moisture barrier, and increase inflammation.  Thinning hair is directly tied to stress/anxiety/fear.  Fear causes the blood vessels feeding the hair follicle to narrow resulting in thinning hair and/or baldness.  Note; baldness in men can be a result of generational baldness.

Tension Headaches and Migraines: Emotional stress and anxiety. Tony’s notes: Must include any trauma which has a stressor (fear) tied to it.

Depression and Mood Disorders: Chronic activation of stress pathways alters brain chemistry, serving as a primary risk factor for developing secondary clinical depression.  Tony’s note: Everyone has down moments which is caused by fear at one level or another.  The only way to fight depression is to pray away the cause.  God tells us what causes depression in Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad, NKJV. Fear causes depression and God tells us a good word makes it glad.  Meaning, a good word is prayer that casts out the fear that causes depression. We must teach this to all believers so they can come out of depression with this scripture:

Prayer Against Depression – Father God, in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I/we cast out the fear that is causing depression and we pray healing and deliverance from depression, Amen!

What Is the Next Step? – We are responders emotionally, physically, and spiritually to our thoughts, good and bad.  Bad thoughts affect our health. 

We must get involved together with others at our emotional, and physical levels in order to help us come to grips with our innermost thoughts, innermost fears, and innermost hurts that have led to physical, and mental sickness and disease. 

We must understand that our sickness and disease is in opposition to God’s promises of healing.

We must understand that we can only be healed from sickness and disease by God through prayer. 

We must increase our knowledge on what causes sickness and disease according to Deuterium 28:15-68. 

We must increase our teaching and prayer for all ages and at all functions in the church. 

We must become a praying church so that we can take back what Satan has stolen from us.

We must make ourselves available for prayer. We do this by confessing our sins to one another James 5:16

Bottom Line – The church of today is not making progress in the area of sickness and disease and we all suffer.  We say we believe in healing, but why are we not being healed?  What is our first option when we are sick and diseased? Doctors or God?  I can assure you God won’t charge you a cent for His healing!

We are trending down from an already critical point.  We are in perilous times according to: 2 Timouthy 3:1-5 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that, NLT.  We are losing the battle because of our disobedience.

God’s Perfect Love Casts Out All Fear, Stress, And Anxiety

“Perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in (God’s) love” 1 John 4:18. This includes EVERY fear/stress/anxiety that causes fear related health symptoms.

We all can cast out fear by declaring our love to God and receiving His perfect love every day.  Do you know how much God loves you?  God loves us so much He sent His only Son to die on the cross for us.  Have you consistently told God how much you love Him? 

This simple uncomplicated prayer will bring healing to you.  It is God’s promise.

Prayer – Father God, in the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I want to declare my love to You.  I know you love me so much that you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross for me.  I receive Your perfect love that casts out all fear that has led to sickness and disease in my life.  In the name of Jesus, I pray for healing and deliverance from fear. Amen.

I do this every night and many times during the day.  Do this and you will see fear symptoms begin to minimize and eventually bring healing to you from fear related sicknesses and diseases.  It’s God’s promises of healing from His Word. Do you believe what God Promises?

I don’t teach about these subjects to judge or condemn people, any church, any church function, or any church ministry.  I am communicating what the Bible tells us all to do so we can come out of captivity from sin.  We are to follow the blueprint of Jesus Christ and His church ministry as we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus: 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!  Tony 6/3/2026

Pastors Need Prayer

 I was led to put this teaching together last week primarily because we need to pray continuously for pastors and for one another because Satan attacks us 24/7.

My teachings are not specific to any one person or church.  They are specific to what the Bible tells us to do and to mirror the ministry of Jesus Christ so that we can come out of captivity.

 Pastors                                                                                                            5-28-2026

Ephesians 4:11-16 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Each of these have a responsibility for the edifying of the body of Jesus Christ

Apostles – One who is sent out or a messenger

Prophets – Acting as a mouthpiece to deliver direct messages from God to correct or guide

Evangelists – Is a missionary who travels from place to place to spread the Gospel

Pastors – A recognized or appointed person serving a local church or parish

Teachers – Responsible to impart biblical wisdom and the importance of leading by example

This is called the five-fold ministry.  Not one is more important than the other.  They are called to work together to instruct, enlighten, and uplift the Body of Jeus Christ for the Kingdom of God.  Everyone has been called to do one or more of the five-fold ministry. 

