Fear is something we all experience. The question becomes how do we keep it from controlling our lives? In this webcast replay, Joyce answers questions submitted by viewers on how to deal with fear.
Joyce Meyer, one of the world’s leading practical Bible teachers and New York Times best-selling author, shares encouragement and advice to help us enjoy our daily lives.
With a heart to share Christ and love people, Joyce’s messages help people in all walks of life to grow in their faith, learn to study the Bible, find healing from the wounds of life, get answers to life’s questions and encounter the love of God in a powerful way.
well fear you know it’s something that
we all experience so the question today
is how to keep it from controlling or
even crippling our lives on this live
webcast you are in the driver’s seat I’m
going to answer your questions and give
you guidance based on the Word of God on
how to deal with fear
Ginger’s joining me today so ginger how
is this going to work well we are ready
to take all the questions and all anyone
needs to do who’s watching whether
they’re with us on Facebook or on our
website is begin submitting your
questions and then I will be reading
with with you along you don’t know
what’s coming we’re just going to let
God take home and I can’t operate in
fear to answer your questions on fear it
can be afraid I’m going to get a
question on fear I can’t answer I have
to walk in faith we’re putting this into
action right now and I understand we
should possibly look for a question
coming through from one Dave Meyer they
would say see man I was teasing me this
morning he said I think I will send a
question in and say this is Dave Meyer
wanting to know why Joyce Meyer is
afraid to submit to my authority that’s
pretty good and you know I guess that’s
what actually a lot of people would ask
Jay which I general don’t weigh in that
but he was having a good time with it so
the good news is as Dave probably
doesn’t know how to submit the question
so I don’t have too many problems he has
a submitting problem today yeah exactly
well you know we were thinking about
what many people are going through right
now with the hurricane that affected so
much of the United States and sometimes
we have fearful situations that we feel
fear that they’re kind of
unsubstantiated but when you go through
a situation like that that that’s a real
fear and that can stay with you for a
long time and so what encouragement
would you give to those people well you
know the only way to overcome any kind
of fear and I’m sure people are going to
hear me saying this over and over and
over today
is with faith faith is the only thing I
know of that stronger than fear yeah
and so certainly people probably do have
all kinds of fears especially if they
were the one of the ones who was
seriously affected by this storm how
long is it going to take for me to have
my home back how long is it going to
take for the power to come back on some
people like some 350,000 still don’t
have power what am I going to do about
the things that I’ve lost time I going
to get them back and so certainly we
understand that and we want to pray for
the comfort of those people and our
we’ve been calling people that are
partners of ours up along that area to
see if any of them had a problem praying
with them and that’s been a real
positive thing just to reach out to
people but the only answer really is to
trust God and to believe what’s what
Romans 8 says that all things although
they may not be good all things will
work out for good to those who love God
and are called according to his purpose
keep loving God in the midst of your
difficulty don’t don’t blame it on God
don’t even let it get you confused about
what God I don’t understand have I done
something wrong
why me just keep saying God I trust you
and I believe you’re going to work this
out for good and I think we can also
believe God to give us back double what
we lost especially if we can manage to
go through a situation with a good
attitude
I know sometimes even myself I’ll have a
test and I’m well aware that I need to
go through it with a good attitude and
if I do I see a much better outcome than
if I let my attitude get bad because our
attitude does really display if we
genuinely have trust in God or not that
doesn’t mean is going to be easy on your
emotions but it can be done yeah well
that’s good and just watching more our
thoughts go very important here here’s a
question this is coming from Oklahoma
and they ask how do I deal with panic
attacks a lot of people dealing with
panic attacks right now well panic
attacks of course can be caused from
chemical imbalances and things in your
body that may need some type of
medication or some kind of nutritional
problem to help that but I think the
best way always to
defeat the devil when he’s attacking us
the Bible says to resist him in his
onset so I think although I’ve not had a
panic attack so I don’t have the
experience of knowing what they feel
like having been told what they’re like
I would think that like with everything
else if the minute that you feel
something like that coming on the best
thing to do is to start asking right
away god please help me help me help me
and then breathe try to stay as calm as
you possibly can and I’ve even been told
that when a person is having a panic
attack to realize this too will pass
it’s not going I’m not going to feel
like this forever and just you know the
calmer that you can stay putting your
trust in God the faster it will be over
and also I just encourage people that
have situations like that to take care
of themselves nutritionally get all the
help that you can be as strong
physically as you can exercise do
everything that you can possibly do to
help yourself because often the fear
after a panic attack comes from when
will the attack happen again exactly
exactly that can really control and you
don’t know where you’re going to be some
people get afraid to go out and you know
the thing is is we can either confront
fear and do it afraid or we can let fear
control our lives and so the only way
that I know how to overcome fear is to
say God is with me he’s going to help me
and however this turns out God is God is
in control I think you got to do a lot
of talking to yourself and so you know
I’m sure when people are having panic
attacks there’s a voice in their ear
that’s not God’s saying well this is
going to happen and it’s going to be
terrible and this and this and this and
this and you know of course one of the
things we teach people is that even
while you’re having a wrong thought you
can open your mouth and say what God
would say in the situation so I would
suggest saying God’s on my side he’s
going to take care of me he’s here with
me right now I’m going to be okay and
the more you verbalize what the Word of
God says the more it’s going to help you
to overcome the wrong feelings that I
have right this I don’t know of a better
person on the planet to ask than you for
this question because
you will have the answer then Brenda
from Oklahoma is asking I am afraid to
speak in front of people
how should I get beyond this you have
experience with speaking in front of
people all you have to do it afraid you
know and obviously I have a gift but you
know what the first time that I stood up
in front of a large crowd of people I’ve
been teaching smaller groups home Bible
studies 100 here 100 there a couple
hundred here but then I got in front of
a group of 900 people and although I’ve
been praying for that opportunity I what
was so nervous were you so scared
because the enemy just kept telling me
who do you think you are you are out of
your league I mean I always tell the
story and it’s kind of funny I won’t
take the whole time to tell it here but
all the other speakers were dr.
