Overcoming Fearનમૂનો

SPIRIT OF FEAR

While there is a natural fear, there is also a spirit of fear. In Western culture, there is a tendency to look only at the physical side of things and totally miss that there can be more to it. We are only born with two fears: the fear of falling and loud noises, but many other fears are learned. Some of them are healthy. You touch a hot pan once and feel the pain, and you can have a reasonable, healthy fear of doing that again because it hurt. However, there are a lot of fears that go beyond what they should. I have seen crippling fear slip in without people even realizing that it was limiting them. When fear goes beyond reason, the reason may be spiritual.

When I was in high school, I remember my dad preaching a message about fear and talking about when God showed him that he was dealing with a spirit of fear. God took him through the years and things that he hadn’t done because of fear, going all the way back to his second-grade year. It was a great message, but I didn’t connect the dots or apply it to my own life. I knew that God had called me to be a communicator, but I was terrified to speak in front of people. Not just nervous for something new, but, like, physically shaking. I was fine talking with a group of friends, but even leading a small group was terrifying. During Bible College, my professor shared about being limited in ministry because of a spirit of fear, and finally, the light bulb went off for me. This fear of public speaking was an attack from the devil to stop me from walking in God’s call for me. That night at small group, I asked my friend to pray for me. I said, I think I may have a spirit of fear. He prayed for me and commanded the spirit of fear to leave. I didn’t feel anything at the moment, but things changed that day. A short time later, I was asked to speak at a church. It was new, and I was nervous, but the gripping fear was gone. The freedom for me was huge.

I have gotten to see so many people set free since then. People dealing with crippling fears, fears to step out, fears to lead, fears to pray, fear of heights, night terrors, and more.

In 2015, I was re-roofing our house, and my wife saw that I needed help. Now, the back side of our house is a little scary to work on as it’s steep and high, but the front of the house isn’t tall and is not steep over the porch. She came up to help me but was PETRIFIED. She was handing me shingles from a stack and tightly trying to hold on to the roof. A respect for heights is good, but this was beyond that. I prayed with her for freedom from fear. She didn’t feel anything, but when I asked for a shingle, she handed it to me and took her other hand off the roof. She noticed after she did it. There was freedom! Still a respect for heights, but the crazy fear was gone. If fear has a hold of you, God wants to set you free.