Today, we are going to focus on the pastors in today’s church.  In many cases the modern pastoral job description is often unmanageable, requiring leaders to act as CEO, counselor, event planner, spiritual guidance and primary leader of prayer. This "over functioning" frequently leads to extreme responsibility and pressure to perform the functions of the church even though the Body of Jesus Christ should be contributing more, especially in the area of prayer. 

Spiritual attacks on pastors are broadly viewed within Christian theology as intense, targeted spiritual warfare designed to distract, discourage, or derail church leaders. Because pastors lead congregations, the enemy targets them and can cause widespread fallout in the church. 

The pastor and even his family have become the focal point of the church and have become a target of criticism by the church body, others, and even family.  They will attach pastors through anonymous letters, emails, gossip, slander, browbeating and even church insurrection.

Many pastors are forced to build a bubble of protection around them and their families.  It can be very difficult to trust anyone for fear of being attacked.  This is fearing into the future leads to stress and anxiety.  They are forced to withdraw and trust only a few. 

I put this teaching together last week and it is interesting to hear the topic yesterday at church.  It was focused on Proverbs 6:16-19, so I added this to the teaching.

There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests:

1. haughty eyes, 2.
2. a lying tongue,
3. hands that kill the innocent,
4. a heart that plots evil,
5. feet that race to do wrong,
6. a false witness who pours out lies,
7. a person who sows discord in a family.

Although this applies to everyone, it applies to those who come against leadership in the church as well and especially the pastors.

What Can We Do to Help Church Leadership?

The most effective thing we can do is to pray for our pastors consistently and especially prior to the church service.  The following is a prayer covering that I pray each morning before I go out into this evil world.  It is a very, very effective and a powerful prayer declaration. 

Father God, in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray a hedge of protection covered by the blood of Jesus and Psalm 91.  I cancel all evil assignments against me directly or indirectly.  Thank you God.

I can’t count the number of times I have dodged harmful attacks from Satan directly and indirect attacks that Satan worked through others.

Folks, we must be a praying body of Jesus Christ.  We cannot be part-time prayer warriors because the attacks are full-time.  We have power and authority over evil according to Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  We are called to do what Jesus taught us to do in scriptures. This is not an option.                                Tony 5-28-2026

Envy and Jealousy

I would like to share a story of a friend we have ministered to and is tied to envy and jealousy.  She is a special person in the Lord. She has special high level spiritual gifts. During worship and song, she would be in a spiritual Godly trance soaking in the presence of God.  We will call her Ruth.

In everyday life Ruth would discern evil people and one could see a change in her countenance. The evil was not something Ruth wanted to see.  From an early age people of all ages have targeted her and Ruth could not understand why.  Ruth was always very kind to everyone and always put others first. 

Ruth grew up to be a physically beautiful young woman.  Heads would turn when she came into a room.  Ruth did not think she was beautiful.  Many times, women would not like the attention she got from men and would treat her with contempt.  This resulted in many hurts from, family, friends, co-workers, and even church ministries. Ruth now stays away from people and the church.  She was targeted by Satan to destroy her like so many others.  Ruth has health issues as a result of these attacks.  Ruth couldn’t understand why people are so mean and ruthless.  Ruth doesn’t feel loved or worthy to be loved because of these attacks.

Satan will work in people to go after other people.  Satan will attempt to destroy our connection with God and our worship lifestyle honoring, surrendering, and revering God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

This teaching is about envy and jealousy and how it affects our health spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  Envy and jealousy are about wanting what others have. It is a painful, often resentful feeling of wanting someone else's possessions, achievements, attributes, or spiritual gifts from God. 

Why do we need to know more about the subject of envy and jealousy?  Because scripture warns us about envy and jealousy.  It is sin and it greatly affects our health. Envy and Jealousy are rottenness to the bones, Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness (cancer, NLT) to the bones. Proverbs 12:4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. 

James 3:16 Wherever you find jealousy and fighting, there will be trouble and every other kind of wrong-doing.

Proverbs 15:30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and a good report makes the bones healthy.

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

Isaiah 58:11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Psalm 6:2 Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

Psalm 32:3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning (physical pain) all the day long.

