26 Bible Verses About Worry
Worry is the mind's attempt to control what only God can handle.
Bible Verses
26
carefully curated passages
How to use this page
Read each verse with its context explanation. Bookmark the ones that speak to you and return often as your situation changes.
What the Bible Says About Worry
Worry is the mind's attempt to control what only God can handle.
Matthew 6:25 KJV
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”
Context & Meaning
Jesus begins His extended teaching on worry by reframing priorities: life is more than its material provisions. The command "take no thought" (be not anxious) is grounded in this perspective shift.
Matthew 6:34 KJV
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Context & Meaning
Jesus closes His worry passage with a practical limit: today is enough for today. Tomorrow has its own troubles, but God's provision also comes daily. Worry projects tomorrow's problems into today where today's grace has not yet arrived.
Philippians 4:6-7 KJV
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Context & Meaning
Paul's prescription for worry is specific: replace anxious thought with prayer combined with thanksgiving, and receive the supernatural peace that guards, literally stations itself as a military sentinel over, heart and mind.
1 Peter 5:7 KJV
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
Context & Meaning
Peter's prescription for worry is a single action: cast, throw, hurl, every care onto God. The motivation is not merely God's power but His personal care. He cares for you specifically and individually.
Matthew 6:27 KJV
“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”
Context & Meaning
Jesus uses a rhetorical question to expose worry's futility: it cannot add a single unit of measure to life. Worry consumes enormous mental and emotional energy while accomplishing nothing, making it both unnecessary and counterproductive.
Matthew 6:30-31 KJV
“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”
Context & Meaning
Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater: if God lavishes beauty on temporary grass, how much more will He provide for His own image-bearers? Worry is called "little faith", the antidote is more trust in the God who provides.
Isaiah 26:3 KJV
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Context & Meaning
Worry is a mind not stayed on God, moving between what-ifs rather than resting on God's character. Perfect peace (shalom shalom, double peace) is the result of keeping the mind fixed on God through trust.
Psalm 55:22 KJV
“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
Context & Meaning
David's command is the same as Peter's (1 Peter 5:7), cast the burden, not merely acknowledge it. The promise is twofold: God sustains the person, and He does not let the righteous be permanently shaken.
Matthew 6:32-33 KJV
“For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Context & Meaning
Jesus reorders priorities as the solution to worry: seek first the kingdom, and the things that worry obsesses over will be provided. Worry's root is misplaced seeking, Jesus redirects it.
Proverbs 12:25 KJV
“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.”
Context & Meaning
Worry weighs down the heart, but the right word, at the right time, lifts it. This verse affirms the power of truth-speaking in community to relieve the burden of anxious hearts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about worry?
Jesus dedicates a significant portion of the Sermon on the Mount to worry (Matthew 6:25-34), commanding "take no thought" (be not anxious) and giving reasons grounded in God's provision for creation and knowledge of our needs. Paul commands "be careful for nothing" (be anxious for nothing) with the prescription of prayer and thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6-7). Peter commands casting every care on God (1 Peter 5:7). Worry is consistently treated as both spiritually unnecessary (God provides) and spiritually harmful (it crowds out faith).
Is worrying a sin?
The Bible commands against worry and calls it "little faith" (Matthew 6:30), suggesting that worry is spiritually problematic rather than neutral. However, like fear, worry as an involuntary response to threat is part of being human, the issue is where we go with it. Paul does not shame the anxious; he gives them a prescription (Philippians 4:6-7). 1 Peter 5:7 invites the burdened to cast cares rather than condemning them for having cares. Habitual, deliberate nurturing of worry, refusing to pray and trust, moves closer to disobedience.
How do I stop worrying according to the Bible?
Scripture's most complete prescription is in Philippians 4:6-7: replace every anxious thought with specific, thankful prayer, and receive the peace of God to guard your heart and mind. Matthew 6:33 adds: redirect your seeking from provision to God's kingdom. 1 Peter 5:7 adds: actively cast (throw, off-load) every care onto God. Isaiah 26:3 identifies the mechanism: keeping the mind stayed on God through trust. These are practical, repeatable actions, pray, give thanks, cast, refocus, not mere feelings to manufacture.
What is the difference between worry and anxiety?
In common usage, worry is more cognitive (mental rehearsal of potential problems) and anxiety more physiological (a felt sense of dread or unease). The Bible uses overlapping terms: the Greek merimna (Philippians 4:6, Matthew 6:25) covers anxious care or divided attention. The biblical prescription applies to both the mental and emotional dimensions: prayer addresses the cognitive, thankfulness shifts the emotional, and God's peace guards both heart (emotion) and mind (thought). The cure is the same whether the experience feels more like worry or more like anxiety.
What Bible verse should I read when I can't stop worrying?
Philippians 4:6-7 is the most complete single passage: command, prescription, and promise together. Matthew 6:25-34 gives Jesus's full teaching on worry, including the arguments for why it is unnecessary. Psalm 23 is a slow, meditative alternative, reading through and resting in each image of the Shepherd's provision. 1 Peter 5:7, "casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you", is short enough to repeat as a prayer every time a worry surface.