so-and-so Reverend so-and-so Bishop
so-and-so they all had these big long
titles and I was just plain old Joyce
Meyer and so I thought this is just
going to be a nightmare and I actually
was so nervous than when I opened my
mouth and tried to say something my
voice just squeaked oh oh it’s just like
and nothing came out it was like I had a
second really to make a decision am I
going to take my Bible run off this
platform go back home to Fenton because
I was in Florida at the time and never
go out and try to do this again
why am I going to dig down as deep as I
can open my mouth again and trust God
and you know the Bible never tells us
not to shake not to be nervous you know
not to feel afraid it tells us to not be
afraid so even though you may feel
afraid you can still do what you believe
you’re supposed to do and every time you
do it even if you do it afraid a little
bit more that fear feeling of fear will
dissipate until now people say to me
well doesn’t it make you nervous to get
up in front of these big crowds of
people and I can honestly tell you I
believe through God’s grace I can stand
in front of a million people not it
wouldn’t make me nervous at all because
I’ve had the experience of seeing God
never failed me and so if you won’t step
out and try you’ll never have the
experience of seeing God come through
for you so you never really gain the
courage that you need to go ahead and do
what God wants you to do right right
yeah it’s sad when when we’re not able
to have what God wants us to have or
help people the way that he wants us to
because we let fear stop us yeah and you
can’t always wait for the feeling of
fear to go away you know one of the
things that people are going to probably
hear multiple times today is because you
feel fear that doesn’t mean you have to
bow down to it or give in to it yeah all
right this is a question from from
Washington State I’m watching America
changing in ways that scare me and I
feel that we are losing our Christian
freedoms and I feel out of control how
do you suggest I combat this fear well
the thing that God has really spoken to
mine and Dave’s heart and it’s really
one of the greatest comforts to us
personally because we certainly
understand this question and why even
people would feel that way we believe if
we do our part if we do what’s right
which is to pray pray for our leaders
pray for the country to vote in every
election to cast our vote because that
is very important and then when we feel
that God wants us to to speak out
against unrighteousness rather that’s to
write a company that’s got ungodly
advertisement and say I don’t appreciate
this coming into my home and I’d really
prefer not to get your magazine anymore
our whether it’s to go to a school where
your kid goes and says you know you
really don’t have the right to tell my
child that they can never say say the
word god or the word Jesus in school
it’s unconstitutional for you to tell
them that people need to know their
rights and be willing to stand up for
the rights but then here’s the the best
answer to that question is this if you
do nothing then you have a reason to be
afraid because nothing only just opens
up the door for evil to take over more
and more the best way for evil to
control is when righteous men do nothing
so the last thing we want to do is
nothing but if we do our part even if
our part doesn’t change anything in the
world God will still take care of us we
have to remember the Israelites and how
God even while all the plagues were
going on in Egypt they were in a place
called Goshen where none of those
plagues affected them
so I believe that we can live in the
midst of evil and still have a good life
because we trust God to meet our needs
and take care of us
that doesn’t mean maybe everything is
going to be perfect for me my whole life
or that I might not be affected in some
way by the things going on in the world
that God is going to take care of his
people and I really firmly believe that
God is always on the throne no matter
what the situation around us sometimes
feels like this is a question from
Quebec and it says I’ve been consumed
with fear of authority what do I do a
lot of people have that fear don’t think
a lot of people have that fear you know
I deal with people with that sometimes
people will get around me and they’ll
just be nervous or they’ll they’ll shake
and I’m like you know I’m not a fearful
person why you know you don’t be afraid
of me I’m not going to hurt you why are
you like that I’m just I’m just afraid
of authority and you know I understand
that because I was mistreated by my
father who was an authority figure in my
life and so I wasn’t necessarily so
afraid of authority as I was rebellious
toward Authority especially male
Authority I didn’t want anybody telling
me what to do people who obviously are
afraid of Authority are afraid that
they’re going to be mistreated are
they’re afraid that this other person is
so much greater than they are that they
feel very belittled in their presence
they don’t think very highly of
themselves and we need to realize that
the Bible says it in Christ all
distinctions vanish there’s no more Jew
nor Greek male nor female
you know slave nor free but we’re all
one in Christ and so here again God is
going to take care of us and we really
don’t have to be afraid of anybody you
need to see yourself not better than
anybody else but just as good as
everybody else and a lot of these fears
do come from how we feel about ourselves
and so I would ask every person that’s
joining us on the webcast today to have
a little meeting with themselves when
the webcast is over literally sit down
book an hour with yourself have a
meeting and ask yourself how do I really
feel about myself you know do I do I
feel like maybe that I’m
stupid do I feel like that I’m not
capable do I feel like I don’t have what
it takes do I feel that I’m inferior to
other people and you can never present
yourself in a confident way if you don’t
have a decent relationship with yourself
I mean you have to know that okay I’m
