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?