In this broadcast from 514 Grace Church, Pastor Harry Pitts delivers a sermon titled “You Have Faith, So Why Are You Still Having Panic Attacks?” He begins with a personal anecdote about witnessing a young woman experiencing a panic attack while driving, then moves to explain that panic attacks are real physiological responses that can affect anyone, including believers. Pitts draws parallels between modern anxiety and biblical figures such as David (Psalm 55) and Elijah (1 Kings 19), showing that fear and panic have long existed even among the faithful. He uses the metaphor of a home alarm system to describe the body’s stress response, warning against over‑stimulation from caffeine, social media, lack of rest, and chronic stress. He emphasizes that needing rest, therapy, or professional help does not indicate weak faith, and he encourages congregants to seek counseling, practice “staycations,” and rely on prayer. Throughout, he stresses that God cares for those experiencing panic attacks, offering biblical promises (e.g., Psalm 56:3, Philippians 4:6‑9) and practical steps such as prayer, community support, and self‑care. The sermon concludes with a corporate prayer, an invitation to accept Christ, a call for financial support via the church’s website, and an invitation for newcomers to visit the church in West Georgia. Interspersed are worship chants and announcements, reinforcing the message of spiritual authority and community belonging.
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This particular age and the generation of people that we're dealing with.
Power in the word of God, breaking every captivity. I'm a citizen of heaven, redeemed at Calvary. Kingdom authority, Jesus reigns eternally. Hell cannot silence me. The risen Lamb has conquered. Now the enemy must flee. I'm a citizen of heaven, washed and made completely free. Kingdom authority, all the glory belongs to thee. I do not beg the night to leave. I lift the name that demons fear. Jesus is the light of life, and when he speaks, the path is clear. Grace is my covering, the Spirit is my flame. Truth is on my tongue, and there is power in his name. I'm seated with Christ, the serpent lies beneath. The cross has spoken, the tomb stands empty. I do not fight for victory, Christ won at Calvary. I stand upon his promises, his word is carrying me. We are citizens, citizens of heaven, born of the Spirit, redeemed and forgiven.
That a lot of young folk, not just young folks, but people period, have been dealing with, um, stress. Uh, even, you know, if you're a human being and you're in this body, you experience stress. But Pastor Keith, what I've noticed that's been different lately in this particular age and the generation of people that we're dealing with Uh, and, and even the folk that we work with, it's different. I was coming home, um, one day after work, and I noticed this car to the left of me, and there was a young lady riding in the car. She had her window down, and when I looked over, uh, it was as if she was hyperventilating. I didn't want her to have an accident, so I kind of yelled over. I said, are you okay? And she looked back at me. She said, no, I'm not. And I said, well, do you want to pull over to— on the side of the road? She said, no. She said, it'll, you know, I'll eventually be able to get myself together. And I asked, well, what was going on? She said, I'm having a panic attack. She couldn't hardly breathe. She was able to drive the vehicle, so I thought I understood what that meant, but I see I did not. Contrary to what I thought I knew, I was really Kind of off somewhat, but I'm going to teach on this lesson this morning because a lot of people are dealing with this. I want to title this message, uh, You Have Faith, So Why Are You Still Having Panic Attacks? You have faith, so why are you still having panic attacks? Because I believe some people think because you have faith that Panic attacks should not happen. Let me turn this down a little bit. Panic attacks are real, and because they are real, that doesn't mean that we don't deal with stress in life. We don't begin— I don't want to begin with definitions. That's not what this lesson is about. Uh, I want to begin with someone that may be sitting here in this church that is dealing with situations or problems and don't know how to deal with them, and you're wondering why you're going through what you're going through. Have you ever been somewhere completely ordinary when suddenly your body stopped feeling ordinary and all of a sudden you Are sitting there trying to enjoy a meal, and the meal that you're enjoying is not so tasteful because you're concerned about something that took place with a family member. Recently, we had one of our loved ones to go home to be with the Lord, and Tracy and I, we were sitting there and we were enjoying everything. And then when we got the news, that changed the whole atmosphere in our home. And you think about it, you're sitting there, you're trying to enjoy a meal. I don't know about