Conquer Anxiety with these 5 Encouraging Christian Books

For many years I have struggled with anxiety, fear, high-levels of stress, and worry. It’s taken me a long time to figure out how to conquer it all through the victory I have in Jesus. But along the way, I read many books and articles in a desperate attempt to find some ideas or advice that would get me to that victory Jesus talked about. 5 of those books each pushed me in the right direction, giving me godly advice and biblical reassurance in my struggles. And I want to share those books with you to help in your journey to conquer anxiety! Whether you’re dealing with it daily or feeling a little stressed here and there, these are great books to help conquer anxiety in any form.

1) “Putting an X Through Anxiety” by Louie Giglio

If you’re wanting to go for a quick read, this is it. But even though it’s a shorter book, with less than 60 pages to read, the content is rich with biblical advice and encouragement to help redirect your view of anxiety.

The author himself has struggled tremendously with anxiety, which, at least to me, gives his advice a lot of credibility. Each little chapter is filled with ideas that helped him through his fear and anxiety, while also pushing you to realize the same things he did.

So why this book? In my own life, it made quite an impact as realization time and again slapped me in the face. It showed me the need to humble myself before the Lord, running to Him with it all, and to stop trying to fight it on my own. I often go back to this little book to find some encouraging verses Louie Giglio pointed out or to reference a quote to help someone else out.

This truly is an amazing quick read to help conquer anxiety, even yours! And the beautiful thing??? It’s so cheap! $3.00 at Lifeway! Totally doable, and totally worth it.

2) “Cling” by Kim Cash Tate

Before I tell you about how this book is great to help conquer anxiety, it wasn’t written specifically with the topic of anxiety or stress in mind. BUT, the advice and the encouragement Kim Cash Tate writes in her book is centered on one of the number one things that we can do to help conquer anxiety.

“Cling.” It may be the title to her book, but it’s also a word that should describe our actions toward Jesus. And that’s exactly what Kim does in this book. She takes this idea based off a couple verses in the Bible to spur in us a desire to cling to Jesus, to hold fast to Him.

For life in general, this is great advice and encouragement. But for those of us who struggle with anxiety and stress and fear, it’s essential to conquer our anxiety. Until we come to the point of clinging to God, our anxiety and fear will cling to us. This is why this is a ‘must-read’ if you’re looking for advice and encouragement to conquer your anxiety.

And as an added bonus, the things you learn from this book can be carried through your life for any situation, not just your anxiety. So I encourage you to read this amazing book, because the things you’ll learn from Kim Cash Tate will definitely help you conquer your anxiety (click here to get it on Amazon!).

3) “Trusting in His Goodness” by Mimi Wilson and Shelly Cook Volkhardt

I wish I could show you all the things I underlined in this book. As I look through this book again after having read it a few years ago, there are so many sentences that bring me comfort and make me think “oh my gosh, yes!” It’s like “Cling” in the fact that it’s main topic isn’t anxiety, fear, or stress. But the content in this book can be used for just that.

I read a little side note that past Brittany wrote in the margins about the season I was going through at that moment. My husband hadn’t proposed yet, but I remember there being a lot of anxiety and fear in that situation (not based off of anything worth being anxious or fearful over). The things I read in this book though, gave me encouragement to realize that God is good in all things!

At the end of each chapter, they have what they call “Holy Habits.” It’s a bulleted list of about 5-6 things to help redirect your mind back to Jesus throughout your week. There’s actual substance and specific steps they help you take to conquer the things that are dragging you down…even anxiety.

I put this book on the list for the reason that anxiety usually shows a lack of trust in God. Even if you trust Him with 95% of everything else in your life, the things you are anxious over tends to mean that you’re struggling to trust Him with that very thing. I so get it! It’s hard to accept that, but books like this one are truly wonderful to help show you how to trust Him in all things because of who He is (find it here!).

4) “Calm My Anxious Heart” by Linda Dillow

Yes, yes, and yes! This book is amazing! It’s one of those books that hits so many key points of what you’re experiencing in your anxiety that it’s almost scary…but in a good way. It touches on a huge potential root problem to your anxiety – discontentment – while also giving real life examples of other Christian’s struggle with anxiety.

At the end of the book, there’s a 12-week bible study to use as you go through the 12 chapters to dive that much more into conquering your anxiety through the truths found in Jesus.

While all this is great, there were 3 chapters that really hit home for me (and I think it will for you too!). In my anxiety, the “what if’s”, the “if only’s”, and the “why’s” were (and still are) big entrapments for me that seem to make things 1000 times worse. And I knew this, even before reading this book. But reading the last few chapters opened my eyes to see how damaging these thoughts truly are.

Just like in the previous book in this list, conquering anxiety includes trusting God. And this book gives encouraging points and examples of how to do so even in the midst of “what if’s”, “if only’s”, and “why’s.”

5) The Bible

I know this may be a little cliche to add to the list, but in all fairness, it’s the number one book you should read to conquer your anxiety. It’s the foundation of all other books on this topic. It’s the source that every Christian author uses to help encourage and advice others on anxiety and fear, stress and worry.

While the other books are great tools, ones which you should give some serious thought to reading, this is the only book you’ll ever need. I know that at times it can seem daunting and overwhelming to figure out how to conquer anxiety with so many verses, chapters, books, passages, and stories. But the words in this book are unlike any other…they are God-breathed. So no matter what you read in the Bible, you are literally listening to God Himself.

To make it a little easier, I’ll give you some good starting points for using the Bible to conquer your anxiety:

+Psalm 55

+Isaiah 41

+Matthew 6:25-34

+Philippians 4:6-7

+1 Peter 5:6-7

Don’t see the Bible as a last resort book or tool in your journey to conquer your anxiety. I encourage you to try it out first before reading any of the other books in this list. If the key to conquering anxiety is through Jesus Christ, than the Bible is the doorway to get there.

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Anxiety, fear, stress, and worry are destructive to our lives, both physically and spiritually. The enemy seeks to use it as a way to pull us further from Christ. Don’t let it! Keep fighting to conquer your anxiety with the help of Jesus. If you’re not sure where to go or even the first step to take, I encourage you to read any and all of these books to give you godly guidance, advice, and encouragement to lead you towards victory. We have victory in Jesus. We just need a little help sometimes to realize that and to conquer our anxiety (even if we have to do so on a daily basis).

I would love to hear what you think of these books! Or even if you have a book to recommend regarding this topic, we’d all love to hear it. Feel free to share in the comments below!