Psalm 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin.

Why do we need healthy bones?  Scientifically, we need to identify what is in the bones. Inside the bones is a complex, living tissue structure designed for strength, flexibility, and blood production. The interior consists primarily of spongy bone and bone marrow alongside blood vessels that run through the bone's canals.

Bone marrow produces white T cells.  T cells are a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes. They help your immune system to fight germs and protect you from sickness and disease. There are two main types. Cytotoxic T cells destroy infected cells. Helper T cells send signals that direct other immune cells to fight infection.

What Is Tied to Envy and Jealousy?  Scripture tells us anger is tied to envy and jealousy.

 Proverbs 27:4 Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous NLT.

Psalm 38:3 Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.

Psalm 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin NLT.

If you have anger, you most likely will have bitterness.  They are tied together in Ephesians 4:31–32 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. This verse includes evil speaking, which is slander and slander includes hatred and lying lips, Proverbs 10:18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool Proverbs.  All these leads to gossip as in 1 Timothy 5:13 And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. As you can see from scriptures, envy and jealousy includes many other sins that will destroy your health and the health of others.

Habakkuk 3:16 There is no soundness (lack of physical health) in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones (bone marrow) because of my sin. 

NKJV - Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  NIV Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 

Not only are the envious and jealous at risk from sickness and disease from their sin, but it affects the health of the person who they have targeted like was done with Ruth.

James 5:16 says to: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results, NLT.

We cannot overcome sin that leads to sicknesses and diseases if we refuse to repent by confessing our sins and praying for one another so we can be healed.  This is an everyday requirement by God and it is not an option if you are a believer in Jesus Christ.  Make yourself available and ask for prayer in and out of church.

Job 21:24 His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moist (healthy).

What say you?

Spiritual Warfare 24/7

Why are getting attacked by Satan and his fallen angels 24/7?  It is because Satan’s wants to destroy God’s children. Unfortunately, we allow the attacks with very little resistance from the Body of Jesus Christ and we have not been taught how to pray effectively, James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 

Satan knows we are sinful and we give him a legal right to harass us.  Evil spirits can be very powerful and hard to cast out as Jesus said in Matthew 17:19-21  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Why are we sinful?  God tells us we are sinful because of disobedience as it says in Deuteronomy 28: 15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. The curses are sickness and disease.  God tells us about many sicknesses and diseases in verses 16-68.  God tells us that all sicknesses and diseases come from disobedience/sin in verse 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed.  If all sickness and disease symptoms come from sin (disobedience) why do we ignore the warnings of God? Why are we not praying without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17? 

Praying is not a complicated process.  It is made complicated because we refuse to pray day and night when needed.  How do I know we are not praying day and night?  Because, we are all struggling with sickness and disease, physically and mentally. We are we struggling spiritually as well because we do not believe we can be healed even though God promises healing.  God is not our first choice for healing.  Science, doctors, and every remedy under the sun is our choices for healing even though we remain sick and diseased.  

Jesus tells us The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly, John 10:10.  Satan (the thief) seeks to rob believers of our spiritual life, health, peace, joy, and purpose, ultimately aiming to destroy our relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Satan intends to steal our hopes and destroy lives with sin. 

Steps To Counter the Attacks from Satan and His Fallen Angeles

Sin began with Satan telling Eve a lie, Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die, Genisis 3:4.  Eve was tempted by Satan to do what God told Eve and Adam not to do.  She believed Satan’s lies, You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it, John 8:44.  Nothing will change unless we pray against Satan and his fallen angels whose only objective is to destroy and ultimately kill us.

The soul is where our thoughts come from. Thoughts come from ourselves, thoughts from God, and thoughts from Satan in the form of lies and temptations.  Our body is a rebounder to who we are in thought.  It’s referred to as the mind-body connection.  It is a biological truth that the things we think about and dwell on actually become part of who we are. We will never get to the spiritual roots of health issues if we don’t first understand the biology of how our minds affect our bodies mentally and physically. Thoughts can be anger, hatred, self-hatred, bitterness, self-bitterness, unforgiveness, unforgiveness of self, feeling unloved, unbelief, fear, fearing into the future, hurts from family, friends, employers, the church, and rejection, to name a few.  All of these and countless others lead to sickness and diseases. Again, it is the mind-body connection.

