Freedom from Fear

In the Summer of 2000, Suzanne received a powerful work of the Lord, a deliverance which released her from deep-seated fear. With strong faith and insight, she now gives testimony to the healing power of God. This is her story.

I DID NOT realize how much fear ruled my life until I was healed and relieved of that burden. My life once seemed pretty “normal” with the “what ifs” hounding me all the time. Since then, I have made some wonderful discoveries:  

  • I have discovered that complete peace is available to me if I will just receive and embrace it.
  • I have discovered that I have the power in Jesus to rebuke the “what if” voices and refuse to listen to them.
  • I have discovered that I can chose who I will listen to—that my “inside” life is just as free as my “outside” physical life. 

I was at a prayer conference to learn about how to intercede for those seeking the comfort of prayer. Before he could really teach us about this — our wise teacher knew that many of us might be hampered by strongholds that would prevent us from being truly effective prayer warriors.

As we stood with our eyes closed and our hearts open, he quoted scripture and then left us in silence — alone before the Lord. He told us to listen carefully because the first word to come to us could be from the Holy Spirit, revealing to us the area that needed prayer. He then invited us to come forward for prayer.

Well, the first word I heard was “fear.” With my heart pounding, I made my way to the front of the room, where the teacher laid hands on each of us, one by one.  Nothing dramatic on the external happened when he prayed for me, but I can tell you, something powerful happened inside me!

Let me stop my story here and explain what had been happening to me spiritually up to that point. This is important, because I don’t think I could have received my healing that day unless I had walked that path leading up to that point. I had been a “Christian” since I was a child — went to Bible college, married a man in ministry.  I’ve always been basically well behaved, a “good” Christian. However, things like prayer, time in the Word, tithing, and attending church never held much of an attraction for me — I did all those things, not out of desire or because I felt the need to, but simply out of obedience.

About seven years earlier, I had gone through some particularly difficult things and felt really alone, without God. I found myself crying out to Him each day in the car on my way to work. Then something began to happen. No matter what time of day, I began to notice a particular song on the radio each time I got in the car. It was called “God Is In Control,” by Twila Paris. I had been so miserable, but those words became a “life rope” for me — I clung to the thought that God was in control, despite all the difficulties that were swirling around me.

About that time, I also began to notice a common theme was emerging in my life. Everywhere I turned there were reminders — sermons, things people said to me, etc.  The same thought kept coming up over and over: God is in control. Test him, what have you got to lose?

So I began to test him, and while I cannot say that everything immediately worked out to the end result I had in mind, I discovered that life wasn’t so hard all the time. I wasn’t as miserable anymore because there was this theory in the back of my mind that, no matter what problem I may be experiencing, GOD IS IN CONTROL!  

Then came the prayer conference ... When healing prayer ended that night, I felt like I was floating in water. Suddenly, my whole body was lighter. Immediately, I understood that, for all my life, I had been choosing to believe the “what if” lies that Satan was whispering in my ears. But that night, I also realized that I could choose to meditate, instead, on the promises of God. I did not have to receive the lies of the enemy.

My life is forever changed, because now I know the truth. It seems ridiculously simple to say that all you have to do is choose peace instead of fear, but that is the simple truth. The reality is, you have to choose. God gives us grace, forgiveness, healing, peace — but we have to receive it, we have to believe Him. It is reduced to one simple question: Who will you choose to trust — God or Satan?

I still have to make this choice dozens of times each day — the “what ifs” are not gone — but they no longer have any power over me. For now I know that God loves me, that He has healed me, and that He is in control of my life. Even though I don’t always feel those truths, or see those facts immediately manifest in my life, still, I know that they are true. God does love me. He forgives me and gives me His perfect peace. I have been healed.

So each day, every time fear tries to creep in, I choose to meditate on the promises of God, not on the lies of the enemy. And you know what?  It is no longer a chore to tithe, to pray, to read my Bible, to attend church. It is no longer just an obedience to do one more chore my Father has asked of me. It is a joy!

I don’t know your situation. I don’t know what the strongholds in your life may be. I don’t know if or how or why fear may have taken hold of you. But I do know this: God loves you, and fear does not come from Him. His love will overcome your fear. Trust Him.

Here are some Scripture promises that I offer in prayer and thanksgiving each day. I simply give praise to God that His words are true in my life and in the life of my family:

Peace
We’ve been given a gift from Jesus—peace of mind and heart. We’re not troubled or afraid (John 14:27).

Joy
We can celebrate and not be dejected or sad—the joy of the Lord is our strength! (Nehemiah 8:10).

Wisdom
Whenever we need to know what to do, we ask God for wisdom and He gladly gives it to us ( James 1:5).

Power
We are strengthened with God’s glorious power and have all the patience and endurance we need. We are filled with joy, always thanking the Father who has enabled us to share in the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people who live in the light (Colossians 1:11,12).

Faith
As children of God, we overcome evil by trusting Christ to give the victory (1 John 5:4).

Trust
We will trust the Lord with all our heart and will not believe what our eyes and our own understanding tell us. He will direct our path (Proverbs 3:5,6).

Strength
We have mighty inner strength that comes from HIS glorious unlimited resources and from the Holy Spirit. Christ is more and more at home in our heart, because we are trusting in HIM (Ephesians 3:16,17).

Healing
All is well with us—our bodies and souls are healthy (3 John 2).

Also:

  • Isaiah 26:3 – We have perfect peace because our mind is focused on Him
  • 2 Timothy 1:7 – God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.
  • Proverbs 23:7 – How we think is a reflection of what we are.

© 2004 Suzanne Doles.
All rights reserved.

You are welcome to print it out for personal or small group use. You may also reprint it for non-profit publications online or offline. Just email us let us know — we would love to hear about it. Also, please be sure to include the copyright notice (found at the bottom of each article) along with the following:

“JEFF DOLES is a Christian author, blogger and Bible teacher. His books include The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth: Keys to the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Matthew and Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles. He and his wife, Suzanne, are the founders of Walking Barefoot Ministries. Visit their website at www.walkingbarefoot.com.”

Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on InstramEmail us

The Faith Log minibanner

Tweets from Jeff

Personal Confessions from the Psalms There is Always Joy!