not perfect but I’m not really any worse
than anybody else I mean we all make
mistakes and I can’t really do it on my
own but I can do anything I need to
through Christ just realize that
whatever you don’t have if you have
Jesus in your life you have more than
enough and here again to overcome fear
of authority you have to take baby steps
while you still feel afraid let’s just
say maybe that somebody in authority is
asking this person let’s just say it’s a
boss and they’re asking this person to
do things that that they don’t want to
do that they don’t feel is right
I had a situation like that a long time
ago a boss asked me to do something that
I felt like was was immoral it was going
to basically be helping him steal from
somebody because I was the bookkeeper
and he wanted me to write off some money
that we owed them and I couldn’t afford
to lose my job I just made a commitment
to have a lot of work done on my teeth
and I worked downtown where Dave did we
didn’t need two cars a lot of reasons
why didn’t want to lose that job and I
was very nervous very frightened but I
would rather be more afraid of
displeasing God than I am man so I did
go in very nervously very sheepishly you
know I know you don’t agree with my
beliefs but I’m a Christian and I don’t
feel like that I can do what you’re
asking me to do I feel like it would be
wrong I expected all day to get fired he
came out and told me to send the company
a check and after that I actually got
promoted and promoted and promoted so we
have to really know that if we do what’s
right God is going to take care of us so
take a baby step if you need to talk to
your boss about something do it or what
if I lose my job well you know if you do
then you’ve done the right thing God
will help you find another one right I
remember that person in authority is far
from perfect it’s exactly right all
right this comes from Ohio Debbie is
asking how do I keep from fearing the
worst especially with the health of our
family I think when a lot of people go
through a difficult situation especially
with health or whatever it may be then
we can get past it but we still have
that fear of what if it comes back well
you know our personal relationship with
God and knowing that no matter what
happens is always the key to overcoming
fear now in I 1989 I had breast cancer
and I had to have a very radical serious
surgery and thank God the cancer had not
gotten to my lymph nodes so I didn’t
have to take a lot of treatment but you
know it’s a lot of people know and you
hear that you know once you’ve had
cancer it can can come back so every
year now for 22 23 years however long
it’s been I go and get my mammogram and
I remember on two occasions one I went
and they came back and said we’re seeing
something we don’t like we want you to
stick around to do an ultrasound well
okay yeah so I had to just keep saying
god I trust you I trust you I trust you
well just last week well just this week
actually I went and got my yearly
mammogram and it took a long time for
the girl to come back long time they’re
gonna bring me the results she wasn’t
coming wasn’t coming wasn’t coming so I
started thinking uh-oh
and but when I would think like that
then I would just say God I’m in your
hands
and no matter what she comes out here
and tells me we’ll walk it out together
and I’m in your hands then when she came
out with the report she looked down the
hall is anybody here looked down this
hall I thought oh my gosh she’s get
ready to tell me yeah and so then again
I’m saying you know okay god I can
handle it whatever it is and so you know
I basically say when the devil talks to
you you need to talk back to him well
then she said everything’s fine I
thought I don’t know why that needed to
be such a big secret but I kind of just
thought later you know it was just a
test
it was just am I going to continue to
hold on to what I say I believe even
when things are difficult and you know I
don’t have an answer to tell anybody
watching today how they can always keep
a fearful thought from being presented
to their mind because the devil is alive
and well on planet Earth and he tries to
control people with fear
he’s never going to stop trying to make
people afraid so the thoughts will come
so the thoughts will come but honestly
the more you learn to trust God and one
of the ways to do that is to think about
all the times in the past that God has
helped you and delivered you and how
good he is and what the word says I love
Psalm 27 14 what what would it become of
me had I not believed that I would see
the Lord’s goodness in the land of the
living
and so we need to know that no matter
what happens in our life God is with us
I mean the reasons that we find in the
Bible for not fearing is trust God fear
not for I am with you that’s the big one
right there fear not for I am with you
first John Force’s perfect love casts
out fear and let’s talk about the
perfect love that God has for his people
so we say God I believe you love me
I believe you’re with me therefore I
don’t have to know all the answers
because I believe that you’re going to
work it out and no matter how long it
takes or what has to happen I’m you’re
with me and you know even if somebody
wants to get really radical and go far
out what’s the worst thing that can
happen to us we die then what we’re in
God’s presence
so if I live it’s for Christ and if I
die it’s for Christ and if the worst
thing that happens to me is going to put
me right with him face to face
then I’m going to leave myself in God’s
hands and believe that he’s going to
take care of me it’s really all about
what we believe ginger it’s good and it
isn’t the the first fearful thought that
that’s not a sin no absolutely not see I
was I thought for many years well I got
it too just got to get rid of this fear
you know if I could just get rid of this
fear if I just didn’t feel afraid if I
you know and then I realized that
feeling afraid is not is not sin
actually when God said to Joshua fear
not for I am with you when he had asked
Joshua to lead the Israelites the rest
