FEAR FACTOR

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Ezekiel 37:4-10 

4Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 7So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them. 9Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’” 10So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.

Matthew 6:13 

13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

Psalms 32:7 

7For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory

Isaiah 43:19 

19For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

 

Romans 8:31-39 

31What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

FEAR FACTOR

 

When fear invades, there’s no pressing forward in faith or summoning of courage. There’s just the persistent, powerful fear that locks out the world. If you have walked both the pathway of faith and have been stopped in your tracks by paralyzing fear you know this is true.

That is not God’s plan for us. Yet fear is a very real emotion and God offers wonderful hope and promises in the face of fear, as we read above.


A PRAYER AGAINST FEAR

God,

Too often, I find myself overwhelmed by circumstances that are beyond my control. Too often, I am easily distracted by things that don’t matter. Please forgive me for not consistently placing my trust in You.

I know that as I step into a new season of growth I will face obstacles that make me want to give up. When this happens, give me the faith I need to cling to the truth: that Your peace and protection aren’t based on my feelings or circumstances but on Your character and faithfulness.

Because You are faithful, You will guard me and establish me. You will rescue me from trouble and deliver me from the evil one. You will make a way where there is no way. If You can bring dry bones to life and make a river in a desert, then You can do a new thing in me regardless of what’s going on around me.

Nothing is too hard for You. You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with shouts of deliverance. As I look for the ways You are calling me to start fresh, help me to remember Your truth. And as I remember Your truth, help me to step boldly forward into the plans You have prepared for me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.



TAKE AWAY

Take a moment and visualize something that is currently making you anxious.

Do You have it in your sights?

Now, take a deep breath in, and then give that fear to God as you breathe out. Repeat as needed.

** Try this daily. I have found this a wonderful exercise that brings peace into my spirit, calm to my mind and enables the spiritual act of surrendering God possible. **