Words of Life: 4 Steps to Defeating Your Fear

Jerusha: I’m delighted to welcome back Helene Smith! As a reader of Helene’s excellent blog, I always benefit from her wonderful ideas for making the study and application of Scripture a practical and vital part of our lives. Please join me in welcoming Helene back to the FW Blog!

By Helene Smith

Fear gets the better of me sometimes. I lie in bed sleepless as floods of troubles—my own and those of people I love—wash endlessly over my mind. I turn to God in prayer. But left to myself, my prayers are weak. They sound like…

“Help.”

“Please, help.”

“Lord? Are you out there? HELP!”

There is nothing wrong with an honest plea for aid. But although words are my THING, I am not a good pray-er. Fear paralyzes me. I can’t get past my anxiety to pray God’s promises, draw on His character, and praise Him. In my challenges small and great, I need His word to help me.

All those “What-ifs” and “How can I?” and “But then whats” stump me. I need to borrow words. Words that I can lay down as solid as paving stone. Words that will replace the lies of Satan with the truth of God. Words that I can memorize, recite, sing and pray. Words like these…

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21

“What if” becomes “He is able!”

“How can I” becomes “There is power working in us!”

“But then what” becomes “To Him be the glory to all generations!”

There have been no end of books and articles written about the power of positive thinking. And it is good for us to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. To replace the lies of Satan with the truth of our Savior. Yet the power in reciting scripture to defeat fear isn’t in some psychological strategy. It is in the Author of the words. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth who hears and answers our pleas for mercy.

How to defeat fear with the word of God:

1. Identify the fear: When my family moved abroad, and even more so when we returned to America, I was afraid. It was easy to identify the issues one by one; would our house sell, would we find a new place to live, would our kids get sick in a third world country, would we find health insurance in America?  But my fear was really more than each individual worry; I was feeling uprooted and anxious about being preserved in a precarious position. Maybe you are concerned over the health of someone you love or their salvation. Maybe there are circumstances just around the corner that could devastate you. Think a little more broadly than just your immediate worry.

2. Search the Word. Look for a scripture to recite. Many common fears have scriptures that address them directly. For instance:

• The death of a Christian: “Precious in the sight of the Lord/Is the death of His godly ones” (Psalm 116:15).
• Facing consequences for doing right: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
• Advancing Age: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

If you search and pray but don’t find just the scripture you need, please contact me at my blog or one of the social media options listed in my bio below. I’d love to help you look!

3. Practical Recitation: We can of course commit the scripture we choose to memory but that is not the only way to keep it close to us throughout the day. Try any of these:

• Write out the scripture and stick it in your pocket or purse.
• Find a psalter/hymnal that has the scripture set to music. Download the song to listen to every morning or print off the page and sing it with your morning quiet time. (If you are creative, you could set it to a simple tune yourself. “Joyful, Joyful” works especially well.)
• If it’s short, or it’s your gift, memorize it. This is especially useful if the middle of the night is a time when you struggle with fear.
• If anxiety plagues you at a certain time of day, write the scripture out on a post-it and put it where you’ll see it. For example, on the bathroom mirror, above the sink where you wash dishes, or on the center of your steering wheel.

4. Say it. Sing it. Pray it. Live it. Completing all three steps above won’t help if we don’t get busy actually reciting our scripture! How often? I would start with a minimum of once a day and then work toward every time the fear rears its ugly head!

Don’t let fear paralyze you. Don’t let Satan’s lies deceive you. Don’t give those “What if’s” free reign. God gave us His Word as a powerful aid to defeat fear and prayer as a powerful opportunity to seek solutions to our problems!

Do you have scriptures that have helped you defeat fear? Please share them in the comments so we can encourage each other!

Helene lives with her husband and daughters in the Wyoming high desert. She loves to tell God’s story through blogging at Maidservants of Christ, moving abroad then back again, and teaching students two to ninety-two.

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