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God’s Prosperity in the Midst of Life’s Storms

There are many people who suffer, be it emotional difficulties, or sickness, and are looking for answers. When Jesus was on the earth, He healed the sick, and set free the oppressed. In the Bible, God gives us many positive promises, that we can hang onto and claim. If our life is not going well, as an example, we could bring the following verse before the LORD.

Psa 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

God wants His people blessed, even naturally so, but as we will see, He often requires spiritual maturity from His people, and allows them to go through physical trials, for some only small difficulties, for others big. There is not one fixed rule for personal prosperity. There is no one hat that fits all. Christians can die as Martyrs, people like Job can temporarily lose everything, even their health, other righteous people sometimes die sick, e.g. Elisha (2Ki 13:14), Dorcas (Act 9:37), Lazarus (John 11) and no one knows why. Yet there are others like Ruth and Boaz who have a life full of blessing, with very little trouble. In the following scripture, God says, He does not want us to second guess the future, He really does not want us to know, just to be content regardless, and trust Him always.

Ecc 7:14-15 In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him. I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

According to scripture God gives us both the joyful time of prosperity, but also allows some adversity, or trying circumstances that build patience and character (Jas 1:2-4). It is scriptural that people of faith will experience both, blessing, or difficulty, as we briefly show below:

Blessing

Deu 28:13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.

Joh 10:10 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.

Trouble

Jas 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

1Pe 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

2Co 11:26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

Although God says we can never really work out whether we will have blessing or trouble in this life, nor what is ahead, it is God’s will is for us to be blessed in the end. If not in this life, in heaven. He also promises to be with us in all things to not forsake us, to give us enough grace to endure.

Deu 31:6  Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

So our focus should always be on the good planned for us, and the need for obedient persistence to reach that place of blessing - we should have faithfulness no matter the current struggle.

Martyrdom and trials show: "Life on earth is not assured to be all blessing", our focus needs to be on eternity

We see in the early church that many believers we jailed, thrown to the lions, burnt alive on stakes, and tortured. Torture, is not blessing, but it can happen to the believer. When these people were making decisions for Christ they were not thinking of a fat bank account, or a blessed life. These people had their focus on heaven, they did not look to temporal promises.

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Heb 11:37-39 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,

The life of Paul shows on and off suffering, which persisted for much of his ministry. This suffering was ordained by God. Paul’s testimony (2 Corinthians 11:23–30) reveals extreme fluctuations: beatings, shipwrecks, danger, hunger, imprisonment, and ultimately martyrdom. God said of him:

Act 9:16 I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.

This shows we can not assure all new converts that their life will have no life storms. At Paul's conversion he was told he would suffer. Through his suffering Paul learned to be content in all things, stating "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Do we look to Christ to strengthen us through suffering, or do we expect Christ to just take it away? Christ will often take away our troubles. But it does not mean Christ bought Paul the perfect natural life, rather the strength to walk through his trouble, looking to God's call, and the eternal future that was ahead.

Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

The General Blessing for the Believer

As for positive blessing, when and to whom does it apply? Is it even a thing? Should our life be filled with suffering, like Paul, and the early church? Generally, I believe it is God’s will for a righteous person to be blessed. God will bless as much as He can, even in adverse situations. He will take us from loss to victory. If not in our natural life, in our inner man, giving us inner joy. If we live in a peaceful land, God will often prosper us. But we must still be ready at any time to go through trials. Even Jesus who was equal to God, was obedient to death on a cross. Being conformed to His likeness involves obediently enduring any trial God appoints us.

1Ti 2:1-2  Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,   for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.

Deu 28:13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.

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

Psa 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Pro 4:18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

But life is not always a bed of roses, there are times, where we can walk through valleys, or have difficulties. As is shown by the following scripture.

Ecc 8:14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

Meaning sometimes a just man can have curses in his life, like Paul, or be it a health issue, like Job, or Elisha (2Ki 13:14), Dorcas (Act 9:37), Lazarus (John 11), or some other earthly difficulty.

We see “generally”, or “most of the time” God would have us blessed. Even while a slave and a prisoner Joseph was blessed. In the end he was exulted to a royal leadership position, second only to Pharoah.

Gen 39:5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

Gen 39:23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

This pathway of exultation after an initial loss, does not discredit the real suffering of Martyrs, those who die for the faith, go through, or lesson the suffering a Christian may experience at times. It just shows 1) God’s desire is to bless us even if our earthly situation is not perfect, and 2) He has a better future for us. Stephen even before being painfully stoned to death, saw a vision of heaven, his new home, and was filled with God’s Spirit, I believe, to sustain him through his short but very pain filled time of suffering.

Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,

Can we claim financial prosperity?

This is an area that is often misunderstood. People of faith can sometimes focus too much on the material, believing that Jesus wants to make them rich. Jesus told us not to worry or seek after the material things, but rather seek the Spiritual Kingdom of God, and what we need would be supplied.

Mat 6:31-34 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The fact is we should not be trying to claim greater, and greater riches through our prayers. Paul commanded us specifically not to pursue them, but to be content to be fed and clothed. He said it was false teaching to see Christianity as a means of gaining wealth, condemning those teachers who saw faith “as a means of gain” (1 Tim 6: 5).

1Ti 6:6-10 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

This is not to say God will not bless our ventures as we pray. We should always prayfully commit our ventures to the LORD. It is also not wrong to sensibly plan out wealth generating ideas, as the virtuous woman in proverbs did.

Pro 31:16  She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard.

Deu 28:4-8 "Blessed shall be ... [in] the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. ... "The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you ...

But rather, God is not a cosmic vending machine, that we can seek riches from. In fact, seeking riches is not to be our focus, God’s will is seeing people bought into the kingdom of God, expanding His kingdom.

“If we are suffering lack”, we can thank God we are going to be provided for, praise Him for a job, or other well thought out venture, as we take the steps we need to secure our own provision, through job seeking, or planning. Each of us needs to work to eat, and it is through our God directed labor that we are fed.

1Th 4:11-12 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

James also states that we should not boast about our financial future, but allow for God’s will in this area. We can't just claim wild financial success, rather bring everything before the throne room of grace.

Jas 4:13-16 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

So we should not be looking to demand a special, ever increasing, financial blessing over our lives, God will not forsake us in the area of provision. If we are blessed to gain “wealth”, as some are, we are to share it with those in need; not look always to greater and greater personal extravagance.

1Ti 6:17-18 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,

Can we receive healing, deliverance, peace?

The following scriptures show that God is not limited in what He can do, nor does He limit what we can ask for. I have seen God perform healing in the past, instant healing of a bad back, healing of a person’s memory, all instantly. A disabled man who could not speak, spoke after prayer and fasting. So can God heal yes, but I have found not every prayer I have personally prayed has been answered. As I am sure there has never been a minister of the gospel who has seen “every prayer” answered. But just because God has not answered every prayer does not mean we should not pray for people? Of course not, we should pray. In our own healing journey, we should also pray for our recovery, but not be discouraged if we don’t get an instant response. There can be blockages to healing, and we speak about these in the last section. But for now let’s look now at some scriptures about answered prayer, and praying:

Mat 21:21 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.

Mar 11:23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

1Jn 3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Joh 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Jas 5:15  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.

One of the main ministries of Jesus was to heal the sick. When Jesus tells us that He will answer our prayer as we obediently follow Him, so we may have joy in our lives, He is definitely including healing. We talk about faith for healing, in later sections. But now for the sake of Christians who may have prayed for a loved one and seen them pass, or some one still enduring a sickness after persistant prayer, we introduce times God may choose to not heal. There is still an element of God’s will in these situations, God does promises to answer us as we pray, and that should be our focus, but He may have reasons for not healing that we do not see. As I hope you see in the following example, and some scriptures that follow.

A mildly disabled friend of mine, became terribly ill, we prayed for his healing, but he died. Looking back the sickness occurred shortly after his carer, (his mother) passed away. I saw it as a blessing for him as a Christian, because he would not have a lonely life, but he would be reunited with his Christian mother in heaven.

So, there are times like my friend story above, that God may have reasons for taking someone home, and not providing healing for them even after we have prayed. In reality there are times Christians just get sick and die. Elisha was old and died sick (2Ki 13:14), the faithful young Dorcas got sick and died, before being raised back to life by Peter (Act 9:37), Lazarus became sick and died, before being raised from the dead by Jesus (John 11). The fact that Christians die sick should stop us secretly judging a person’s “faith to be healed”, or think, “they must have doubted”. God can have any number of reasons for sickness, and even death. In the case of Dorcas and Lazarus it bought even greater glory to God. But if people are not raised, heaven is a wonderful place much better than this world, and sometimes faithful Christians pass on to that blessing through sickness.

