With the last few blogs as background, Attentive Reader, it becomes evident that the occasional thought, if not disciplined immediately, can easily expand into habitual thoughts, going from simple to more complex behaviors along the way. In addition to guilt and discouragement, fear is a good example of the phenomena. Consider how indulging the self-pitying thought I’ll never be good enough can provoke the emotion of fear. Now consider that a simple fear can expand to chronic anxiety along the way to ingrained paranoia. It happens all the time, Gentle Reader. Beware of fear!
There are specific Scriptural Practices throughout the Bible meant to be used to resist such attacks by the Trickster. Pangs of fear (as fiery darts of Satan, Ephesians 6) can be resisted by consciously confronting them. Simply pray (remember: Prayer is the battle and we fight that battle on our knees) saying, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I bind and banish you, spirit of fear, and command you to be gone and do not come back. Go back to hell where you belong! And I replace you with the Word, “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV).” At this point, thank the Lord Jesus for His provision of power and authority in spiritual warfare, for His interest in one’s life and well-being, His caring and availability.
Then, do not snatch it (fear) back. It is surprisingly tempting to hold onto negative thoughts, feelings and will, Gentle Reader. So the “do not snatch it back” advisory is truly relevant, to say the least. Ask Jesus for His help in resisting the temptation every time it appears.
Now if one has the habit of fear already well set within one, this is called bondage. One can even think of it as an addiction to fear. Negative emotions can be very stimulating, making for a form of “thrill ride” that can over-attract the unsuspecting mind.
To be free of this bondage or addiction and attraction, say with passion to Jesus in prayer, “Lord, I want to be free of bondage. I don’t want to live in bondage to thoughts and emotion and a perverse will any longer. Free me!” And He will! Because He can. As one builds a relationship of relying on Him again and again, one will develop quite a history of repeated success against the Enemy’s determined attacks—all because of Jesus. I know of no other one with such power to help and heal.
Anyway, repeat that process with the next fiery dart of fear and the next. The attacks do become less and less frequent on any one subject with persistence, petering out to nothing, until and or unless the Enemy thinks one has let down one’s guard in that area or drifted into complacency. Then, of course, in comes a fresh volley of darts—but, fear not, just redeploy your practices and remember the words of the old song, “The Lord God Almighty has never failed me yet!” And keep moving.
To be continued . . .
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