of the way into the Promised Land when
Moses died he said fear not for I am
with you he was basically telling Joshua
you’re going to feel fear but I’m
telling you not to give in to it because
I’m with you
and then he said every place on which
the sole of your foot shall tread that
have I already given unto you so God has
already planned your deliverance
he’s already planned your victory before
you ever have a problem you already have
the victory but you just have to walk it
out and that requires a step of faith
you take a step God is there many times
when I go to the pulpit to speak I don’t
know what’s going to happen everybody
thinks you know well surely she’s got
all the answers man you know she’s every
time she gets up you know like I mean I
didn’t know what was gonna know what
you’re gonna ask me next and I could get
really scared by it if I wanted to but
you know I guess the worst thing that
can happen to me here today is somebody
asks a question I have to say I don’t
know well that’s not gonna be the end of
the world so god we get these things in
our head that we don’t need to have
there and the bottom line is is take a
step God will meet you take a step God
will meet you take a step God will meet
you alright here’s another question this
comes from Toronto and Jessica asks how
do you handle fear that comes with
repeated rejection well first of all you
want to always remember that God never
rejects you and maybe you’re just
hanging out with the wrong kind of
people
maybe you’re hanging out with people
that that’s been a pattern in their life
with you also I think if you’re afraid
of rejection you’re drawing it to
yourself over and over and over again I
experienced a lot of rejection in my
life and part of it was just I wasn’t
hanging out with the right kind of
people and I was afraid of being
rejected so when you’re afraid of being
rejected you actually produce behavior
that kind of turns people off so it kind
of goes back to what do you feel about
yourself you know if you’re going
overboard trying to get people to accept
you then sometimes you just smother them
and that drives them away so I would
suggest that this person once again have
a meeting with themselves find out how
they feel about themselves and if they
need to get some new friends then get
rid of all the people that are trying to
control you by making you do what they
want you to do otherwise they reject you
and say well God I believe that you
accept me and I’m asking you to give me
divine connections wait for God don’t be
going
making your own friends I want to be
friends with you I want to be friends
with you only friends with you well you
know you’re a big shot that were picture
on reason I want to be friends with you
right and just trust God to bring the
right people into your life and you you
know you might have to wait a little
while might have to spend a few evenings
alone but God will God will come through
if you trust him to do it
you know you guys are sending in such
great questions I’m just really
impressed with all of your questions
this is a good one coming from Virginia
and she says how do I overcome my fear
in doubts when it comes to my salvation
well first of all you can’t base
anything that you receive from God on
feelings you know I’ve had kind of a
tough couple of days just because of
dealing with some personal family issues
not not my husband or my kids but some
things with other family situations
where I’m involved and need to take care
of something and it’s not an easy thing
to take care of because the person is
not being easy to deal with and so right
in the midst of needing to come and do
all this today you know I’m taking phone
calls and doing all this other stuff and
so you know I actually said to God right
before I came out to the studio well I
don’t feel too connected today I don’t
feel your presence much but I know that
you’re with me and I trust when I go out
there and sit down that you are going to
give me what I need so we don’t always
feel that we’re saved
we don’t always feel that God is with us
we don’t always feel that our prayers
are getting answered but you know what I
said to God I don’t feel it but I am
assured I have assurance by the Word of
God that you are with me and sure enough
God is giving us the answers you know
this tells us this Bible this wonderful
Word of God tells us that we can have
something greater than feelings and you
know the thing that’s greater than
feelings is to know that you know that
you know that you know way down deep
inside that God loves you and that he
has a good plan for your life and he’s
going to take care of you and if you
turn your head off for just a minute and
stop thinking about what you think and
stop thinking about what you feel you’re
going to find that way down
deep inside is a faith that God gives us
as a gift that says I care about you and
I’m going to take care of you and then
we course you know I’m big on
verbalizing and I’ll never get over it
because you know the Bible says we’re to
meditate on the word and that means to
roll it over and over in your mind to
mutter it under your breath to speak it
out loud and so even when you feel like
you’re not saved I would say out loud I
have given my life to Christ
and he is faithful and I don’t care how
I feel I am born again I’m a child of
God that’s good that’s good all right
this comes from New Jersey and they
asked how do you know the difference
between fear and just being wise and
cautious well I think there is a certain
amount of fear that is healthy you know
you should be afraid to step out in the
middle of traffic I mean there’s certain
things that that you do want to be
afraid of and I don’t think that that’s
all that difficult to understand because
one of them is going to be a tormenting
feeling and one of them is going to just
be yeah I mean that’s you’re going to
feel comfortable in that you know I’m
healthfully afraid to spend money that I
don’t have and to step out in traffic
like I was thinking today about maybe
what some of the questions would be well