Science has identified over 3000 sicknesses and diseases and are listed in Merck Manuel. These illnesses are symptoms.  Ask the science and the medical field what caused the illnesses and they can’t give you an answer.  The medical field treats the symptoms, but can’t heal the symptoms.  Yet, we continue to put our trust in the medical field instead of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  I don’t advocate eliminating doctors.  I do advocate what God instructed us to do in to eliminate our health issues in James 5:16 Confess your trespasses (and repent) to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed…  First order of business in this verse is to confess our sins. Second order of business is praying away the causes of that led to the symptoms of sickness and disease.  We can’t ignore God’s promise of healing in this verse.  So, why doesn’t the Body of Jesus Christ do as God instructs us to do?

When Shall We Pray  

As I said earlier, we must be praying without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  It means we must counter all attacks with prayer at the moment we are attacked.  Example: When you feel depressed, pray away the anxiety (fear) that caused the depression, Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad, Proverbs 12:25.  Praying away the depression is not effective prayer, James 5:16.  When depression hits again and again, then pray away the fear again and again.  Eventually, the depression will minimize.

Another example is high blood pressure.  Science says that stress causes blood vessels to narrow causing the heart to pump harder.  Stress is fear in the Bible.  Fear is mentioned in the bible hundreds of times.  Fear causes high blood pressure.  Praying away the high blood pressure is not effective prayer.  We must pray away the fear that causes high blood pressure that affects 120 million Americans and keeps them in captivity.  If you have high blood pressure every day, we must pray away the fear that causes high blood pressure every day.  Same hold true for any sickness and disease symptoms.  Do you agree?

A third example is dementia (Alzheimer's).  Dementia symptoms include forgetfulness, progressive memory loss, difficulty completing familiar tasks, language problems, poor judgment, mood changes, and confusion.  Confusion is from Satan because God is not an author of confusion, 1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

God gives us a clue about dementia in 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  Satan gives us a spirit of fear and he gives us an unsound mind.  Basically speaking, dementia is an unsound mind.  The clue God gives us is on what causes an unsound is in the first part of the verse, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear.”  The elderly have been exposed to thousands of fears all their lives like most of us.  Eventually, fear can cause dementia and many other fear related health issues.  We must pray away the fear that causes an unsound mind, confusion, and many other health issues.

Understand that Satan brings fear to us from past generations as well because of iniquities/sin as it says in Exodus 34:7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 20:5).  This is perpetual down the generational line.

The elderly have all these generational fears, fears from childhood, fears as adults, fears in middle age, and elderly fears. Most every fear is a separate fear and most fears are fears into the future.  Over a lifetime we can have thousands and thousands of fears that cause many sicknesses and diseases because we don’t pray and cast out all fears.

The best scripture when praying against all fears especially fear of not feeling loved is 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  This scripture is for all fears when you declare out loud that you receive Gods perfect love that casts out ALL fears.  This would be an excellent prayer for the congregation to declare during service.

I have been visiting churches for many years and I ask the volunteers, leadership and pastors these two questions:  1. Why are we coming into church sick and diseased and leave sick and diseased even though God promises healing?  2. Why are we not praying before, during, and after every church service and every church function?  I have yet to hear an answer that is pleasing to God.

Jesus prayed before, during and after in His ministry. He knew how powerful prayer was.  His teachings and especially His prayers led to many healings.  His initial teachings were rather foreign to most at the time. As He prayed for healing of the people, word got around through testimonies of healing and his ministry exploded because people wanted to be healed from their sicknesses and diseases.  The Bible tells us of the four and five thousand came to hear Jesus’ teachings and His prayer for healing.  Isn’t this the blueprint Jesus expected the church of today to follow? Most of the churches I visit are not full to capacity. Quite a few are only half empty. Is it because they are not a praying church and not experiencing miracles of healing?

This scripture is the last thing Jesus said to the disciples before he left to be with His Father, And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons (evil spirits); they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands (pray) on the sick, and they will recover.”  Are we following this commandment? Our sicknesses and diseases are telling us a different story. 

