Dealing With Anger

By Rebekah Prewitt

7 Godly Ways to Break Free From This Vicious Struggle
The Truth About Anger
The Effects of Anger on the Body, and Much More!
Anger in itself is not intrinsically evil. Ephesians 4:26 corroborates this fact: “Be ye angry, and sin not.” It is the last part of this verse, however, “and sin not,” with which God is very concerned.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rebekah Prewitt
• Release date: Jul 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215604069

Rebekah Prewitt

Rebekah is the wife of Billy Prewitt. She is also a Bible based Pentecostal Christian Counselor. She holds a PhD in Christian Counseling and operates in North Florida, USA. Visit LakeCityCounsel.com to learn more.

Book preview

Dealing With

ANGER

by

Rebekah Prewitt

Dealing With Anger

Copyright ©2023 by Billy and Rebekah Prewitt

All rights reserved. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Other permissions will likely be granted upon request.

Unless noted, all Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

Contents

Introduction

Part I. Righteous Anger

1. The Righteous Anger of God

2. The Righteous Anger of Man

Part II. Sinful Anger

3. Sinful Anger

4. The Effects of Sinful Anger on the Body

Part III. God Regulates Anger

5. God Talks With Man

6. Slow to Wrath

7. Let Not the Sun Go Down

8. Releasing Anger

9. The Way of Forgiveness

10. James 5:16

11. Prayer and Fasting

Conclusion

Notes

Introduction

When you think of anger, what comes to mind? Perhaps, you think of your most recent outburst and realize that you are in need of help. Or maybe you remember the anger of someone else—a wife throwing a vase at her husband, or a man punching a hole in the wall. You may even recall your recent trip to the grocery store where you saw yet another child kicking and screaming. Or woefully, like Mike Evans,¹ you may remember the anger of a diabolical father who repeatedly cussed, beat, and terrorized his wife and children without mercy.

Anger is certainly no respecter of persons. It is genderless, and it has no regard for age or relation. It crosses racial lines and geographical boundaries. It can be easily kindled and provoked. It can be fierce and cruel. It waxes hot and burns within a person. Yet, punching, throwing, kicking, screaming, beating, and even biting and spitting are just expressions of anger, and sadly, these expressions can be learned. For this reason, the wise king soundly warns us, Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul (Proverbs 22:24-25). If these are only expressions, then what exactly is anger?

Throughout the Bible, the word anger is synonymous with terms like wroth, fury, rage, wrath, vex, and indignation. When studied collectively, they communicate the idea of an inflamed passionate person who is breathing heavy because of the hot stirring within him. Unlike fear, which is a spirit, anger seems to be an extremity of the mind. James Strong’s definition of wrath includes, As a reaching forth or excitement of the mind.² Noah Webster says of anger that it is a violent passion of the mind.³ Dr. Jay E. Adams explains, It is an emotion designed to mobilize force to tear something apart.⁴ Thayer’s Greek Definitions renders the term wrath as the natural disposition...any violent emotion.⁵ In other words, based on these scholars definitions, anger is a built in emotion in the mind of man. For this reason, its effects are universally felt.

Anger, like everything else that has been incorporated into man’s makeup, was not intended to be used to man’s destruction. Unfortunately, the consequences of sin have thwarted and warped this emotion in man. Naturally then, when one thinks of anger what instantly surfaces are the sinful expressions of man’s anger. In God’s scheme of things, however, this emotion was intended to alert man to a problem and also stir him up to righteous or holy anger rather than to sinful anger.

Yet, in spite of sin’s consequences, man is not without hope in dealing with his anger. For the Lord has graciously provided the means necessary for man to victoriously deal with this emotion. This book will uncover those means so that man can be personally set free from sinful anger. It will also be a useful resource for those seeking to help others who may be struggling with anger.

Dealing With Anger consists of three parts in which the first part will introduce the reader to righteous anger: The righteous anger of God, and then the righteous anger of man—as God intended it to be used. In the second part, the reader will observe examples of the sinful anger of man—the way God did not intend it to be used, followed by the effects of sinful anger on the body. Finally, the third part of the book will focus on seven imposed regulations on anger provided by God to prevent man from sinful anger.

PART I: RIGHTEOUS ANGER

Chapter 1

The Righteous Anger of God

In order to do something correctly, it is always helpful to have a picture of what that thing should look like before you begin. To help us get a picture of the resemblance of righteous anger, we will start by looking at the righteous anger of God, and afterwards we will follow that by looking at the righteous anger of man.

There are numerous Scriptures throughout the Bible that talk about God’s anger. In the book of Exodus, God tells us that we should not afflict the widow or fatherless child because if they cry out to Him, His wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless (Exodus 22:22-24). In the book of Numbers, when God heard the children of Israel complaining, Numbers 11:33 records,

And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

The same book also records for us that the Lord was angry with Balaam for going with the men of Moab to curse