her, but I know that my heart started racing when I heard this, and my breathing changed. I started to feel hot. My emotions were up and down like a roller coaster. And I started clutching my hands, and my hands started to shake. And the first thought that came into my mind was, something is wrong. Then another thought came. I said, well, man, you're a man of God. I'm a Christian. Why is this happening to me? Now we have a person that's in the Bible that experienced something similar to this. I didn't know what was going on, but I realized, body of Christ, that this was something more than stress that I was dealing with. What I was dealing with, and it dawned on me that I was having a panic attack. Now we're Christians, and I thought to myself, "Well, you're a pastor, you're a man of God, you have faith. Why is this happening to you?" Because the attack itself is frightening, but sometimes what hurts even more is what you tell yourself afterwards. That hurts even more because these were the things I was playing out of my mind. Maybe I don't have enough faith. Maybe God is disappointed in me. Maybe something is wrong with me spiritually. And I want to do something for every single person in this room this morning. I want to lift the burden because you may not realize this, but you're having a panic attack. And I want to give purpose to your life, to realize— so you can realize that whatever you're dealing with, God is not far away. He's not distant. But we've got to stop stressing people and saying because you don't have enough faith, then something is wrong. When you look at David When fear hit his body, Psalms chapter 55, verse 4 through 8. This is where scripture becomes human. I want to paint a picture of David, and when David dealt with some of the same similar things that people deal with today, David said in Psalms 55, verses 4 through 8, my heart is sore pained Within me. Then fearfulness and trembling are upon me. Then horror hath overwhelmed me. Then he says, oh, that I had wings of a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest. Now I've got to talk about the human experience because listen to David, his heart is affected. His body is trembling. He feels overwhelmed. He wants to get away. Does that sound familiar to anybody in this space, in this room, and those that are watching me right now? Does this sound familiar to you? Because David does not have our modern clinical vocabulary on what he was dealing with at that time. He does not say, I am experiencing a panic attack. But he does describe something human beings still experience. He describes, my heart hurts, I'm trembling, I'm overwhelmed, I need to get out of here. Listen to the connection that he makes. Then, and then this same David, the giant killer, the worshiper, the psalmist, the man who knew God, the king, the man who had faith, who, who led armies to victories. So whatever else we say today, we have to stop telling people that experiencing— who are experiencing this intense Fear automatically means they don't have faith because they're dealing with this fear. We make the assumption that they don't have faith or they don't have enough faith, and that is wrong. Psalms 56:3. Listen at what Psalms 56:3 says: What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Here is David said— here it is, he said What time I'm afraid, I will trust in thee. And then hear his point that he makes. David did not say, because I trust God, I never get afraid. He said, when I get afraid, I know what to do with the fear that's trying to take control of my life. Now that's the first major truth that you've got to start acknowledging, that sometimes fear will show up. But listen, after this— after fear showed up, guess what? Faith responded. Faith says to trust God in spite of the panic that comes into your life, in spite of all the things that will try to control you or make you think that you're not enough. That's right. And that's reality. You have young people, teenagers, you have adults that are having panic attacks, folks that are at work having panic attacks, people in church having panic attacks. Why do we think we don't have enough faith? Because your body is fighting against you. Now I have to explain briefly what this means. This is not a classroom lecture, not by any stretch of the imagination. I need to give a picture because God designed our bodies. God designed your body, my body, everyone's body in this sanctuary. And God designed your body with an alarm system. Can you guys say alarm system? If somebody breaks into your house, trust me, you're going to want alarm. You're going to want an alarm system to be working. But sometimes an alarm can go off when the house is not burning. Then The smoke detector detects the smoke that's in the space, and the alarm is loud. Why? Because the alarm is real and it's telling you that something in the environment has changed. But the alarm does not always mean the catastrophe you think it means because the alarm is going off. Maybe the alarm