Prayers are powerful, but prayers and scriptures together are twice as powerful if we pray throughout the day to counter the attacks from Satan so that we can be delivered from our sins that cause health issues.  Most of us going into church service knows the Bible, but most do not pray or do not know how to pray effectively to come out of captivity.  We must be a praying church at all ages because all of us are suffering.  Even the children.  Children need to be taught how to pray for one another and self.  Prayer is not just for adults.

Perhaps the church needs the elderly to take the lead and pray as the Bible tells us to do in James 5:14-15 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Every day I try to hold myself accountable to do as God instructs us to do and emulate what Jesus did in His ministry.  Everyday I make myself available to pray for people who are sick and diseased.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of people do not make themselves available for prayer in or out of church based on my experience the past 21 years.  May God bless you abundantly.

Lower Back Pain

I have personally run across several people with lower back pain in the past two weeks.  It is necessary to combine science, doctors, and what God has to say in the Bible to understand what causes lower back pain.

Science identifies lower back pain.  Doctors treat the symptoms of lower back pain.  God tells us the spiritual root cause of lower back pain is fear and shows us how to pray away the causes that lead to lower back pain.  Can science and doctors show us how to heal us of lower back pain? No!  They only treat the symptoms.

There will always be a root cause for all sicknesses and diseases according to the Bible in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.  Yet, we ignore or don’t believe what the Bible tells us and we continue to suffer with sickness and disease, V. 66-67 Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.. 

Science tells us chronic stress can cause significant, long-term systemic inflammation. When stressed, the body releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which in short bursts manages stress, but chronically, this causes the immune system to overproduce pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduces the body's ability to shut down inflammation. Cytokines are small proteins that act as messengers between cells, playing a vital role in the body’s immune response and inflammation.

Stress Tidbits – Interesting thing about the word “stress.” Stress originated in the 14^th century by man. Anxiety originated in the 1520’s by man.  The word “fear” originated from the begging in the Bible, And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand, Genisis 9:2 KKJV. In fact, there are 457 fear results from the NKJV according to the Bible Gateway app. Just type in fear in search.  God is warning us because fear is very destructive.   

What do people declare over and over, and over?  They declare “I am so stressed out, I have anxiety.” You never hear people say “I am fearful.” They are fearful of being judged.  It is too strong of a word to declare.  Why would anyone curse their self?  James 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Stop cursing yourself. 

Lower Back Physical Characteristics

·       Pain of course

·       Specific mostly to men

·       Inflamed muscles, tendons, spinal discs, and ligaments in the back and hip.

·       Inflamed muscles and other soft tissues will rub against nerves including the sciatica.  This is where the pain comes from.

·       Sciatica nerves start at the lower and runs down the legs to the feet.  This causes muscles in the lower back, butt, and legs to tighten, and spasm.  In almost every case the pain is on the left side.

·       In every instance, the left leg will be shorter than the right leg between one and three inches.  

·       Walking from behind, I see the right shoulder lower than the left.  This is because the pain is so intense on the left side that the person will favor the right leg to help alleviate the pain when walking.

·       People are bent over as they walk because of the pain.

·       Lower back is a primary physical target by Satan

Prayer Preparations – I always pray with my eyes open because I don’t want to get slugged if evil rises up in the person, which has happened in the past.  We ask the person being prayed for to keep their eyes open throughout the prayer sessions.  Prayer warriors must read the eyes of the person they are praying for because eyes can reveal good and evil. 

Prayer For Lower Back Pain

I have the person sit down on a chair.  I keel down and I place my thumbs inside of their ankles.  I lift up their ankles (lower legs) level with the rest of their legs and I compare my thumbs and their ankles.  In all cases, the left leg will be one to three inches shorter than the right leg.  They are in need of prayer. 

·       Prayer:  Father God, in the Name of Jesus, we pray away the fears that has caused the left leg to contract and be shorter than the right leg.  We pray the left leg to grow out even with the right leg, Amen!  The left leg slowly grows out until they are the same length in every case.  We continue to pray healing and alignment up the leg to the thighs until we reach the lover back where the pain is.

·       Prayer:  Father God, in the Name of Jesus, we pray away the fears that are nesting in the lower back causing pain in the back, legs, and feet, Amen!  We continue to pray healing and alignment up to the back and neck.

Lastly, we lay hands on their head and we have the person declare and pray the following.

