If Anxiety is a signal leading us to prayer, there are certain phrases which signal the focus of your anxiety. Recognizing what is causing anxiety helps direct your focus to Bible verses which will help to combat anxiety and turn your focus to the Lord.
"If only..." signals regret about the past. Staying here, caught in the past, denies the redemptive nature of the gospel. God is the God of second chances. He delights in taking weakness and making it strong in Him. Yes, mistakes exist in your past, but they are not outside of God's perfect and redemptive plan to work good out in your life. In God's hands negative, terrible, awful circumstances you would never choose for yourself (like postpartum depression, anxiety, or tragedy), become beautiful gifts constantly directing us to greater dependence on our Lord.
"What if..." signals worry about the future. We like to sugar coat worry about the future as being proactive and planning ahead. Yes, sometimes there is a place for planning ahead. Sometimes it is even helpful to think through the what-ifs, but only if you are wrestling through the question of "Where is God when my what-ifs come true?" If what-ifs are constantly circulating through your head, question your motives. Could it be pride and arrogance showing in how you think that you can anticipate what's coming, that you are the only one that can care for yourself, and that you need to plan ahead?
I want control over things. I want to know that I can handle what is coming. But our good God doesn't promise me that. He promises that HE is good, and that he cares for me. I have to fight the what-ifs and the if-onlys running through my head and submit them, therefore, to the mighty hand of God. Why? Because He cares for me. (1 Pet 5:6-7)
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