Amelia Kate Richardson I’ve come to understand over the years: gratitude isn’t about pretending everything’s fine when it’s not. It’s about training your anxious brain to notice what’s true alongside what’s terrifying. And when you add faith into the mix—when you direct that thankfulness toward the God who holds you through the storm—something profound begins to shift.
If you’re struggling with anxiety right now, I want you to know that gratitude isn’t a quick fix or a magical cure. But it is a powerful tool that can genuinely ease the grip anxiety has on your heart and mind. Let me share what I’ve learned about how thanksgiving can become your unexpected ally in the fight against worry.
Why Anxiety and Gratitude Can’t Coexist in the Same Moment
You know that feeling when your thoughts are spiraling? When your mind jumps from one worst-case scenario to the next, building elaborate disasters that haven’t happened yet? I used to spend entire evenings lost in those mental rabbit holes, convinced that every physical symptom was a serious illness, that every interaction meant people secretly disliked me.
What I’ve discovered is that anxiety is fundamentally future-focused. It drags us into tomorrow’s imagined problems, next week’s potential disasters, next year’s feared outcomes. Meanwhile, gratitude anchors us firmly in the present moment—right here, right now, where most of the catastrophes we fear simply don’t exist.
The Bible talks about this in Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Notice that thanksgiving isn’t mentioned as an afterthought—it’s woven right into the prescription for anxiety.
I used to rush past that “with thanksgiving” part. Now I realize it’s central to the whole thing. When we bring our worries to God with a grateful heart, we’re acknowledging that He’s already been faithful. We’re remembering that the same God who brought us through yesterday’s challenges is present in today’s struggles.
The Science Behind Gratitude and Mental Health
Now, I’m not just speaking from faith here—there’s solid science backing this up too. And I love when science confirms what Scripture has been telling us all along.
Research shows that practicing gratitude actually rewires our brains over time. It increases activity in the prefrontal cortex—the part responsible for managing fear and anxiety—while decreasing activity in the amygdala, our brain’s alarm system. Essentially, regular gratitude practice teaches your brain to be less reactive to perceived threats.
I’ve seen this play out in my own life. When I started my gratitude practice about eight years ago, my baseline anxiety was running at about a seven out of ten most days. I’d wake up with that familiar knot in my stomach before I even remembered what I was worried about. These days? I’m usually hovering around a three or four, and when anxiety does spike, I have tools to bring it back down.
What changed wasn’t my circumstances—life still throws curveballs. What changed was my brain’s default setting. Instead of immediately catastrophizing, I’ve trained myself to pause and look for what’s working, what’s good, what God is doing even in the hard stuff.
Biblical Foundations for Grateful Living
Scripture is packed with commands to give thanks—not because God needs our praise, but because we need the perspective shift that gratitude provides. The Psalms alone mention thanksgiving over thirty times, and it’s rarely in the context of perfect circumstances.
Take Psalm 34:1: “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” David wrote this while literally running for his life from King Saul. He wasn’t denying his danger or pretending everything was fine. He was choosing to remember God’s character and faithfulness even in the midst of genuine threat.
That’s the kind of gratitude I’m talking about—not toxic positivity that ignores real problems, but courageous thanksgiving that acknowledges both the struggle and the Sustainer.
First Thessalonians 5:16-18 gives us another powerful framework: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Notice it says “in all circumstances,” not “for all circumstances.” We’re not expected to be thankful for anxiety, trauma, or pain. But we can find things to be grateful for even while navigating those dark valleys.
When I was at my lowest point with anxiety, housebound and terrified most days, I couldn’t be thankful for the panic attacks. But I could be grateful for my husband who sat with me through them. I couldn’t celebrate my racing heart, but I could thank God that my heart was still beating. It sounds small, but those tiny acknowledgments became stepping stones out of the pit.
Practical Ways to Practice Gratitude When Anxiety Strikes
Let me share some specific practices that have genuinely helped me ease anxiety through gratitude. These aren’t just nice ideas—they’re tools I’ve used in the thick of panic attacks and anxious spirals.
The Five Senses Exercise
When anxiety hits and you feel disconnected from reality, try this: Name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste. Then add a layer of gratitude to each one. “I’m grateful for the warmth of this coffee mug in my hands. I’m thankful for the sound of birds outside my window.”
This practice does double duty—it grounds you in the present moment while redirecting your attention toward thanksgiving. I keep this technique in my back pocket for particularly rough mornings. Just yesterday, I felt that familiar anxiety creeping in during my quiet time, and I used this exercise. By the time I finished, my heart rate had settled, and I felt reconnected to both my body and God’s presence.
The Gratitude Reframe
Here’s something I wish someone had told me years ago: you can acknowledge hard emotions while still finding gratitude. It’s not either/or; it’s both/and.
Instead of fighting anxious thoughts or feeling guilty for having them, try adding “and” statements. “I’m feeling really anxious about this presentation, AND I’m grateful I’ve prepared well.” “My heart is racing right now, AND I’m thankful my body is working exactly as designed to keep me safe.”
This approach validates your experience without letting anxiety have the final word. It’s been a game-changer for me because it removes that extra layer of anxiety about being anxious—you know, the shame spiral that makes everything worse.
The Breath Prayer of Thanksgiving
I’ve combined an ancient Christian practice called breath prayer with gratitude, and it’s become my go-to tool for immediate anxiety relief. Here’s how it works: Choose a short phrase of thanksgiving that you can say in one breath. Mine is usually, “Thank you, Jesus, for being with me.”
Breathe in slowly through your nose while saying the first part silently: “Thank you, Jesus.” Hold for a moment. Then breathe out through your mouth while completing the phrase: “For being with me.”