·       Prayer: I declare John 5:16 as truth, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

·        Father God, in the name of Jesus, I confess my fears as sin and I ask you to forgive me of this sin that has caused me pain and suffering.  I declare healing in the Name of Jesus, Amen!

Tidbit #1 – Prayer for lower back pain is one the few that we see quick healing in one or two days.  Additional prayer is needed when lower back pain comes back in because of fear.

Tidbit #2 – I have learned that when I have lower back pain, I can pray for myself.  I simply pray out the fear causing the symptoms and the symptoms go away in one or two days.  Prayer and healing for myself was a process of believing that I have power and authority from God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit to pray for myself to be healed.  I continue to make myself available for prayer from others, …pray for one another, that you may be healed, James 5:16.

Dangerous Thoughts

Thoughts come from three places, thoughts from God, your thoughts, and thoughts from Satan in the form of temptation and lies.  Satan is the father of lies, John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  Fear is the number one weapon Satan uses to destroy and kill us.  That is why the Bible tells us not to fear so many times.

Your body is a responder to who you are in thought. It’s referred to as the mind-body connection. God already told us this, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he,”Proverbs 23:7 NKJV. It is a biological truth that the things we think about and dwell on actually become part of who we are. We will never get to the spiritual roots of disease if we don’t first understand the biology of how our minds affect our bodies.  We cannot ignore this!

We are called to bring people out of captivity, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, Isaia 61:1.  We are commanded to do this: And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons (fear); they will speak with new tongues; 18they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands (pray) on the sick, and they will recover. (healed).” This is not an option for the Body of Jesus Christ.  Very basic stuff we are commanded to do.  Yet, we choose to ignore this commandment.  How do I know we are ignoring this commandment?  Because, we are riddled with sickness and disease and especially the elderly. We wake up sick and diseased and go to sleep sick and diseased even though God promises healing.  We have to pray to be in good health.

As with all prayer for healing, we will remain healed until we allow sins to come back in that led to sickness and disease symptoms.  We must counter all attacks from Satan with prayer all day and night until the symptoms minimize and eventually stop! We must pray for one another in and out of church functions constantly to bring us out of captivity from sin.  Prayer for healing is a miracle.  We can’t experience healing miracles if we don’t pray!

3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

*Other fear/stress/anxiety related sicknesses and diseases are heart disease, digestive disorders (IBS), depression (Proverbs 12:25), coronary artery disease, blood clots, strokes, heart failure, migraines, insomnia, disorders affecting airways or tissues such as asthma, COPD, and high blood pressure (120 million Americans).

                                                                                                                                                            Tony 4/17/26                   

Holy Spirit

I had three dear friends who I had Holy Spirit discussions recently.  One said that two thing missing in the church is the focus and yielding of the Holy Spirit. Two said they are not feeling the Holy Spirit presence as much as they want.

Holy Spirit Message

Last night I was driving to our intercessory prayer meeting and I started calling on the Holy Spirit to be present during the 12-minute drive.  I did this without ceasing until I got to the church.  Understand that I have on numerous occasions felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Many times, it was a heavy presence.  As I walked in, I could feel a presence a tad bit different, but I knew it was the Holy Spirit.  I felt a presence that was so special and I now know I don’t have to wait on Holy Spirit show up in church or wait for a special occasion.  I can call on the Holy Spirit and by faith, I believe in my heart that the Holy Spirit will show up.

I received a couple of things as I was praying later that night and I would like to share them with you.  In a time of trouble (rejection, unloved, stress/anxiety/fear/worry, anger, despair, loneliness, depression, hopelessness, etc.) we must remember that the Holy Spirit is “contrary” to these thoughts and spirits (Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another).  In other words, the Holy Spirit will not co-habitat with unclean spirits.  Therefore, we must call on the Helper, the Holy Spirit (Holy Spirit John 14:16,26) continually during spiritual attacks and especially when praying.  Trust the Holy Spirit to help us cast out these spirits that are tormenting us. We have received power and authority from God Almighty and we must use this in spiritual warfare.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you Luke 10:19.

This second thing I received is about churches.  Many times, churches have received a Holy Spirit anointing and with this you will see God working in these churches in an awesome way as with missionaries, bringing people to the Lord, teachings, and prayer for self and others.  And then you see a church lose the anointing.  It is as if the anointing was for a season.  Most often it is because the church lost their way and they failed to call on the Holy Spirit for answers and to follow the Word of God.

