Soul Searching

What fear continually surfaces for you? Have you ever dealt with an unreasonable fear that seemed to come out of nowhere?8

  

  

I prayed to You, Lord, and You answered me! You freed me from all of my fears! I looked to You and now I’m radiant with joy. Shame no longer darkens my face and fear no longer furrows my brow! In my desperation I called to You, and You listened. You saved me from every single one of my trials. They did not destroy me. You’ve charged an angel as my guard. You surround and defend me because I honor Your name.

Psalm 34:4–7 (paraphrase)

Prayer

Father in heaven, I bless Your name! You are high and lifted up. You are mighty to save! I thank You for Your goodness to me! I’m so grateful for Your commitment to my freedom. Have Your way in me, Lord! Set me free. Completely free! Show me the lies I picked up when life let me down. Show me the ways the enemy has been given access to steal my life from me. I want to be free. Give me a vision for Your plan and purposes for me. Fill me with faith and courage to lay hold of all You have for me. I want to be a living, breathing testimony of Your grace and wonder-working power. Let’s do this, Lord, I want to win this fear-battle. Do a miracle in me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Life Reflection

1. The enemy purposely plans and schemes against us. He creates scenarios that seem to come out of nowhere but that are carefully orchestrated to trigger old fears and solidify old lies embedded in our souls. And what do we do? We react. We numb out on our indulgence of choice. We rehearse fearful, anxious thoughts that actually trigger stress hormones in our body. Can you see how specifically the enemy aims to steal, kill, and destroy our well-being by keeping old fears alive? What are your recurrent fears? Can you trace them back to childhood memories? Write down your thoughts.
2. What tends to be your default response to fear?
3. When was the last time you felt a visceral sense of fear? What triggered it?
4. Recurring fears give way to new fears. Most of us have several fears all tangled up together beneath the surface. But we’re not too messy or complicated for God! Write out your fears and prayerfully ask the Lord to reveal which one He intends to deliver you from in this season of life.
5. Fear makes us see things that aren’t there, imagine things that’ll never happen, connect dots and draw conclusions that are absolutely incorrect. Love opens up our hearts to trust our loving Father. Love inspires us to believe the best, not fear the worst. Spend some time pondering the love God has for you. Write down your thoughts.
6. The enemy is a liar, and fear is one of his most consistent tactics. And don’t forget, his threat to you is very connected to your threat to him. Let’s turn this around for a second. What about your life threatens the enemy? Why is he worried about you being free? What might happen? Dream a little.