is saying, hey, you're cooking something on the stove and there is smoke. Maybe you need to check on that. That doesn't mean the house is burning down. The alarm is trying to tell you that something is out of alignment and needs to be checked. And you're not getting enough rest. You're allowing people to stress you out. You call them friend, but you have to wonder if they're a friend or enemy. Love. Love ones calling, people want— everybody's going through something, but nobody thinks about the person who always cares for everyone else. When your moment of weakness comes, who cares about the person that is a caretaker for everybody else? You're the 911 for the entire family. You, you— nobody checks on you. You, you You call everyone else, but nobody calls you. So when panic comes in, you think that I don't have enough faith, that you are not strong enough. That's a lie. And your body is telling you that you're under stress and this is unhealthy. You should not respond like this. Then your heart starts racing for real. And you're wondering, am I having a heart attack? And you start trembling for real. Then dizziness can be real. I don't know about you, but you deal with those things and you think, maybe my blood pressure is up. And you're dizzy. And you start feeling that something is threatening your life. Because the feeling of danger can be real, but the thought I'm dying may not be true. And you're thinking, you're having these suicidal thoughts, these suicidal ideations that are going through your mind. What does it mean? It means you're having a panic attack. But the God that we love and serve has not forsaken us. We think that this is not real. No, your body is exhausted and nobody's around to give you any support or help. Where are your friends? The one that call you, ask for $600 or $100. But when you need help, you can't get help. The coming out of their mouth is, I'll pray for you. Instead of you getting financial support, they want to offer you prayer. When people say that they love you and you having a panic attack and they say, you'll be all right, and nobody investigates what's going on. What's your child that's acting out? And every time they tell you that I'm seeing something or I'm hearing something, you ignore it. Parents, listen to your children because they could be having a panic attack. Then the enemy fights you. He'll say stuff like You'll never get better. And you think because he says it and makes it almost sound correct that it's automatically true, and it is not. Your body can be in an alarm mode while your spirit still belongs to Jesus. We have to talk real because people are dealing with life and panic attacks are taking people's lives. Your body can be in an alarm mode and trying to tell you that something is out of alignment, but your spirit still belongs to Jesus. Yes, you can be human. Yes, you can be Christian and still have a panic attack. Elijah, when he was at the top If you want to say— the young people say at the top of his game. In 1 Kings chapter 19, verse 1 through 8. Now we have this human story of this prophet, this man of God full of faith, full of power, full of anointing. And I'm not going to summarize the whole chapter, but I want to set the scene for what Elijah has just stood And experienced one of the greatest victories that you can experience as a Christian, as a believer in the Lord. Elijah stands on Mount Carmel and has seen God move greatly and mightily. He watched fire fall down from heaven, then one thing after another. He saw the prophets of Baal and defeated The enemy that opposed the God of Israel. But we've got to make a connection to what happened after that. Everybody sees the glory, but they don't see the aftermath of what takes place in the back rooms, in the darkness of our homes. When you're in the fetal position wondering if you're going to be okay, wondering if you have enough strength To make it through the moment, and all of a sudden you start shaking and crying uncontrollably, and stress comes on you and you don't know where it's coming from. But the realization is, is that you're having a panic attack. Elijah, who saw God, who saw the miracles Who experienced victory. He ends up— after all this is said and done, he receives a notification, a text message from Jezebel. Jezebel says to Elijah, because you killed the prophets of Baal, by this time tomorrow you're a dead man. And he hears the message, and Elijah immediately hears these words. And according to the word of God, the Bible says he runs because of fear, and he hides himself under a juniper tree. Because let's be honest, Elijah had a panic attack. The man who looks strong in public is falling apart privately. He ends up under a tree saying, it's enough, I can't take it anymore. Have you ever reached your breaking point? Have you ever reached a point to where you just want to tap out and say, man, I want to end it all, this is enough? I can't take one more phone call. I can't deal with one more bill. I can't take any more bad