The message I got is tied to the Holy Spirit.  We as a church body must access the power of the Holy Spirit.  We must include the Holy Spirit in everything we do throughout the day.  We must operate in the Holy Spirit and when we do this, we will see the anointing of the Holy Spirit over the body of Christ.  The church will come alive.  We can’t leave the Holy Spirit out of the church body and when praying.  We can’t just pray “In Jesus name”.  We can pray this way when led: Father God, in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit….. God is the head of Christ and there is an order even when we pray, But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God 1 Corinthians 11:3. Jesus himself said this in Matthew 6:6  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Jesus himself said to pray to God the Father first. 

Just because we are gathered in a church service, we can’t expect the Holy Spirit to automatically show up.  It doesn’t mean that a church or a few may feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.  But we can call on the Holy Spirit and the promise in His Word is that the Holy Spirit will answer us and be there in church with us as we teach, pray and seek answers.

Psalm 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

 

Psalm 86:7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me

 

Psalm 91:15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.

 

Jeremiah 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

 

Isiah 58:9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;

 

Luke 11:13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly          Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”

 

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.  Verse 26 tells who the Helper is: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

 

Isaiah 63:10-11 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So, He turned Himself against them as an enemy,

And He fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: “Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them.

 

It baffles me when I visit churches and leadership fails to call on the Holy Spirit before praise and worship, prior to the sermons, and why, we as a congregation are not led to call on the Holy Spirit either individually or in unison.  The Helper (Holy Spirit John 14:26) sent by God to us and is part of the Triune God here on earth. The most powerful presence here on earth.

I have been asking the Lord for the past three years to take me to another level.  In the last 6 months the Lord has made the Holy Spirit a focal point and I have shared this with my brothers and sisters in Christ the last couple of months as things were revealed to me

I will share tidbit that was revealed to me a couple of weeks ago. I was eating at a restaurant and it was imparted on me that we must access the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the strongholds that really have a grip on us.  The strongholds we can’t seem to overcome no matter who prays.  We must access the Helper and the power that we have received when we were baptized with the Holy Spirit so that we can cast out those strongholds in our lives.  Acts 1:5 or John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Verse 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  We have great power form the Holy Spirit. Why are we not accessing the Holy Spirit every day?

There are many that are hurting and are being held captive and we need to bring all out of bondage.  We need the Holy Spirit who is on earth more than ever until the coming of Jesus Christ here on earth. Tony 2-18-14

March 3, 2026 – This is just me, but I don’t invite the Holy Spirit.  The thing about invitations is people choose to come or not to come.  The Bible does not have a verse where we invite the Holy Spirit.  So, I continue to call on the Holy Spirit throughout the day.

• I call on the Holy Spirt when I compose a teaching
• I call on the Holy Spirit when I get stuck on how to structure a teaching sentence or paragraph 
• I call on the Holy Spirit when I and we don’t know how to pray for others with sickness and disease
• I call on the Holy Spirit at the beginning of a Bible study
• I call on the Holy Spirit to show me how to pray for myself
• I call on the Holy Spirit for answers because the Holy Spirit is never wrong 
• I call on the Holy Spirit because God commands us to call on the Holy Spirit
• I call on the Holy Spirit when I am in spiritual warfare

I have become one with the Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit has become one with me.  When you become one with the Holy Spirit, you become one with the spirit of God and Jesus. 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

There were so many times when I didn’t get a bible study message on what to teach until two hours before everyone was showing up for Bible Study.  I never panicked because I knew God would come through for me. There are many, many times when I started a teaching and God took me in another direction.

God is faithful but He expects more from us.  Not reading the Bible consistently is not an option.  Not knowing how to fight Satan and his posse is not an option.  Not spreading the gospel is not an option.  Not praying for people is not an option.  Only by reading God’s Word will we be able to win the spiritual, emotional, and physical battle and improve our health, 3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

I encourage you to read at least one page in the Bible each day. I encourage you to call on the Holy Spirit throughout the day.  It will forever change your life as it has changed my life and my relationship with God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen and Amen! Tony 3-3-2026

Ephesians 5:18 Don’t be drunk with wine (and this world), because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Tony 3-3-2026