Conquering Fear

Session 4: Combating the Spirit of Fear.

In this session, I am going to give you several tools I use on a regular basis to combat fear. 

1: Taking Authority.
As I said in the previous session, sometimes you have to take authority over the lies of the devil and cast them out. The same is true of the spirit of fear. You have the authority to tell fear to get out. This won't cure you of fear forever, but it drives fear back, and takes you closer to conquering it. 

2: Attacking Fear.
Another thing I've learned this summer, is that in order to conquer the fear, you must first face it in battle and not surrender. That is a huge reason why I went on that missions trip to Mexico. I wanted to push myself and stop being afraid.

And it was hard, really hard. I had a total of 6 panic attacks just on the way there. I spent four days before the trip unable to eat, and three days there still struggling to eat. The eating problems are because I am allergic to adrenaline, which is spiked by anxiety. So when I am anxious, I become very nauseous and weak.

But I did it anyways, and I left Mexico with far less fear then I came with. I only had 1 panic attack on the way home, and have had less issues with social anxiety and random anxiety since. Because I stopped just riding the waves of fear, and I began to attack them.

3: Journaling.
Another thing I've learned is that journaling your fears can help you think, and can help you battle them with logic. Sometimes I make a list of what I'm afraid of, why, and what God says about it. 

Other times, I write about the fear. I write stories like the one I told in the first two sessions, stories that reflect reality. Where the emotions become creatures, and my mind becomes a land where they dwell. Often when I do this, God inserts Himself into the story. 

When I was writting the story I told in the first two sessions, I was in the middle of a major panic attack, where old fears were resurfacing. I had paused and wondered where God fit in. Because He hadn't rescued me out of the saferoom, and He hadn't destroyed my enemy, so where had He been? And He put a picture in my mind, of a knight joining me in the room, standing between me and the pounding fear. 

It may sound weird or hard to write like that, but just try it. Focus on the emotions, what do they seem like? Crashing waves around you? Demons screaming in the closet? Hands reaching for you from the grave? Voices all around, beating you down?

4: Social Anxiety.
Social anxiety is a different sort of challenge, because often, you can't figure out where it stems from, or even if it is from something else. 

So first I would say that you should ask God if there's something else causing it. Is it a fear of rejection? An old memory resurfacing? Or simply a need for quiet, just natural overwhelm?

Then, I would search for a way to deal with it, either to make it easier, or to cure it. If it is from the past, you're going to have an especially hard time, but may heal faster than someone who just gets overwhelmed.

Now, I have suggestions for each reason for overwhelm, suggestions for coping and healing, but I don't want to drown out the voice of God. So right now, if this is an area that you struggle with, I want you to ask God these questions;

1:Why do I have this fear? Where does it come from?

2: How can I heal from it, how can I make it better?

Then, I want you to share what you got. Sharing is very important, because it solidifies the truth in our hearts.

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Today's session was a little shorter than usual, but that's because I want us to practice what we've learned. So I want you to pick one or two things I listed, and try them. Do this for 15 minutes or more. Then share.