you know I’m not a good swimmer so I
would be healthfully afraid to dive off
into the deep water and that’s not so
when I feel that that’s not a tormenting
oh what’s going to happen right that’s
just a wise thing that probably wouldn’t
be a good thing for me to do because I
probably would drowned if I did so I
think that you know there’s wisdom that
we should be afraid in certain
situations and not do certain things you
know we tell people not to be afraid
we’re not suggesting that they do
foolish things and step out into the
middle of things that make no sense or
where they could actually get hurt we’re
talking about not letting a demonic type
of fear control you and steal the
destiny that God has for you we’re
talking about if you really feel in your
heart that God is leading you to do so
thing then you need to step out and do
that but we’re not talking about just
doing all kinds of crazy stuff just to
say well I’m not afraid right right
alright Carly is asking how can one deal
with the fear of disappointing god
others and ourselves just the fear of
being a disappointment well first of all
you know we all have weaknesses there’s
no doubt about that
but I found a couple scriptures couple
of places where a voice came out from
heaven at Jesus’s baptism and again on
the Mount of Transfiguration saying this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased
so we could start out by thinking way
out but that’s Jesus well sure he was
pleased with Jesus but you know what
Jesus came got in an earthly body just
like us and he had to live by faith just
like we do and so when he received that
voice by faith God is pleased with me it
gave him the courage to do what he
needed to do and you know I also saved
by faith now I believe that God is
pleased with me he’s not pleased with
everything I do I think that probably
sometimes the things that we do and the
ways that we behave may be a little
disappointing to God but he still loves
us and he’s committed to seeing us
through to the very end of things and
you know I have friends disappoint me
from time to time and I’m sure that I
disappoint them there’s all kinds of
it’s impossible to have relationship
with people and never be disappointed
but let me say this if the relationship
is really a real relationship then it
will make it through disappointments and
become even stronger well we can get
through things with people our
relationship actually becomes stronger
and stronger probably what this person
is experiencing is they have an
unrealistic expectation of themselves
they expect themselves to never
disappoint and to always do the right
thing and you’re just perfect yeah
you’re just putting a pressure on
yourself that is unrealistic and so when
you take that pressure off and realize I
probably am going to disappoint people
from time to time and even trust God
with that God if this is a
a real genuine relationship then you can
give them the grace to get over that and
bear with me and my weakness is just
like I bear with others and their
weaknesses and sometimes those those
fears and even those disappointments do
become blessings to us in ways that we
learn and you know guy can take those
things and make good out of them all I
know is that I am very grateful that I
don’t have the pressure on me to be
perfect yeah I don’t have to be perfect
for people I don’t have to be perfect
for God I don’t even want to have a
relationship with anybody that’s
expecting me to never ever ever show a
sign of weakness or ever make a mistake
that’s just too much pressure and I
don’t want to have it so I think that
this individual can actually take the
pressure off of herself before this
webcast is over today by simply saying
oh I get it yeah I don’t I’m not perfect
and really everybody knows that we all
know that nobody’s perfect there’s no
perfect job no perfect church no perfect
pastor no perfect friend no perfect
marriage if we were perfect we wouldn’t
need Jesus so the very fact that we have
him in our lives is proof that we’re
going to have imperfection there’s a lot
of freedom in that letting that sink in
Laura is saying I’m recently born-again
and all Christians keep telling me it’s
going to be a hard road and I’m going to
suffer and this is giving me a little
bit of anxiety so is it really going to
get worse and how should I handle with
the the fear that I’m facing well first
of all I think that if if they’re
telling her that without giving her the
balance then they may be missing for
ourselves you know I think it is good to
tell people when they’re born again this
doesn’t mean you’re never going to have
a problem again because some people are
told erroneously oh if you receive
Christ and everything comes up roses
after that and that’s not true I
remember one time ministering in a
prison and telling the people I’m not
telling you that life is going to be
perfect or easy but I am Telling You
that God will always be with you and
that he’ll always enable you to do what
you need to do and I remember one man
coming to me and saying thank you that
you didn’t just tell us a bunch of
fluffy stuff about how life is going to
be so wonderful because what happens is
preachers come here and tell us that
and then half the people have prayed the
prayer of salvation backside the next
day when they have a problem so I’m just
basically telling you the Bible says in
the world you will have tribulation but
jesus said cheer up I have overcome the
world so here’s the thing that I say you
know your your worst day with Jesus is
going to be better than your best day
ever was without him so you may have
some things come up in your life but God
is always going to be with you he’s
always going to help you he’s always
going to get you through them and
everything that he does allow you to go
through is for a good purpose in your
life and you’ll learn something from
that that’s going to help you with the
next phase of your life so we do not
have to live in fear yeah
all right this is coming from Florida
and Louise is asking if we are not
supposed to fear why does the Bible say
