Fear is a crippling reality.
Fear often brings on sleepless nights that turn into zombie days which lead to exhausted minds and bodies unable to stand in faith. The feeling of helplessness can be overwhelming and often leads to depression. A person in fear feels completely alone, forgotten and unable to see anything clearly.
This is a cycle I know only too well. I have been up all night on countless occasions wrestling through fear about finances, my children, the future and so on. It used to send me crazy.
Then I began to realize something. Although it was hard to see it at the time, this was not a physical battle I was fighting. It was a spiritual battle. Spiritual battles require spiritual tools. How do I know it’s a spiritual battle? Because fear is a spiritual reality.
2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God has not given us the spirit of fear …”
Imagine for a moment if you went into battle with your cooking utensils. While you probably wouldn’t starve, I’m not sure you would survive very long either. To fight a battle requires offensive weapons. Bring the wrong tools to a fight and you won’t survive long at all. When it comes to spiritual battles, you can’t bring your physical tools with you. You need spiritual tools.
So what weapons do you bring to a spiritual fight? The two weapons we have been given to win our spiritual battles are the weapons of prayer and worship. It would require a much longer blog to explain exactly why these two things are so important in our spiritual battles, but for now, just trust me …
Here’s the Reader’s Digest version though.
- James tells us that prayer produces great power!
“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much” (James 5:16).
Prayer = Power. That’s good enough for me.
- Worship enables us to overcome whatever challenge we have before us. It worked so well for Paul and Silas that it even caused an earthquake!
“At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were loosened” (Acts 16:25, 26).
Worship = Deliverance. That’s a good enough reason to add it to our weapons arsenal.
So, the next time fear grips you, don’t try to figure it out with your normal techniques. Pick up some spiritual tools and go after fear in prayer and worship. God has not give you a spirit of fear so don’t let it find a place to just come and hang out in your life. Get rid of it!
Below are a few Scriptures that help me in times of fear. They have been adjusted so that you can read them as a prayer from you to God.
You Are The God Who Is For Me
| Psalm 18:19 | [I say like David said], [You] brought me forth also into a broad place; [You] rescued me, because [You] delighted in me. |
| Psalm 56:9 | This I know, that God is for me. |
| Psalm 118:6-7 | The LORD is for [me]; [I] will not fear; What can man do to [me]? The Lord is for [me] among those who help [me]. |
You Are The God Who Answers Prayer
| Psalm 102:17 (NKJV) | [You] will respond to the prayer of the destitute; [You] will not despise their plea. |
| James 5:16 (AMP) | [You said that] the earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. |
| John 16:23-24 | [Jesus, You said], Truly…if [I] ask the Father for anything in [Your] name, He will give it to [me]… ask and [I] will receive, so that [my] joy may be made full. |
| 1 John 3:21-22 (AMP) | [I] have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God, and [I] receive from Him whatever [I] ask, because [I] [watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for [me] and [habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him. |
| Mark 11:22-24 | [You told us] “Have faith in God. [that] whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. [You said],”Therefore…, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. |
| Luke 11:9-13 (AMP) | [Jesus, You said to me], ask and keep on asking and it shall be given [me]; seek and keep on seeking and [I] shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to [me]. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened. [You told me], what father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If [I] then, evil as [I am], know how to give good gifts to [my] children, how much more will [my] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him! |
Don’t let fear in! God has given you a spirit of love, power and a sound mind so don’t settle for anything less.
Where has fear crippled you? What Scripture can you declare over your life to win the war over fear?
Ben Woodward is a worship leader, speaker, author and songwriter from Australia. As you will find out by reading his book You Shall Know the Truth, he is passionate about helping people discover Jesus through worship and prayer. He lives in Kansas City with his wife, Kathryn, and three children, Eliana, Cohen and Paisley.
