Praying Your Fears

Psalm 3:1-8 (NIV) O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against every side. Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

Genesis 15:1, 8 (NIV) 1After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”…8But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

2 Levels:

  Basic fear.

  Deeper Anxiety.

The Way Out

1. Follow your thread.

2. Remember your glory.

3. See the substitute.

Genesis 15:9-10, 17-21 (NIV) 9So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite of each other…17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between pieces. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.

4. Remember the people.

1 John 4:18 (NLT) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.