to fear God well fearing God is a
different thing entirely than being
afraid of people and circumstances in
our life the fear that the Bible is
talking about when it says fear God is a
reverential fear and awe more like a
holy respect that when we have a proper
fear of God we know that God is powerful
we know that he’s right that he’s holy
and a fear of God also says I know if
God says something that he means it and
it would be very wise for me to do it
the way that God tells me to do it
because that’s going to be the best
thing that’s going to work out for my
it’s a totally different kind of fear
than a wrong kind of fear that’s a
that’s a righteous kind of fear that’s a
holy fear that says you know I respect
God I’m in awe of God so fear of God
doesn’t keep us away from him fear
really helps us understand him more but
it also actually helps us obey Him one
of the reasons why we see such looseness
and morals today even among some
Christians is because they don’t have a
proper holy fear of God and so they’ve
kind of got what God’s my buddy and he’s
my friend and he understands and you
know he always forgives and you know all
those things may be true
but he also means business and he you
know well we know not to do something
and we do it anyway they were going to
have to have some kind of of results
from our behavior otherwise we never
learned anything it’s like I you know I
always say you know when my kids were
little I really wanted them to do what I
told them to because of my word but when
they didn’t my love was so great for
them that I would touch their
circumstances and so even even
chastisement from God is not a bad thing
correction the law that says that he
chastises those whom he loves so we
never ever ever have to be afraid of God
in a wrong way well here’s a good
question that kind of goes along with
that Susan asks how do you convey a
message about fear to young children or
teenagers who don’t know God’s goodness
so helping them to understand what they
do need to respect what they do need to
be afraid of like going out in traffic
but but not having fear of the world
understanding that God is good well I
think maybe you you have to teach them
just through through training them in
different situations and that’s where
correction would come in for a child you
know you tell little Johnny you know
don’t touch that don’t touch that if
Johnny keeps touching it then eventually
you’re going to put Johnny and time out
or you’re going to take away a privilege
or whatever it is you know that you feel
is the right way for you to correct your
children you have to sometimes deal with
them through their experience then
pretty soon when little Johnny doesn’t
want to get stuck in the corner anymore
being timeout he’ll stop touching what
you told him not to touch and so he
learns a type of respectful reverential
fear through that you know there’s a
there’s a right way to teach children to
be afraid of something that could hurt
them but not to be afraid to be bold and
to do things that would be right for
them to do like you can teach them you
know you don’t have to compare yourself
with anybody else but that’s a different
thing than teaching them to not go out
in the middle of traffic there are two
totally different types of
things that I think you can easily draw
that analogy and just teach them a
little bit at a time so how do we help
children not to be afraid because God is
with them help them be a part of their
DNA as they’re growing up
for instance if they’re afraid of storms
and things like that
well I have one grandchild well actually
probably more than one but that has has
manifested you know some fear of this
and fear of that fear of something else
and his parents have done such a great
job of helping him say I am brave and
I’m not afraid God is with me and I’ve
watched him overcome the fear of being
in an airplane by doing that and
overcome the fear of learning how to how
to ski by doing that and so we just have
to keep working with them the same way
that I’m here working with people today
are how I work with people through my
teachings or how God worked with me when
he was trying to help me get over the
fears that were embedded in me because
of the relationship that I had with my
father it’s just something that you got
to keep at it and keep at it and you
that’s what parenting is training and so
the way we train them is by teaching
them God is with you he loves you he’s
living in your heart you you read them
Bible stories you read them stories that
they can understand you give them
examples that they can understand and
you don’t be afraid that you can’t teach
them not to be afraid that’s right will
you trust God to give you examples and
ways to teach them yeah all right Kathy
from Texas is saying I’m currently
separated from my husband and I pray
everyday for my marriage yet I’m still
very fearful that it weren’t that it
won’t work out how can I best deal with
this fear well I don’t think that I can
promise her that it will work out
because you’re dealing with a couple
different people and their will so she
may be willing to do her part but if her
husband is not then I can’t guarantee
her that that marriage will work out but
I can guarantee her that if she will put
her trust in God that even if it doesn’t
work out God has still got a good plan
for her and there’s still something
wonderful that’s in her whew
sure and so I like to just say god this
is this is what I would want and this is
what I would like to see happen and I
really hope that it does but I think if
you know that even if it doesn’t on the
other side of that is still God then you
don’t have to be so afraid that if this
doesn’t happen it’s kind of like what I
shared about you know going to the
doctor and to get my mammogram every
year and then it took him a long time to
come and you know then she’s looking to
see is anybody listening before she gave
me the report I yeah I was there was a
little bit of like well you know what’s
the answer going to be but I didn’t have
any desperate fear because I knew that