news. I can't handle one more problem. I can't be strong for everybody today. I barely have enough myself because I'm dealing with a panic attack and I don't know if I can make it. Now we've got to be real this morning. We've got to take the mask off. We can't, we can't continue to walk in this place knowing that we're dealing with these issues and not laying them on the altar and trusting God to take care of every situation that we are facing. God does not say to Elijah, Elijah, after everything I've done for you, I can't believe you're afraid. That's what blesses me about the God that we serve. God never abandoned Elijah because Elijah was panicking. Guess what God did for Elijah? He lets him sleep. Then after he lets him sleep and get some rest, God feeds him. After he feeds him, he gives him water. And then after he gives him water, he lets him rest again. God cared for Elijah spiritually, but God did not act like Elijah didn't have a body. Some of you have been trying to rebuke what your body is begging you to address in your life. You've been trying to rebuke it. You've been trying to pray it away. But God says, no, you've got to deal with the elephant in the room. This reality of this stress that is trying to take you out of here. You're having a panic attack and your body is telling you that something is broken. You're dealing with sleep deprivation. You're overworked. You're constantly under stress. You're, you're drinking caffeine constantly. Monster drinks, coffee, whatever you can get. You're, you're, you're over— overworking your system. Your nervous system is saying, I can't take any more caffeine. And if you're not overdosing on caffeine, you're overdosing on bad news. You're not having enough margin in your bank account. You're overdosing on not getting enough rest. You're overdosing on social media. You spend more time on social media when your body is crying out to get rest. Let me clarify this. I'm not saying a nap cures panic disorder. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not. I'm saying this is what I am saying. I'm saying God cares. I don't want this to be a blanket statement. Because needing rest does not make you weak. Some of you need to get some rest. We need to, we need to operate in this word. This may be a new word to some people, Pastor Keith, the word vacation. All right, let's, let's say this word. We need to say this word. Maybe we need to use the word staycation. Stay at home and get some rest. Can you say staycation? Mm-hmm. I'm almost done. Because you need rest doesn't make you weak or make you have less faith. And because you have a panic attack does not mean that you don't trust God. It means your body's alarm system is going off and that you need to deal with the situations that are in your life. And there's nothing wrong with going to therapy. People think that because you go to therapy that there's something broken inside of you, particularly African-American people. They think that something is wrong with you if you don't go to therapy. Therapy is one of the best tools that you can use as a human being because you need to download the things that are in your life that are weighing you down. A therapist can help you. God can anoint a therapist to help you with whatever you dealt with in your life as a child, or in areas of your life where you're broken. Needing help doesn't make you faithless. Philippians chapter 4. God gives anxiety somewhere to go. In Philippians chapter four, verses six through nine, God gives some. He gives anxiety somewhere to go. But we don't dissect. I'm not going to dissect every Greek word. No, this is not a lesson to where I'm teaching in a classroom. Yes, I am a professor at a university, but this is not the setting for me to try to dissect every Greek word. No, we're dealing with life's reality. People are dealing with issues that are stressing. They're having anxiety attacks. They're having panic attacks. We show the moment in Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 through 9, where Paul says— listen at what Paul says. Paul says, be careful for nothing. Then he goes on to say— listen at what he says— he says, he goes on to say, in everything, what? By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Then Paul does not merely say stop worrying. He gives worry somewhere to go, and that's the whole point. What does he say? Take it to God. And we've got to stop making prayer as if it's something that is not human. Yes, while it is spiritual, it does involve humanity. There's nothing wrong with saying to God, God, I'm afraid, or God, I'm scared. Amen. God, my body is doing something I don't understand. God, I'm afraid this is going to happen again. God, I'm embarrassed. God, help me. There's nothing wrong with saying those things. Prayer is not performing strength before God or trying to appear strong before a God. The Bible says when he is— when I am weak, what? He is strong. Paul says that. He says that I'm— I, I— he said, if, if you want to be strong, I'm gonna