Then there is the issue of man run health. There may be times God chooses not to heal our illnesses directly, but allows us to undergo treatment with doctors and hospitals. Although I do believe in praying first. It is often the case that our bodies heal naturally, or can respond to medication or in some cases operations, so naturally God can use those who heal in such a way to help us.

I sought God for healing for over two years, believed in faith, with mild pain daily, yet eventually after a long time went to hospital where I was treated, it left me with some scars, but ended in my healing through the hands of the doctors. Now this was not due to a lack of faith, I just realised “If God had chosen not to heal it after such a long time, I could hurt my body by not being treated, and end in a bigger mess".

God is not a cosmic meany who demands huge faith before helping us. I have heard horror stories of people who were told “Go off your medication, as a sign of faith”, by a Pastor. Only to die from complications of that act. My own mother went off medication of her own choosing, due to someone’s faith preaching, only to nearly die herself. She always advised, never to go off medication as a so called “act of faith”. We need not be trying to twist God’s arm, by harmful acts of faith. Rather trust in His good nature to bring us the healing we need, while we continue our treatments.

All that said, we should definitely take God’s promises, and declare healing, deliverance, and health, even for small things that we don’t think need it. Like I said I have seen a handful of instant healing miracles by prayer. Never be quick to say a single prayer, and then give up, press in daily, hourly, continually, if you have to. Take God at His word, that He will heal as we put our trust in Him.

Luk 18:1-8 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.' " Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

God values our ability to look to Him for answers rather than focus on the situation we see. When Peter focused on Jesus he was able to walk on water, but when Peter’s focus shifted to looking at the waves he sank.

Mat 14:28-32 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

There is a principal with receiving miracles from God, and that is of “not doubt[ing]”

Mar 11:23 ...and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says...

We should be persistent in our faith, even if we don’t get immediate results. The Syro-Phoenician woman in Mark 7 persisted to believe Jesus would help her even when the answer appeared to be “no”. We need to believe that God will help us. Even believe that God will work the impossible for us. Be forceful in our attitudes. We can stand on His promises. But there may be times, when God does not answer, at least not immediately. I have found we cannot demand God answer, “right now”. But we need to be consistently providing the right attitude to see results. One of not giving up. Trusting in God’s faithfulness, even His willingness to help us. Our thoughts will tell us, “Oh that is impossible, don’t even try”, or after one prayer, “See God did not answer”, but persist, don’t give into those thoughts. Give God the faith ingredients needed for a miracle. But it is not always faith that counts, it is God’s power. If our faith is failing, and the devil appears to be taking ground, lean into God, trust Him to act, don’t rely upon your own faith. I find the LORD’s prayer is powerful, “deliver us from the evil one”.

Smith Wigglesworth stated of faith:

I’d rather die believing, than live doubting.

He had strong faith, but remember, Jesus still healed for a man with shaky faith,

Mar 9:23-24 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

We don’t need perfection to move the hand of God, we just need to be continually focused on Him for our answers. We should look to God for the solution, but if the solution we feel we need does not manifest, keep on believing in God, and His promises. Don't focus on your faith, focus on Jesus. David Hogan a man who has seen countless dead raised by faith, many sick healed, stated:

The most valuable thing you have is to seek Jesus. It’s not how well you speak. It’s not how well you pray. It’s not how well you heal the sick. It’s not the number of demons you can cause to flee when you walk in. It’s how well you can speak “I love you Jesus. I need you Jesus. Absorb me Jesus..."

Speaking of general things, and God answering our prayers. What does it mean to ask anything of Jesus and He will give it. Although we can ask for anything, we need to think to ourselves, what is our motivation for asking, is it likely to be God's will for us.

1Jn 5:14  Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Jesus statement does not mean we can just ask for anything at all, we should not ask for our own pleasures and desires for a start:

Jas 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

As examples, we should not:

• ask to marry the swimsuit model we saw in the magazine at the petrol station,
• nor get the BMW we long for from our favorite car website for free,
• nor receive the Gucci handbag we feel will make us trend.

But rather we should ask for things that glorify God, are inspired by the Holy Spirit, things that aid us, or others in their struggles. Things like praying for your sick friends, and those around you. Faith of this kind pleases God. God does promise to give us our hearts desires, as we delight in him, He will not withold good things, but we just need a little wisdom with our asking.

Is Sickness “Caused” by God, is it God’s will?

During Jesus ministry He often attributes sickness to the Devil attacking people.

Luk 13:15-16 The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"

The Apostles also associated sickness, with the devils works, stating that Jesus went around healing those who were oppressed by the devil.

