As I was in prayer this morning, I saw a lot of spiritual snakes, serpents, and vipers of various kinds and over various areas and people. These suffocating serpents were loaded with fear. Fear that was holding back the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ from going forth. The statistics of those who suffer from anxiety and fear are astronomical.
Fear is closely connected to anxiety. When we define the word fear, it is an emotional passion of an expectant evil. In other words, fear causes an anxiousness to arise in an individual over their ability to react to any situation. Fear can be paralyzing if not used as a motive to do something in spite of the presence of fear.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. ~ 2 Tim 1:7 (KJVSL)
Fear is timidity and without courage, but the Lord says He has given us power (dýnamis) and love as well as a sound mind. This is the same power that resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead; alive and active in you through the Word of God and His Spirit!
So, what’s all the fear about?
Satan, the enemy of our soul, has released a nest of spiritual serpents of fear to keep the testimony of the lord from being released out of the mouth of the righteous. Even though God said He has not given us a spirit of fear of bondage to fear because we have received the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:15), many are still bound by fear. Fear is bondage. It cripples us from going forth in the destiny called forth and written over our lives. We give in to it because it is so strong, even to the point of causing physical afflictions.
The Prophet Elijah ran and hid because of fear. Elijah is one of my heroes in the Bible, and I am not picking on him when I say that he ran out of fear. Elijah had just had one of the biggest victories recorded in history when he had all the prophets of Jezebel’s Baal worship destroyed. But he would have been exhausted when the backlash came with the Queen Jezebels threat to have him destroyed.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do [to me], and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." 3 And when he saw [that], he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which [belongs] to Judah, and left his servant there. - 1Ki 19:2-3
I believe that Elijah took Jezebel’s threat into consideration, and as a Seeing Prophet, he not only heard it he envisioned it. He perceived the reality of what she threatened to do to him, cut his throat, and murder him. Take this and add a murderous spirit of fear to it, and anyone could fall into the temptation to run.
Today America is under the witchcraft of a Jezebel spirit who is in partnership with the antichrist spirits and Leviathan. It is no wonder why the saints of God are bound with fear and afraid to speak. But I say to those who took to a cave in hiding to come forth as the Lord speaks into your dry, dead, frozen and paralyzed bones. Lazarus come forth!
A Ruling Spirit of Fear
There are an estimated 40 million people in the United States suffering from anxiety, that is 18.1% of people over the age of 18 are diagnosed with some form of anxiety. This number does not include the four million children under the age of 17 diagnosed with anxiety.
There is such an epidemic of anxiety-ridden people that the term anxiety is now broken down into several categories. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association, there are seven types of anxiety.
· Generalized Anxiety Disorder (affecting 6.8 million)
· Panic Disorder (affecting 6 million)
· Social Anxiety Disorder (affecting 15 million)
· Specific Phobias (affection 19 million)
· Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) (affecting 2.2 million)
· Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (affecting 7.7 million)
After this exhaustive list of disorders, there are various types of depressive disorders listed next. These are real and frightening problems for people. Social Anxiety has the highest number of those afflicted. I believe this bears some evidence of why so many are afraid to tell others about their faith, they are afraid of social situations! If you do not socialize with people, taking the time to get to know them and finding out if they know Jesus Christ, you are not likely going to have the opportunity to share the gospel. The devil's plan of fear is working great in these people.
I suffered from every one of these “types” of anxiety disorders at one time or another in my life, ever since I was a toddler. I went down the psychological road that led to medications for anxiety, depression, and mood stabilizers. Uppers and downers would be a better name for them. I was up, so I took something to balance that “high,” I was down, so I took something to balance that “low.” Nothing worked long term and the end result was a huge weight gain and being institutionalized for a short period of time.
I know the road to recovery, and it is paved with the name above all names, Jesus Christ!
Fear can be a strongman, a ruling spirit it can go hand and hand with depression. However, there is a solution to this. Praise! God promises to exchange the spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise. So, raise a Hallelujah in the middle of your enemies, and fear and depression will scatter like roaches when the light comes on.
Healing through Jesus is the answer and how He brings it forth for an individual can look different from person to person. He is the One who can bring healing. Modern medicine offers little hope, at least not without the Spirit of the Lord in the lead. Today, if I have to go to a doctor, I seek the Lord's help in making the right decisions because my hope is in Him and not the medical field any longer.
There are doctors and nurses out there who are believers and followers of Christ Jesus and which means that they are praying for their patients; if they are praying, then they are bringing the Lord into the situation. This combination can work and bring hope to any case that appears hopeless, so don’t give up and do not put your hope in that pill bottle. The gods of Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor, Depakote, and Lithium (to name a few) are not the God of freedom. I am not saying to stop taking your medication if you are on one of these or something else, but I am saying to look to Jesus as your source and for His wisdom to lead you in any decision with your health and especially your mind. Fear is no longer an option. Those who once knew the Lord need to return with a vengeance.
Let’s pray,
Heavenly Father, I repent for allowing anything of this world to be my hope in any situation that brings me anxiety. I repent for putting my hope in the medical field and not allowing You to direct my steps towards health and freedom. I pray that you will bring forth the sound mind in my fellow brothers and sisters and in me in the Lord Jesus. I choose to make You my source and lay down all methods, means, and manipulations I have employed to get myself through situations of anxiety. In Jesus name, Amen
Declaration: Let the strong-minded believers arise!!! Let the saints come out of the viper’s nest and arise from the fearful situations that Satan has indoctrinated them with. Wake up Church, Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. Isa 60:1