give it to you in simple terms. Paul says, when I'm weak, then he's strong. He also says, if you want true strength, you become what? Weak before God. And the enemy has tried to flip this upside down. There's nothing wrong with saying, God, help me, I don't know what to do. You think children come with an instruction manual? Oh my God, if they did, there'd be a lot of millionaires. Children do not come with an instruction manual. I have 3 boys. The middle boy, man, boy, he was a, um— I wondered, I said, Lord, am I raising a terrorist in my home? He was a handful. Now, he may see this. He knows that I love him. He's doing— he's doing well now. He's a father. He has his own son, Junior, his namesake. And a couple years ago, he called and apologized. He said, man, I, I got it. Yeah, children don't. Unfortunately, they do not come with an instruction manual. If they did, I'd be lying. But there's nothing wrong with saying, God, God, I don't know. God, help me with these children because I don't know. I don't have all the wisdom. You think giving them things is enough? No, they don't want things. What they want is they want you. Did you hear the prayer that Jesus prayed when he was on the cross? He said to his Father, he said, Father, where are you? He said, my God, my God, why have thou what forsaken me? He in essence, Jesus was saying, Father, where are you in my moment of testing, my moment of trial? Every child. wants their parents. They want their fathers, particularly when they're going through stress, because our children are experiencing panic attacks and schools are misdiagnosing them by giving them medicine when the only thing you have to do is give them a hug. There's nothing wrong with saying, God, help me. Prayer is telling the truth And the presence of somebody strong enough to help you hold this thing. Then I love what it says in verse 8 of Philippians chapter 4: Whatsoever things are true, several things are true. What's true? That my heart's racing. That I can't sleep. That's a fact. And many of you are dealing with that today, and you know this. Therefore, I'm going to die. And you've been thinking these thoughts. And those that are watching me right now, you are thinking these thoughts right now. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm going to die. I'm under stress. Has God abandoned me? And then you have an attack after one attack After another attack, after another attack, and you think God has abandoned you. God has not abandoned you. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Bible says he was under great stress, so much so that he sweat great drops of blood. Can you imagine the panic, the, the, the humanness of being frantic knowing that you may die the next couple of hours? But a God who's there with you. The Bible says that God will never leave you, nor will God forsake you. He's with you wherever you go. And tell God that you're having a panic attack so that he can give you strength. Nothing catches God by surprise. Panic attacks are real. Yeah. It simply means that you're human, but it also means that we have a God that cares for every single one of us, that can get us out of a situation, that can teach us. And the word therapy is not a bad word. Some of us need to go to therapy. I remember my wife loving me enough to say, you need to consider some things. And I listened to her because you've experienced some things in life that will manifest. Sometimes that'll manifest in your sleep. Sometimes that'll manifest on the way home. Sometimes you're crying and you don't even know why you're crying. And we were talking, and I started to open up to her about some of the things I dealt with in my past, and she said, "Wow!" Many of us we walk in this building and we're excited, and then we wonder why we leave. We leave heavy, and you know that you had a great praise and worship service, and the word was good. But you're still carrying the baggage of a 7-year-old girl or a 7-year-old boy that was hurt, that was abused. I don't know what the situation may have been. Maybe someone said something to you that was so painful that it cut you to the core. Until this day, as an adult, you can't get over it, and it's causing you to have panic attacks in your life. But I'm telling you that God is more than able to help every single one of us. Bow your heads. Father, I thank you for your word. Keep us, God. Father, we need you more than we need oxygen. We need you more than we need Food. God, I thank you for Jesus our Savior. Jesus who saves us from every wrong. Jesus who relieves the stress. Jesus who removes the panic attacks. And Father, give us strength in every circumstance, every situation we may be facing. Jesus, give us strength. To know that you're a God of more than enough. Help us, Jesus. Help us, Father. We don't know what to do. So in some cases, we don't know what to say to our children. Give us wisdom on what to say to our children so that we don't hurt them, that we love them correctly. Father, we thank you for your