The Way Of The Warrior

I'm tired and my strength is failing....Press on

Enemies from without, doubts from within..... Press on

The voice of God which once seemed clear is now silent..... Press on

Uncertainty dominant, clarity hides in a foggy mist.....Press on

The desire to give up.....Press on

Repeated effort, Failure abounds......Press on

The foul hiss of the devil is getting louder.... Press on

Temptation overwhelming.....Press on

Confusion assails my mind....Press on

Prayer without answer.... Press on

Weakness is gaining strength.....Press on

The treachery of friends.....Press on

The strength of enemies......Press on

Reminded of my hope.....Press on

Declaring who and whose I am....Press on

Back straightening....Press on

I can see the finish line ....Press on

Almost there..... Press on

I will lay hold of what my God has laid hold of for me so I...Will....Press....On!

Transforming Fear into Faith

Most people who know me make the assumption that I am a supremely confident individual. One who confronts things directly without fear, one who takes charge, one who is "fearless". I smile inwardly when folks say things like this to me. Why? Because fear is a very constant companion of mine. At one point, fear was THE driving factor in my life and I did not know what to do it about it. I remember saying to myself:  Lord, you can't want me to live like this..... Do Something!!!!! I believed with all my heart that He could and would so I prayed, prayed and prayed some more. Over time, through circumstances and the continued whisper of a small voice in my head, what God told me was to make good use of my "needy moments". Needy moments are any time I feel frightened, fearful, anxious or uncertain. When I feel this way, I have learned to go to God in prayer.

Time and experience have taught me that prayer is an attitude of the heart. It is an attitude of helplessness. This attitude of helplessness is not meant to drive us to anxiety and worry but rather to drive us to God. In other words, prayer is helplessness plus faith. I stumbled over this until I realized that faith is simply coming to The Lord Jesus Christ with my helplessness. When we petition God in prayer, we come to Him and tell Him what we and those we pray for are lacking. Among other things, prayer is opening up our needy lives to Him.

I had asked God to give me clear insight into my own unhealthy fears. If you do this you may well  be surprised how significant a motivating force fear is in your life. I asked the Lord " What are the things I do or don't do that are motivated by fear or rejection" The relevance of this is that we are to seek God in prayer at every point of our fears. Psalm 34:4 says: I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Over the years I have learned that we must seek God at the point of our fears and need to look in scripture for specific promises that can transform fear responses to faith responses.

To this day, when I am called upon to preach, teach or speak publicly in a professional setting, I get nervous, fearful. "What happens if I mess up?" What happens if I say something wrong?"  "What happens if I forget what to say?" "What if I can't answer the questions I am asked?" etc. God uses verses like Psalm 67:7 to calm my heart.  It says: God blesses us, that the ends of the earth might fear Him. The principle here is that I can count on God's blessing as I seek to benefit others. God is eager to help us process our fears as we seek Him in prayer.

In Phillipians 4:6 God commands us to " Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be known to God". This means that every time we are tempted to be fearful or anxious we are to view it as a prompting from the Lord to pray. In prayer we can talk to God about our anxiety. I have found that at times I don't even know what's bothering me and have to ask Him what my problem is. I tell Him what I want Him to do about it and give thanks for the answer I am going to receive.... Whatever it is.  Thanksgiving links our heart to God as we thank and praise Him for His knowledge and concern of the situation as well as His desire to carry the burden.  When we do this we can count on the promise of Phillipians 4:7 ..."and the peace of God which surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Why do I believe this so strongly?  Because it has been my experience that when I comply with His Word, God will always bring the truth of it to pass in my life. I've experienced this time, time and time again. God will always honor His Word. Believe me when I tell you that there is nothing special about me. What He has done for me He will do for you!

God invites us to cast our cares upon Him (1Peter 5:7). Some anxieties are easier than others to cast upon God. The more something means to you the harder it is to trust God with it. But He wants us to trust Him with that which is most precious to us. During the period of time that culminated with the death of my son, God taught me how to use prayer to process my fear and to trust Him with that which was most important to me. Through great pain I learned to surrender my fears, worry and anxiety to God and realize that He is able to guard that which I entrust to Him. I have learned that what you try to control is up to you to worry about and work out. But when we give it to God He gets to worry about it and work it out. It is better to let God worry about it and work it out.

When I pray about my fears do they go away immediately? Not always, but If they don't, I take it as a sign that I need to pray more still about the matter. What has always been true is that even if God does not change my situation, He ALWAYS changes me so that I can handle the situation. He will do the same for you.

The upshot of all of this: God wants to move us from fear to faith by coming to Him in prayer. Not one of His people ever has to live in a constant state of fear and anxiety. If we give it to Him, He will take the burden. This is true of every believer in Jesus Christ. If you don't know Christ as Lord and Savior, then stop now and get that done. God asks that you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. With that confession and belief God calls you His own and will work to transform your responses in life from fear to faith.