Act 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Again, generally sickness is caused by Satan. So, we can expect God to work in healing in us, or others to undo those works. He even delegates to us the authority to do the same works.

Joh 14:12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

However, sickness can also be used as a judgment for serious unfaithfulness to God. Our smaller sins can give place to sickness if we are not careful to obey, as we will discuss in the case study on anxiety that soon follows.

Deu 28:58-61 "If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 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.

However we should not think all sickness is a sign of unfaithfulness. Sickness can also be used to test our faithfulness under trial, even Job known as the “most righteous man on earth” suffered sickness as a test of his commitment to God while suffering.

Job 2:4-10 So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Anxiety a Case Study

Now let’s look at a case study, which includes both, sickness as a judgment, and God undoing the works of the Devil through healing. Take for example something as simple as anxiety. Which could be classed as a mental illness, a sickness of sorts.

It can be a punishment

We can through our sins “Give place to the devil”, which brings with it emotional suffering. Generally, as a Christian we should not sin, and the devil can not touch us (1 joh 5:18). If we do sin God will often forgive with no penalty. But if we get rebellious, or persist in sinning, or even just need to be shown we are doing evil, sometimes God allows satan to attack us to rediect us back to obedience. This is a very uncomfortable place to be in, and we can struggle in our emotions.

Eph 4:27 nor give place to the devil.

1Co 5:5 deliver such a one [, who sins greatly] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Giving place to the devil, results in torment, and often anxiety. God's aim through the suffering is to correct us, and to draw us back to obedience. He desires obedience, so we will not be judged with the world. The following scripture shows how God can uses sickness to correct us for serious rebellion. But equally emotional struggles apply to smaller acts of stubbornness and willfull sin that need correction.

Lev 26:15-24 '  and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,   I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. 'Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate. 'And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

The only way to beat that kind of correction, or beat an allowed spiritual attack of anxiety, is to return to obedience in the area we have sinned and stand on God’s mercy and forgiveness. God wants us to be reformed by these trials, not destroyed by them. However, we should not be terrified of every small thing we do wrong, and think we will end up sick because of it. It is more rebellious, or dangerous sins that are corrected in this way. It is a rule however that we must be living God’s commands to have victory.

1Jn 3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

It can be the devil

There is however a kind of anxiety that comes from demons messing with our minds, purely as an attack to unsettle our faith. This is an unreasonable and attacking kind of anxiety, not caused by sin, it just come on us for no known reason. An attack like that can be defeated by standing in faith, or if needed persistent prayer. Why? Because God has given us power over the devil. I often pray the LORD’s prayer if attacked by this kind anxiety, or pray in the Spirit until it lifts.

Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one."

Regarding power over the devil, we need to be walking in authority, some sicknesses caused by the devil need prayer and fasting, it is not an instantaneous victory, Jesus said:

Mar 9:29 So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

If we wish to see God’s healing power in all areas, to have total victory over the "bigger" devils, we need to be obedient to His word and seek God through dedicated prayer and fasting. However, I would say generally, especially in our own lives, we should expect swift deliverance, with no specific need to fast for extended periods.

It can be Natural anxiety

Returning to anxiety, as a Christian it is God’s desire that we do not have anxiety. We can claim freedom in these areas. However, we should not say in all circumstances if we have anxiety that it is a lack of faith, the devil, a test, or a punishment. There are times that human situations can case us anxiety, that may not quickly be defeated. As an example, I was on medication that caused my nervous system to be heightened, it caused violent shaking, which caused me to drop things, this caused social anxiety. I am sure someone in a domestic violence situation will experience anxiety. Extra guilt should not be added to these people going through natural stress.

The end of the matter

So what can we say, we must first examine ourselves, have we opened doors to sickness through sin, like unforgiveness? If yes, we must leave the sin behind, repent of it. If there is nothing we can put our finger on, prayerfully seek God to push back the devils work. Become a shining light not only in your own battles, but the battles for others. Pray for people.

Joh 14:12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Conclusion

God is neither a guarantee of constant earthly prosperity nor the author of purposeless suffering. Rather, He is a faithful Father who walks with His people through both blessing and trial—using each for His glory and our eternal good. At times He lifts us up, prospers us, heals us, and answers boldly; at other times He permits affliction, delay, or hardship, to bring spirtual growth. Yet in both seasons, His character remains the same: good, wise, just, and overflowing with mercy. No matter which season we are in we need to keep fighting the good fight of faith.

Jas 5:11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

 

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