even if they gave me a bad report I
could still make it through whatever I
had to go through because God is still
there God doesn’t run away because of
our problems yes he’s not afraid when we
are so yeah right that’s good okay
that’s a good way to put it Jinger God’s
not afraid when we are he’s still got
everything under control and one of the
things that I say all the time even
about the conditions in the world is God
is still God yeah and God is still good
and I’ve already read the end of the
book you see we already know how it is
Psalm 37 says in the end the meek will
inherit the earth don’t be afraid of
evildoers even when it looks like that
they’re benefiting from their evil while
you are not doing so good in the end
the meek will inherit the earth so we
just have to hold on and keep believing
God and you know really I don’t even
want to say we have to it’s a privilege
what a great privilege it is to trust
God I told my husband the other day I
said what an amazing privilege what a
benefit it is to not have to worry about
all the stuff going on in the world and
just say I trust God that he’s going to
take care of it
yeah yeah it that was a great transition
for one of these questions because you
said you’ve read the end of the book and
Levi is saying I have a fear of the end
of days of the horrors described in
Revelation how do I do
with that fear well first of all I don’t
believe that God is ever going to let us
to go through anything that he doesn’t
equip us to go through and I don’t know
what’s going to happen at the end either
you know there’s a lot of different
theories you know that we will be here
for the tribulation
we’ll be here for part of the
tribulation we won’t be here for the
tribulation you know as a lot of people
believe in the rapture which I do a lot
of people don’t believe in the rapture
but I believe that whatever happens
whenever Jesus comes back it’s going to
all work out good and you know we could
have been born in any generation I don’t
believe that people just kind of look
and show up on earth at some random time
we are hand-picked yeah for the time
that we live in history and so if we are
alive in these days which we are
obviously have you noticed we’re alive
ginger
we’re alive in these days then God has
hand-picked us for this time in history
and he has a purpose for us being here
now and God is going to give us what we
need if we will trust him Satan wants us
to be afraid God wants us to trust ya
you don’t need to know answers to
something until it’s time to know them
this other little situation I mentioned
that I was dealing with with the family
member you know I’m a person I love to
make decisions and I want to make
decisions get it off my plate so I can
go on I have to bother with it but this
morning I thought okay I teach people
how to make decisions and I have a
decision to make here so what would I
tell somebody else in this situation if
they said I just I don’t know what to do
you know because there doesn’t seem to
be a good solid answer right now you
know what I’d tell him well then only
make the decisions you have to make
right now and this is a decision I don’t
have to make right now so I’m praying
about it I’m going to wait and see what
God does and many times I find that over
the next few days then God does I said
let’s just wait and see how this plays
out let’s just give it a few more days
and see how this pans out well this
person doesn’t have to know what’s going
to happen in the end of days yet because
they may not even be here then and if
they are then God’s got a plan one day
at a time enjoy the day don’t worry so
much about what’s going to happen in the
future focus on the right
things folk find something good and
focus on it don’t focus on all these
disaster reports you know what people
say are going to happen first of all
they don’t know what’s going to happen
nobody knows exactly the day or the hour
when Jesus are going to come back and
anybody who says that they do doesn’t
know what they’re talking about because
the Bible already says no man knows the
day and the hour all I know is the Bible
says I can do whatever I need to do
through Christ who strengthens me so I
believe I’m up for whatever and I don’t
have to know what it’s going to be
before the right time yeah
very reassuring all right we have a
question here from Florida does doubt
and fear or lack of complete faith
prevent God’s blessings in my life or or
prevent him from answering the prayers
that I have asked him for well you know
the one man who got a real outstanding
miracle from from Jesus said I believe
lord help my unbelief
and so I’m not I’m not big on faking
faith you know I think if you you say
well God I believe but I’m going to be
honest and tell you I’m having a little
problem with doubt a little problem with
fear and I’m asking you to be merciful
to me and the more experienced then that
you have with God’s goodness the easier
it’s going to be to trust him if if God
only helped people who had perfect faith
I think we’d all be in pretty big
trouble so I just think you got to not
not fake it be honest with God and He
will meet you where you’re at the Bible
pretty much tells us that God will meet
us where we’re at and help us get to
where we need to be and so you be honest
with God he’ll meet you even right in
the midst of some of your doubt and
unbelief now it’s different if you’re
not even trying to overcome it in the
midst of having doubt and unbelief study
faith study courage listen to good
teaching about the subject continue to
pray about it continue to make good
confessions and you will overcome it but
I think that honesty with God just
really gets us a lot further than trying
to fake something he knows anyway knows
anyway so why not be honest yeah we can
be real with him he loves
through it that’s right yeah you know
god I I mean I took out different
situations you know I’m really pretty
aggravated at this person but I know you
want me to forgive them and I’m kind of
having a hard time with it I’d really
like to go smack them but if you help me
