In recent blogs I’ve been looking at practical ways of overcoming fear. When fear grips us, the place to turn is to God’s Word. This is what we have done in a recent situation, where fear has been threatening my husband and me and trying to gain ascendancy.
To help with this, my husband bought ‘Rick Warren’s Bible study methods -Twelve ways you can unlock God’s Word,’ from our local Christian book shop. As we flicked through deciding which of the twelve methods suggested, we found one titled the Topical Method of Bible Study. Considering the fears that had been hovering, we decided to start a topical study designed to combat those fluttering fears.
Using this book as a guide and a section of verses included in my husband’s Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible under the heading ‘no reason to worry,’ we set about reading and thinking about the verses designated to decide what each verse taught us about God.
At the end of the verses we made a summary of truths the passages contained. Some of these included:
God promised to be with the patriarchs and His people Israel. He protected and guided His people. God has not changed – He will do the same for us.
God answers prayer and provides a place for His own.
God is constant in His care – He doesn’t slack off.
We, who trust in God, can have confidence He will keep, guide, nourish and sustain us always. So why should we worry or be afraid?
God gives us peace and strength to withstand, so we can rest secure that we are protected.
God sent Jesus, His Son to redeem us – that’s how much He loves and cares for us. So He won’t abandon us now.
Once we had our summary, we then decided on specific actions we needed to take to apply God’s Word and incorporate these truths into our lives.
We decided we can know from past experiences and the fact that God never changes that we can have confidence in God.
That when we pray God answers and will guide and protect
We decided to pray for God’s clear guidance regarding the specific house where He would have us live
In times of trouble and stress, we need to turn to God first.
We decided to pick a verse and memorize it by the following week. The verse we chose was 2 Thessalonians 3:3 ‘But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.’
This week we are memorizing, ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand,’ Isaiah 41:10. You might consider memorizing verses to help combat your fears. If you look up a concordance you will soon find plenty of verses that deal with the theme of not being afraid. Here are some to get you started:
Deuteronomy 31:8,
Joshua 1:9,
2 Kings 6:16,
Proverbs 3:25-26,
Isaiah 41:10, 13,
Isaiah 43:1-2,
Isaiah 44:8.
Note that the 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Bible reference is from the New King James Version
Isaiah 41:10 Bible reference is from the New American Standard Version
Please visit these related blogs
Overcoming fear – Part 1