The spirit of fear is something that we as Christians should be looking at a bit differently (I believe) than many of us have been. In this 13th post of the Are Demons Real series (wow has there been that many?), we’re going to be talking about the troublesome spirit of fear as an entity all of it’s own.
Just a quick little disclaimer, if you aren’t saved, or have no idea where you are going after you die, please don’t try anything that is listed below. Without God Almighty dwelling inside of you, it really wouldn’t be a good idea to attempt to do anything listed below at all.
That said, if you aren’t saved, you’ve got bigger problems than the spirit of fear. Please move along to the Revelation of Salvation page for a quick prayer that will be simply inviting Jesus into your life and giving your heart to Christ. You’ll never regret it!
I would not suggest that fear is not common to anyone that’s human, as it’s in the emotional package that we’ve all been given. But there is something that goes much deeper than the run of the mill fear that we would typically stumble upon in our day to day lives.
Fear for no known reason
Have you ever been perfectly fine, and for some reason you get a grip of fear that hits you right in the chest, seemingly out of nowhere? I’ve had that happen to me several times.
I’m not talking about being afraid of your own shadow after you watch a horror movie marathon. And I’m not even talking about when your mind has seemingly turned against you, making you afraid of something.
Like remembering different scenes from Jaws right when you’re neck deep in the ocean. Nope, not talking about that.
What I am talking about is, when you are completely fine, then all of a sudden you’re not. And there’s a fear that you can’t easily shake, giving you cause to start looking around you, wondering if you’re being watched.
Is this something that you’ve ever experienced? Out of the clear blue without any real reason. As Christians, we would be much better off by recognizing this as a spirit of fear, instead of passing it off as being paranoid.
Paranoia has it’s own set of circumstances, and can also be either natural, emotional, or demonic in nature. That’s a whole different issue for another post in the future.
Is someone Watching You?
But when we’re talking about that fear for no apparent reason that maybe gives you the feeling that you’re being watched, or an overall sense of dread, that brings us into a completely different domain than paranoia. Hey guess what? You probably are being watched. (I hope that makes you feel better!)
I would suggest that we should be paying attention to this as Christians when (or if) it happens to us. Here’s why:
2 Timothy 1: King James Bible
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Does this verse mean, that if you are getting that grip of fear out of nowhere, that you have the spirit of fear instead of the Spirit of God? No, not by a long shot.
That’s not what this verse is saying at all. I’d propose that this is something that the Lord allows as an indicator to what is around that we can’t see. If we feel something like I’ve described, and it’s not a feeling of power, love, or a sound mind, then it’s a demonic force in your presence.
Either it or they are trying to scare you for a reason, maybe to spiritually paralyze you to keep you from doing something they would try to prevent you to do. Or, it is actually a gift from the Holy Spirit which would be discernment. I believe that this happens quite a bit. This actually helps you to recognize what’s around you that you can’t see for yourself. And that feeling could be the Holy Spirit simply letting you know what’s around.
1 Corinthians 12:10 King James Bible
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
I do believe that the Holy Ghost works in this manner because demons can turn off the fear if they want to. In other words, if they want to terrify you, and make their presence known, they can certainly do that. But if they want to go unnoticed and stay below the radar, they can do that too, so you’d never know the better whether they’re there or not. That’s where discernment comes in and gives you that sense that there’s something there. Typically when the entity itself doesn’t want to be noticed.
What do we do against the spirit of fear?
Well, if the Holy Spirit has his hand involved with alarming you to something around that shouldn’t be there, one should assume that the Lord expects for us to be able to do something about it, right? God does want for us to be able to do something about it when we are encountered by things of this nature.
So knowing that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind, we use the latter to conquer the former. It’s all there in one sentence for us to go by. I’ll break it down and better explain what I’m talking about.
This is actually a piece of scripture that’s pretty powerful and gives us the problem and the solution all at the same time. So we’ll stick to the prescription of the Holy Spirit, in the order it’s given to us in that verse.
If you’ve found yourself in a scenario where there’s a spirit of fear messing with you, or you feel that sense in your gut, being the discernment of the Holy Spirit, either way, we’ll start off with power.
Spirit of Power
Not of fear, but of power. What does he mean by that? A Spirit of Power; we’ve been given a Spirit of power. This is the same Spirit that rose Christ from the dead. And it’s also the same Spirit that empowered Christ after his temptation in the wilderness.