god I’ll be willing to do it your way
I just find being honest with God gets
me a lot more help than trying to
pretend yeah yeah all right are there
tangible verses that I can say aloud
daily to combat fear what are what are
some of your favorite verses to use I
will not fear for God is with me fear
not for I am with you God has not given
me a spirit of fear but of power and
love and a sound mind there’s no reason
to fear because God’s got a good plan
for my life there’s all kinds of
scriptures about fear they say and I
have encountered them so I have to say
they they say that there are 365 places
in the Bible where it says fear not one
for every day of the year so surely if
it says fear not that many times in the
Bible that must mean that God knew ahead
of time that we were going to be
attacked with the opportunity to fear
all you have to really do to get a good
answer to that question and it’s really
better than me giving you the answer is
get a concordance and look up the word
fear and you’ll find reference after
reference after reference after
reference and if you really begin to
read them you’ll find out the Bible says
I’m thinking of one and Isaiah fear not
there’s nothing to fear for I am with
you I will harden you to difficulties I
will deliver you when you go through the
fire you won’t be burnt when you go
through the waters you will not drown so
the Bible is never promising us that we
won’t ever go through yeah but it does
promise us that God will always be with
us he said I will never leave you I will
never forsake you God is not just with
us as born-again believers in Jesus
Christ he lives in us he sent His Holy
Spirit to indwell us to live in us and
you can’t get any closer than that and
he sent the helper the Holy Spirit who
is here to help us to strengthen us to
enable us to do whatever we need to do
and then you can’t please don’t come
back and say well I feel or I don’t feel
you have to get beyond your feet
and say this is what the Word of God
says and I believe it because God said
it yeah
a man from Canada wants to know why do
you believe that fear is so prevalent in
our society today
well because Satan wants to control
everything that’s going on we have an
enemy the devil the Bible tells us that
the thief comes only John 10:10 to kill
to steal and destroy and he does that
mainly through fear just like the Bible
says that it’s impossible to please God
without faith and we need to have faith
in God to receive his plan you know
faith is not the price that buys the
blessings of God it’s God’s grace that’s
provided blessings but faith is the hand
that reaches out and receives it by
grace are you saved through faith so
God’s grace has already provided
salvation for me but I reach out with
faith and say I believe it I receive it
so just like we received from God by
faith we can receive the enemy’s plan by
fear so the devil wants us to fear he
wants us to be afraid he’ll put a
fearful thought in my head but it’s up
to me whether I take it or not so that’s
why there is so much fear and you know
the Bible tells us that in the last days
men’s hearts are going to fail them for
fear got to keep your eyes on Jesus
looking away from all that will distract
unto Jesus who is the author and the
finisher of our faith you know what
you’ve heard me say on this webcast
today that that I have things fears
presented to me I need to do the same
thing I’m encouraging you to do you make
a choice to put your trust in God the
only way I’ve got a whole series that I
taught right here overcoming fear with
faith you that’s the only way that we
can overcome fear it’s the only thing
that’s stronger than fear is faith so
like they say when fear comes knocking
on your door
send faith to answer fear will come
knocking on our minds but we have to say
nope I’m going to put my trust in God
you only have two choices you live in
fear you can live in faith and living in
fear only produces torment first john 4
says fear hath torment
but the perfect love of God casts out
fear I want to end today by just telling
you God loves you so much you not just
everybody he loves everybody but he
loves you and I want you to receive that
today God loves you
you start by believing that I don’t care
if you have to speak it out loud 100
times a day you say God loves me he
loves me he loves me God has got a good
plan for my life and I am NOT going to
live in fear you have to keep in mind if
you’ve been giving in to fear for a long
time it’s not going to move out just
because you say go one time you’re going
to have to convince it that you mean
business and you’re not going to live in
fear you may feel it but you can’t ill
still take steps of faith in every
little tiny baby step that you take in
faith it’s going to drive fear out of
your life till eventually you can
basically say yes I have fear presented
to me once in a while but I’m a
courageous person that lives on the
other side of fear and you know courage
is not the absence of fear it’s making
progress in the face of fear and God has
enabled every single one of you to do
that so I really hope that you have
enjoyed this today you remember that God
loves you he loves you he loves you he’s
got a good plan for your life
if you receive Christ as your Savior God
is dwelling on the inside of you the
power of the Holy Ghost is dwelling on
the inside of you and you know what the
simple truth is you’ve got what it takes
you can do whatever you need to do
through Christ who strengthens you but
if you don’t believe it
then it’s not going to manifest you
start believing today that God’s got a
good plan for your life that he loves
you and that you do not have to bow down
to fear thank you so much for joining us
and when we close I would love to hear
more from you about this on Facebook I
think we can go a long way to
encouraging one another in this fight so
right now
I want you to share the difficulties
that you face in regard to fear and tell
us how God is helping you conquer those
fears your story may inspire others so
be sure to share with us god bless you
you