faithfulness. Jesus, we thank you for being loving, for being kind, for being patient. Jesus, we love you with all of our heart, soul, and mind. And Father, we thank you for your graciousness. Thank you for your redemption. Thank you for the blood of Christ. Thank you for everything. Bless your name. And if you're watching this broadcast, I pray that this message has blessed you. But I want to say this: I want to have the ministers of you would come up. Do we want to offer or extend the salvation call to those that don't know Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior? Don't don't waste time with your life. You know that you need a Savior. You know that you need to get your life right. I want you to pray this simple prayer with me. Say, Father, come into my heart. Jesus saved me. Jesus redeemed me. Jesus, thank you for taking those things that are broken and making them whole. But Jesus, I want you to forgive me of those things that I've been thinking that are wrong, those things that I've been saying The way I've been living, it's been wrong. Jesus, thank you so much. Thank you for redeeming my life. Thank you for healing me. Thank you for your faithfulness. I believe that you died and rose on the third day, and today, because of your your death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating, I can now live righteously through. You, Lord Jesus, and thank you for saving me. I receive this gift of salvation freely, lovingly. And if you prayed this prayer with me, just know that you are now born again and welcome to the family of God. Amen. Thank you for those that have been watching us on YouTube and Facebook and TikTok, and those that have been following us and watching the videos and supporting and messaging us. Thank you so much. We appreciate you so much. And if you're in this area and if you don't know Jesus Christ and you're looking for a church, you're looking for someplace where I can really learn and be taught, and you don't have a church home, if you're in West Georgia, Carrollton, Villa Rica, anywhere close by, and if you love what you're seeing online, come visit us. Come fellowship with us. Come meet Tracy and I and the leaders of our church. Amen. We'd love to meet you personally and shake your hand and pray over both you and your family, or your friends, your neighbor, or your loved ones. Come, come, come. We won't bite you. We're Christian. We love everybody. And most importantly, we want you to know that we love you. Come be a part of what God is doing in West Georgia. And do us another favor. We're trying to publish this word of God globally, all over. People that are reaching out to us in South Africa and in the UK and Canada, even here in the United States. We want to be able to publish this word, not just publish the word, but to be able to help people, to feed and clothe people, to house people as well when we get to that point. But we need your help. If you can, go to our website, www.514gracechurch.org, and click the Give icon. And whatever you can give, if it's $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, please give so that we can get this work done for Jesus. And God bless you. And in, in the months to come, you guys are going to see we're going to do some upgrades, um, to our website. Uh, it's going to look different. We, we, we're hoping it's going to probably have to go down. I will let you guys know it far in advance. It's going to have to go, uh, go down for probably a few hours while we do the upgrades to the site to help those people that following us, uh, to be able to reach us even more easier, to communicate with us even more easier, and to make things more exciting. We're going, uh, high in the Lord, and we want things to be excellent and do it right for God. So it's always for the investment and the betterment of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. So if you see that, we're not— we've not gone any place, we're just upgrading things. You're going to even see that with our broadcast, and then eventually we're going to, uh, be Hopefully, with your support, we'll be live on Christian television. And thank you to every single one of you guys. Thank you from Tracy and I and our leaders and the members of 514 Grace Church. We love you. Come grow with us. Come be a part of what God's doing. Come join this church and be a part of a vision that is changing the world for Jesus Christ. God bless every single one of you. We want to say that we love you. Thank you for watching, and we're going to see you next time next week. God bless you. We love you in Jesus' name.
Mwah. Hey, yeah, oh yeah, I came to reclaim what the darkness stole, every piece of my Every part of my soul. Not by my power, not by my might, by the blood of the Lamb I step into the light. The fire did not break me, God carried me through. Every lie fell silent when he spoke what was true. He restored my peace and commanded the sea. All glory to Jesus, the one who set me free. There is power in his name, there is
