#48 – David LeMarr: How to Cripple Anxiety#48 – David LeMarr: How to Cripple Anxiety
Recovery Survey
Pastor and author David LeMarr talks with Brett Morris about anxiety, faith, and recovery, sharing a spiritual framework centred on daily disciplines, sabbath, and community. The conversation focuses on perspective shifts that may help people whose anxious thoughts and stress are affecting their sobriety and emotional health.
26:18•3 Feb 2021
How to Cripple Anxiety: Faith, Recovery, and Daily Habits with David LeMarr
Episode Overview
- David distinguishes between anxiety that needs medical and therapeutic support and anxiety driven by spiritual and emotional immaturity.
- He argues that many believers do not lack power but perspective, and that daily, simple disciplines can help leash runaway thoughts.
- Community, such as Celebrate Recovery groups, is highlighted as crucial to staying out of isolation and avoiding relapse into old habits.
- David links chronic anxiety to ignored sabbaths and constant busyness, urging people to learn rest, stillness, and quiet time with God.
- His 21-day devotional combines stories, reflection questions, and scripture to slow people down and help them examine their emotional health.
“"It’s not a power problem. It’s a perspective problem."”
How do people cope with the challenges of staying sober and calm when their minds are racing? This conversation between host Brett Morris and pastor–author David LeMarr speaks straight into that tension, especially for those wrestling with anxiety alongside addiction or recovery. David, an executive pastor in Abilene, Texas, shares how growing up in church and being surrounded by recovery ministries shaped his heart for people struggling with mental health.
His devotional, *How to Cripple Anxiety*, takes a clearly spiritual, Bible-based approach, while still respecting that, as he puts it, there are those who "legitimately need some medicine" and professional support. You’ll hear him break anxiety into two broad groups: those needing medical and therapeutic help, and those whose anxiety is fuelled by what he calls a "lack of spiritual and emotional maturity." For that second group, he argues it’s "not a power problem...
it’s a perspective problem," and points to daily, simple disciplines as a way to leash runaway thoughts. The chat gets very real about 2020, isolation, and parenting during a pandemic. David talks about turning loneliness into time with God, the importance of community in Celebrate Recovery, and how unchecked busyness can actually be worn like a twisted badge of honour. He links anxiety with ignored sabbaths and the inability to slow down, rest, and listen.
His 21-day devotional structure – story, reflection question, and scripture – is designed to make people pause, think about their emotional health, and let faith shape their thought life rather than just skimming spiritual content like a to-do list. If you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or just feel like your "thought life is running you more than you’re running it," this chat offers a gently challenging spiritual framework for calming the mind without shaming the struggle.
Where might a small daily discipline start for you?
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