The beautiful thing about this practice is that it simultaneously activates your parasympathetic nervous system (which calms your body down) while redirecting your mind toward God’s presence and provision. I’ve done this in crowded stores, during difficult conversations, and in the middle of sleepless nights. It works because it’s physiologically calming and spiritually grounding at the same time.
The Evening Gratitude Review
Every night before bed—and this is crucial timing because anxiety loves those late-night hours—I spend five minutes reviewing my day for moments of grace. I don’t write them down formally anymore, though I did when I was starting out. Now I just mentally note three specific things I’m grateful for from that day.
The key is specificity. Not just “I’m grateful for my family,” but “I’m grateful that my daughter laughed at my terrible joke this morning.” Not just “I’m grateful for my health,” but “I’m thankful my body carried me through a workout today even though I didn’t feel like going.”
This practice has transformed my sleep patterns. Instead of lying awake rehearsing everything that went wrong or could go wrong, I’m training my brain to look for what went right, where God showed up, how love appeared in unexpected places.
Creating a Sustainable Gratitude Practice
Let me be real with you—I’ve started and stopped gratitude practices more times than I can count. The first few days feel amazing, like you’ve discovered some secret weapon. Then life gets busy, you forget for a day, then two, then suddenly it’s been three weeks and you’re back to old patterns.
Here’s what finally made it stick for me: I stopped treating gratitude like another obligation and started treating it like a conversation with someone I love. Because that’s what it is, really. When we give thanks to God, we’re acknowledging His goodness, His presence, His active involvement in our lives.
I’ve linked my gratitude practice to my morning coffee routine, which was already sacred time for me. While the coffee brews, I stand at my kitchen window and speak three thank-yous out loud to God. That’s it. Some days they’re profound; some days they’re as simple as “Thank you that I slept through the night” or “Thank you for coffee.” Bailey, my rescue pup, probably thinks I’m a little weird, but this simple practice has become the foundation of my day.
The point isn’t perfection—it’s consistency. Miss a day? Just pick up again tomorrow. The goal is progress, not perfection, and God isn’t keeping score. He’s just delighted when we turn our attention toward Him and His goodness.
When Gratitude Feels Impossible
I need to address something important, because I don’t want to oversimplify this. There are seasons—and I’ve been there—when gratitude feels absolutely impossible. When depression settles in alongside anxiety, when grief is overwhelming, when circumstances are genuinely terrible, forcing yourself to feel thankful can actually be harmful.
If you’re in that place right now, please hear me: you don’t have to manufacture feelings you don’t have. God isn’t asking you to pretend. The Psalms are full of raw, honest lament. Psalm 88 ends without resolution, just “darkness is my closest friend.” That’s in the Bible for a reason.
In those darkest seasons, I’ve learned to start even smaller. Sometimes gratitude isn’t a feeling—it’s just a fact you acknowledge. “The sun came up today.” That’s it. No emotion required. Just noticing what’s true.
And sometimes the most honest prayer is, “God, I can’t find anything to be grateful for right now, and I need You to help me.” That prayer itself is an act of faith—you’re turning toward God even when you can’t see or feel His goodness. That counts. That matters.
If you’ve been struggling with anxiety for a long time, especially if it’s accompanied by depression, please consider reaching out to a professional counselor. Faith and therapy work beautifully together. My Christian therapist taught me that sometimes gratitude isn’t the first step—sometimes we need to grieve, to heal trauma, to address chemical imbalances before our hearts are ready to recognize blessings. There’s no shame in that. Getting help is actually an expression of gratitude—you’re being thankful for the resources God has provided through medical and therapeutic advances.
The Long Game: How Gratitude Transforms Anxiety Over Time
Here’s what nobody told me when I started this journey: gratitude doesn’t eliminate anxiety overnight. What it does—slowly, gradually, almost imperceptibly—is change your relationship with anxiety.
I still get anxious. I probably always will to some degree; it’s part of how I’m wired. But these days, anxiety doesn’t own me the way it used to. It’s more like an unwelcome visitor that shows up occasionally rather than a permanent resident running my life.
Gratitude has taught me to hold both realities at once: yes, I might be afraid right now, and yes, God is still good. Yes, this is hard, and yes, I’ve made it through hard things before. Yes, I’m struggling, and yes, there is still beauty worth noticing.
That’s the transformation I’m talking about—not the absence of anxiety, but the presence of perspective. Not the elimination of fear, but the cultivation of trust. Not pretending everything’s fine, but recognizing that even in the not-fine moments, we’re held by a God who never lets go.
Moving Forward with Grateful Hearts
If you’re ready to start easing your anxiety through gratitude, begin small. Choose one practice from this article that resonates with you. Maybe it’s the five-senses exercise, or the breath prayer, or the simple act of naming three thank-yous each morning. Commit to trying it for just one week and see what happens.
Remember, this isn’t about adding another item to your already overwhelming to-do list. This is about creating space in your anxious mind for truth, for beauty, for God’s steady presence. It’s about training your heart to notice the light even when darkness feels overwhelming.
The apostle Paul wrote some of the New Testament’s most powerful words about thanksgiving while literally chained in a prison cell. If he could find reasons for gratitude in those circumstances, surely we can find glimpses of God’s goodness in ours—not because our struggles aren’t real, but because God’s faithfulness is more real.
Your anxiety doesn’t have to have the final word. Start small, be patient with yourself, and let gratitude slowly, gently begin to shift your perspective. God is with you in this journey, meeting you exactly where you are, anxiety and all.
And on the days when you can’t muster thankfulness? That’s okay too. God’s not going anywhere. He’ll wait with you in the darkness until you’re ready to notice the light again. That’s something worth being grateful for.