Alright, I’ve taken the time to check out different scriptures that have to do with the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s bring it all together to paint a clear picture to look at concerning being empowered in the Holy Ghost. From these scriptures, we can gather:
- God has given such a power unto men~Matthew 9:8
- Jesus gave them (and us) power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.~Matthew 10:1
- We can walk in power of the Spirit of God~Luke 4:14
- Through the Holy Spirit, we can have power and authority over unclean spirits~Luke 4:36
- Jesus gave us the power to tread on snakes and scorpions (demons), and over all the power of the enemy~Luke 10:19
- Through the Holy Ghost we are endowed with power from on high~Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8
- Miracles are brought about via power mixed with faith through the Spirit of God~ Acts 6:8
- We can take part in joy, peace, and hope in the power of the Holy Spirit~Romans 15:13, 1 Corinthians 1:18
- Mighty signs and wonders come from the power of the Holy Spirit~Romans 15:19
- Power through the Holy Spirit yields demonstration~1 Corinthians 2:4
- The Power of God causes for us to increase in faith~1 Corinthians 2:5
- In power dwells the Kingdom of God, not in word~ 1 Corinthians 4:20
- There is excellence in the power of God through us via the Holy Spirit, but that power and excellence is not in us without him~2 Corinthians 4:7
- He has given to us who believe access to his power through the Holy Spirit~Ephesians 1:19
- For us who believe it is the power that works in us~Ephesians 3:20
- We can be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.~Ephesians 6:10
So why would power be the first thing that the Word prescribes for us when dealing with a spirit of fear? Because it would be impossible to get to the second ingredient without knowing where you stand with God, or if you have forgotten the Spirit that the Lord has given to you.
It’s allot easier to move along to love if you’re confident of the Holy Spirit’s ability in you, than if you were petrified and sweating it out. Panic is a tool used by the enemy to try to make us forget who is dwelling inside of us. So for this step, a full knowledge of ‘greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world’, needs to be up front and center.
Spirit of Love
Why would love be in this particular verse when being contrast to fear? And how would anyone use love against fear? We’ll find the answers to both of these questions in the following verses:
Mark 12: King James Bible
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
1 Corinthians 8: King James Bible
3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.
1 John 4: King James Bible
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 4: King James Bible
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
1 John 4: King James Bible
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
So what can we take from all this concerning love against fear? Well, we’ve established power, but who would we need to be showing love toward if we are being tormented by a spirit of fear or any demonic presence for that matter? The answer is in the verses above. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. There’s your answer right there.
Once you realize there’s something in your presence that is causing for you to fear, Power is given you to understand what God you serve and by whose Spirit you are, and that knowledge gives you the ability and the boldness to love God himself and express your love for him.
Start praying right there on the spot. Just see how long that spirit of fear hangs around for. And as you concentrate on the love of God the Father and his awesome power, then you speak whatever the Lord puts on your heart. What this does is making God bigger, and that spirit of fear less and less significant.
A sound Mind
It takes the former two (power and love of God and toward God) to have the confidence, faith, and boldness to move forward and cast out whatever it is in the name of Jesus. I have spoken with, and have listened to, many different people that have suffered the situation of being demonically attacked and not able to utter the name of Jesus in order to cast anything away.
Fear just puts it’s hands right into the mouth and prevents the person from being able to speak. At least that’s how it seems. Scotty’s testimony given in the video on installment 2 of this series called Demons in the Bible – Old Testament makes mention of such a thing.
I believe that this happens because of the first two steps that aren’t addressed. Everyone wants to go straight to binding and casting out when forced into a threatening spiritual situation, and I’d be the first to admit that I’ve been there and done that.
The problem is that we want the fear to just go away as soon as possible. We’re all wired that way. So it’s very easy to forget to just wait a second and remember what Spirit the Lord has given us.
In a circumstance like that, as counterintuitive as it may seem, it is a perfect time to be still and know that God is God. With that power just relax and in however way possible just express your love to our Father, then once he shows up, it’s a whole different ballgame.The sound mind comes after Jesus walks into the room.
When he shows up, and you gain confidence in the Lord, and your faith starts becoming energized, you speak what the Lord puts on your heart and it becomes active. And when you’re done acting in the same boldness against these things that the Lord himself did 2,000 years ago, sharing the same Spirit, empowered from on high, full of the love of God, and the power of his might, you’ll not want to stop!
I say that because there’s nothing like watching God do his thing! There’s nothing like victory in Christ Jesus over the powers of darkness that try to get under our skin and ruin our lives. He has been given all authority in Heaven and earth over all things! All praise and glory to Jesus, the King of Kings! So bring power, love, and a sound mind in the Lord to the table whenever you find yourself being harassed by the spirit of fear!
Kingdom of Darkness in a Fallen World
12/16/2015 I’d just like to add to this post, that if you’ve been blessed by this topic or any of the other topics that you can find in the Are Demons Real series of posts, you’ll truly enjoy the new book: Kingdom of Darkness in a Fallen World. The book covers much of what this series only touches on, and would certainly be worth your while to read if you’re interested on the spiritual happenings that have been going on for thousands of years. The spirit of fear is one of many different topics covered inside its pages.
May God continue to Bless you, so you can continue to Bless others. I knew how to deal with this but didn’t have a depth understanding of what I was using, and he took the time to give me complete understanding. Thank you
Hi there Ramona,
Amen! Understanding is something we sometimes don’t realize is missing. But when it comes it’s like a set of scales falling from our eyes! That’s what it seems like to me anyways.Thank you for that and may God bless you as well!